Pathetic service all-round

<p>Does ABSA hold its staff accountable if they deliver bad service?</p> <p> </p> <p>I have been a customer service manager in a large international company for over 8 years. I have managed a staff complement of over 100 people, some cliebt facing but mostly call centre driven. Never have I ever had such bad service as I did today from ABSA. </p> <p> </p> <p>Today I went to draw money from the ABSA ATM in Gezina Galleries, Pretoria. The transaction went through but no cash came out. Promptly the cash was reversed, but my card did not come back out. More worrying, the ATM restarted. I waited about 5 minutes to see if it will come out, but nothing. How inconvinient. Then I remembered that earlier this month the same ATM swallowed another person's card. Clearly it is faulty.</p> <p> </p> <p>I went to the ABSA in Waverley to get a new card. After waiting in line for about 10 minutes the consultant assisted to me and I explained my issue. I even mentioned that the same ATM did it to another client as well. I was promptly advised that I had to pay R100 for a new card. Why do I need to pay for a new card if your ATM is faulty I asked. The response was that the ATM, eventhough it is absa branded, not absa supported, does not belong to ABSA. What utter B.S. Why brand an ATM that isnt yours? I asked to speak to the manager who was not on duty. The stand-in manager over weekends proceeded to tell me that they cant help me.</p> <p> </p> <p>It didnt end there.</p> <p> </p> <p>I made a phone call to the ABSA platinum line and was attended to by an agent. I started off the call by explaining that I was very upset and proceeded to explain the query I have. He placed me on hold. Some time later he answered the call and thanked me for calling. Then he disconnected the call. I waited hoping he would get back to me but alas he didnt.</p> <p> </p> <p>But wait - There is more!</p> <p> </p> <p>I called back. Bare in mind that I was the one paying for yet another call. To my horror, I went through to a consultant's desk that had not logged out. The system routed the call through but there was no agent at the other end of the line. I could even hear the other agents in his attending to other clients in the call centre. </p> <p> </p> <p>And yet, there is even more. </p> <p> </p> <p>I called back again. Trying to get through to a team leader when a very s****ed agent managed to convince me that she will take ownership and let her team leader know what happended as soon as she attended to my query. I began to explain my issue when the call just went dead. </p> <p> </p> <p>I havent heard anything yet, I tried to call my branch to see the Platinum consultant but she doesnt work on Sa****ays. </p> <p> </p> <p>Overall just pathetic service all round. No ABSA, you need to get your priorities in order. R1,800 in basic bank charges a year is more than enough. Its your ATM that is faulty, why do I need to pay for it?</p>