THE WORST BANK WHEN IT COMES TO BASIC ADMIN

Dear ABSA,

I am writing to formally lodge a complaint regarding what should have been a simple banking detail update, but has instead turned into an ongoing exercise in repeated errors, broken confirmations, unnecessary follow ups, and avoidable financial inconvenience caused entirely by Absa’s failure to action clear and timeous instructions.

What is particularly concerning is that despite doing everything required of me, providing every document requested, and even making manual payments to compensate for Absa’s own system failures, I am now also receiving persistent calls from your collections department.

For clarity, I set out the chronology below.

On 22 January, I emailed a request to update my banking details for my vehicle finance debit order (Case number: C-***2), clearly providing both old and new details together with official bank confirmation. No acknowledgement was received.

I then contacted the call centre, where a consultant confirmed that the new details were successfully captured and even read the account number back to me.

Despite this “successful update”, no debit order was processed on 1 February.

On 02 February, I called again and specifically requested that the debit instruction be loaded (Call ***). The details were reconfirmed.

Once again, nothing happened.

No debit order. No DebiCheck. No action.

As a direct result of Absa’s inaction, I had to make a manual payment on 3 February simply to avoid falling into arrears for a problem that should never have existed. Proof of payment was submitted under Case number: C-***7. C-***2 and C-***7

To add to the confusion, I then received notification that my instalment had increased from R8 782.79 to R10 765.80 due to Value Added Products being added to my account, despite already having submitted proof of my own insurance cover and receiving confirmation that the account would be corrected.

This instruction appears to have been ignored as well.

And now, despite all of the above, your collections call centre is contacting me repeatedly.

At this stage, I am genuinely unsure what more is expected of a client. I have:

• provided all documents (C-***2 and C-***7) • followed up multiple times (C-***2 and C-***7) • paid manually to avoid arrears CAUSED by Absa • logged multiple cases C-***2, C-***7, C-***2 and C-***7

Yet I am still being treated as though I have defaulted.

It is difficult not to conclude that internal departments are simply not communicating with one another. Otherwise, I cannot explain why a routine banking detail amendment requires this many calls, emails, cases, and manual interventions.

This is not a complex financial restructuring. It is a debit order update and a manual payment allocation and instalment adjustment.

As matters currently stand:

• My NEW banking details were NOT implemented as confirmed • NO debit order was processed despite MULTIPLE confirmation • I was forced to make a MANUAL payment • Insurance was added despite PROOF being PROVIDED • I am now receiving unnecessary collection calls • Communication and follow through have been wholly inadequate

I have been an Absa client for many years and have never experienced this level of inefficiency for what should be basic administration. I will have already cancelled and closed two Cheque Accounts, One Credit Card, next step is to CLOSE ALL ACCOUNTS with this *********** bank called ABSA I therefore require IMMEDIATE RESOLUTION and written confirmation of the following: • Correct banking details LOADED and CONFIRMED • Debit order facility properly ACTIVATED for 01 MARCH 2026 • Immediate cessation of all collection calls • REMOVAL of all unauthorised Value Added Product charges • Reinstatement of the CORRECT INSTALMENT amount • ALLOCATE the manual payment MADE. • CONFIRMATION that my account reflects as fully paid and up to date, with no penalties, interest, or adverse credit reporting At this point, I expect action rather than further explanations or repeated calls. Should this matter remain unresolved, I will proceed with escalation through formal complaint and public channels. I trust this will now receive the attention it clearly should have received from the start.