Capitec: Inefficient with non existent client service

I opened an account with Capitec because they advertised excellent customer service. Be warned though. This service doesn’t exist! Even worse - Capitec's card transaction system is dysfunctional and caused me a direct loss of over R1000 in the last 10 days, not accounting petrol and telephone costs.

On Saturday 24 September 2022 I used my Capitec debit card to buy goods worth R860.50 from a local nursery in Pretoria. The transaction was declined. I tried again, and the transaction went through. A few minutes later I received notifications on my App that the transaction went through twice. I immediately called the Capitec Client Care Center and sent proof of the declined transaction. The transaction was not reversed though. On Monday (September 26th) I called again. I was informed that the reversal wasn’t done because no proof has been received. I forwarded the proof again. My App then showed the reversal, but two days later, on the 28th the declined transaction nevertheless went through. I called the Client Care Centre again and was told that Capitec did indeed reverse the transaction but that the Merchant had deliberately withdrawn the money from my account. I went to my nearest Capitec branch. A very friendly and helpful staff member tried to help me, but she was also told that Capitec couldn’t do anything and that I have to recover the money from the nursery myself. I didn’t want to do that, because it wasn’t neither my nor the nursery’s fault. I was told that I will be charged if I want Capitec to retrieve the money.

On the 4th of October, another card transaction, this time for R172.70 with another merchant, wasn’t approved and didn’t go through at the till, but the money was deducted from my account. I called the Capitec Client Care Center again and heard the same story: “There is nothing wrong with Capitec's system. The merchant deliberately withdrew the money from my account. I have to recover the money from the merchant myself.”

Can Capitec please answer the following: IF all the merchants in my area suddenly became ********* withdrawing money from my account - how can I trust you as my bank? What security measures do you have in place to prevent ********* from randomly withdrawing money from my account? There doesn't seem to be any. Since I no longer trust Capitec, don’t have peace of mind using my card again and can’t rely on any assistance from the Client Care Centre, I have decided to close my Capitec account and warn others about these issues.