Clientele deliberately & ***********ly delays Encashment payout

Hi. I had a wealth plan policy which I started early 2019 with Clientele and I canceled it mid-December because I have fallen on hard times, and advised Clientele that I would like to cash out my savings.

My total premiums paid amounts to R4200, and for early withdrawal, Clientele takes R1500, leaving me with a payout fee of R2718, 46. I gave up trying to understand why they take so much from my own savings, even though their encashment form says they take R502. 30 for early withdrawal fees.

As it is, I submitted the required forms, with my certified ID and bank statement of the account I want them to deposit the amount to. I called them again on the 3rd of January 2020, to ensure that had all my documents and only on the 8th January 2020, I got this text message from them :

Dear Client. The following encashment documents are required to process your encashment: Certified Bank Statement Of Old Account. Ref E***6. Please fax to ***. Thank you. Clientele. ***. (004)

Immediately, I generated my old bank statement and sent it to them the very next day in the morning, and called to confirm that they received it.

Today, I called to confirm why my payment still hasn't been paid, being that it is now over two weeks that I'd submitted all the paperwork they requested. They told me, after my first submission, and as it says on their encashment form, that the encashment payment should be processed within 8 working days after receiving the last outstanding documents, and yet, they only ask for additional documentation days after any submission.

Today, I called again, asking if my encashment was processed and a consult told me that I didn't tell them that it was an Urgent encashment or else they would have done it long ago. Not wanting any back and forth, I told her that I'd been calling and submitting as requested, and that no where in their form does it explain that you can ask for an urgent encashment. Anyway, she promised that she would send an urgent request for payment to their payments department and that payment would be made in 2 hours and take up to 48 hours to reflect depending on my bank.

Two hours after this call, I just received the following message from Clientele by text :

Dear Client. The following encashment documents are required to process your encashment: Letter Of Authority For Alternate Account, Recipient Identity Document. Ref E***6. Please fax to ***. Thank you. Clientele. ***. (004)

Guys, I am livid and quite frankly disgusted by the random drop in messages that Clientele keeps sending to further delay the payment of my encashment. My submission is from the 27 December 2019, and it's the 16th January today, and only today, do they mention that they also need a letter of authority from my wife, whose account it is I requested the payment be made into.

No one at Clientele can gave me a list of requirements even though they'd all looked at my encashment forms and today, after I was told that payment would be made in 2 hours and take up to 48 hours to clear, am I asked for a letter of authority and receipent ID copy.

This is business in bad faith, being that I took this wealth plan for my own savings, and now I'm only getting 60% of that money and clientele takes 40% even though their form says they should only take R502. 30. Secondly, the run around is unprofessional and you would actually think money that I'm requesting in this wealth plan is theirs and not money I saved over 16 premiums.

I am being treated very unfairly and have done everything I could to be transparent with them, but even after that, they cannot get their house in order to process a simple encashment which I submitted on the 27 December 2019. I didn't know saving with Clientele would be so painful.

I actually regret it and want my money paid into my account today.