Avoid Absa - they are useless.

Beware of Absa giving you the run-around and non-factual excuses!

This is the very first time for me to resort to a consumer complaint site in order to air my grievance and to seek formal reaction and redress of unacceptable poor service - and being in my mid-fifties, believe me, I have had my share of bad service and ill-treatment.

My current experience with Absa however top the charts of being fed bull-dust and ******** service experience.

I have been banking with Absa since my very first pay-cheque and have had 13 different home loans with Absa over the years - which all were pre-maturely settled long before the end of such bond terms. I still own seven of these properties. All financing arrangements with Absa were timely and properly serviced and I never fell behind with any such obligation.

By end of September 2018, I app**** for a new home loan to the amount of only R850 000 for a very nice 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom, double garage, family home, situated at Bronkhorsbaai in Gauteng and worth at least R1, 4m. I provided Absa with an up to date income and expenses statement, assets and liabilities statement, proof of my various income sources, proof of my monetary investments and all other requirements. During the past two and a half months I had to regularly follow-up with the Absa consultant of the Absa Lyttelton branch on the progress and whether there were any further requirements. Not once did she or Absa call me, send me an email or a Whatsapp to confirm receipt of documents or to give feedback on the progress of the application.

On Thursday, the 3rd of January 2019, I again visited the Absa branch. Another friendly consultant undertook to escalate the matter as no progress has been made. She asked that I return on Wednesday, 9 January 2019, by which date there should be a final resolve.

On returning to the Absa branch, I met with the original Absa consultant, Annelie, who informed me that I have been notified per email that the bond application has been declined. I told her I haven't received such email and asked her to please print me a copy of the email. She said she actually received two notification emails of the decline decision - a copy of the email send to me and a separate email addressed only to her.

However, upon her seeking the emails on her computer in order to print me copies, she changed her story and said: "No, the application is still in process and there is no final decision as yet". When I queried why she said I was declined, she said she was mistaken. I then told her that Absa haven't even done a valuation of the property as yet, she rep**** they do not value all properties in order to approve a home loan. As I knew this not to be true, I insisted to see the branch manager. The branch manager lady admitted that the process was poorly handled and she undertook to take up my case with the Absa head office.

When I phoned the seller of the property after this last visit to the bank in order to ask for extension of the purchase term, he informed me that Absa is useless and that they phoned him during December and requested his bank statements as the seller. When he explained he was not the purchaser applying for the home loan, the person still insisted on getting his bank statements. Needless to say, he refused to argue with a delinquent with no ears.

As it now stands, I still have no final answer after two and a half months and the purchase agreement period has now ran out. It is ridiculous to give me the run-around and not to be able to have a final resolve after more than two months. I am sure other banks will gladly want me as a loyal and good paying customer. I will be taking legal advise to seek compensation for sabotaging a profitable purchase and for such losses incurred in the process. Extremely disappointe d.