Worst of the Worst

I am 42 years and have lived in 5 countries. Typically, I rarely leave reviews on the internet, good or bad. For that to happen, something must almost be life changingly good (or in this case, bad).

I have never in my life experienced such poor service anywhere in the world as I have from ABSA. Yes, that includes South African Government departments! Even home affairs occasionally gets it right. It was therefore no surprise when I came here and saw that ABSA has nearly 30,000 1 star reviews. When your business hallmark incompetence and apathy, your reviews typically reflect your company mantra.

So, in my case, I am trying to update contact information. Yes, something so simple, so trivial, is a major issue at ABSA. South African banks played a big part in South Africa being grey listed in 2023. “Know your customer” and “Customer Due Diligence” are two aspects that need to be maintained by banks for obvious reasons, having clients that you have no idea of where they live, their contact details, etc. is a problematic for banks (obviously not for ABSA). So, as this is a key part of being a bank, you would think ABSA would be thrilled to comply with international frameworks?

I don’t hold much hope that this review will motivate ABSA to get started on the large and daunting task of updating my contact information.