The worst customer service...

I decided to move banks due to various reasons... I went into the bank (SouthDale) to cancel ALL my debit orders because I'll go and pay them in person and then move it to my new account. I received a letter confirming that all my debit orders are blocked. I paid my accounts in store. From the 1st to the 6th of Oct. Debit orders kept on going off and returned because of insufficient funds. Yesterday the 6th a deposit was paid into my Absa account. Debit orders went through- AFTER being BLOCKED through the branch. BEST of it all- Absa took almost R800 penalties for a mistake they made!!! Went into the Bank this morning told the lady the story. She then told me that the previous bank should've told me that they can't completely block it without me phoning every debit order company and cancelling it from their side. Why do ABSA have a blocking option then, if it does absolutely NOTHING...

I would please like an explanation on why I can't reverse those transactions -they are Paid TWICE now and why if you block it, It still goes through and I get penalized....