14 Days Later and My Account is Still Not Activated

I have a complaint about an FNB Business Bank account application that I made on 02 August 2017, which has not reached any good yields, to date.

02 August 2017:

It’s been 14 days that I placed my initial application for a business account with FNB online. I made my application online on 2 August 2017 in the morning before 08:00. On my initial application process, I uploaded a tax invoice as a proof of operating address.

04 August 2017:

The first communication from FNB was received via email and SMS. The SMS simply instructed that I need to send my FICA documents to ********** In my emails, there was an email sent, instructing that I send another proof of operating address document and that they do not accept invoices. So I rep**** with CIPC documents, the registration certificate and the memorandum of incorporation – as they both contain the address they required.

08 August 2017:

On this day, I received another SMS stating that I need to send FICA documents. I called FNB Business Banking in the evening on the number ********** . I was assisted by a gentleman. I asked him what would actually make a valid FICA document if not an invoice or CIPC documents. He gave me a few insights and I was advised that I should call again during business hours and call this number, ********** .

10 August 2017

I sent my electronic copy of the Ekurhuleni municipal taxes and rates statement for July 2017 to ********** in the morning and then about two hours later, I called FNB Business Banking at ********** . I found a lady who helped to locate my Ekurhuleni municipal taxes and rates statement for July 2017 from the emails. She then advised that this was the only document that was missing and thereafter, she did a telephonic declaration. After this, she advised that my business account was submitted to another team that will activate my account in the next 1 to 3 business days. I also asked her to update the business email address. I was glad that finally, I would have an operational business account by 14 ~ 15 August 2017. 15 August 2017

To my surprise, on the morning when I was anticipating activation, I received an SMS from FNB instructing me to submit FICA documents. I immediately called FNB Business Banking at ********** . I spoke to a lady called Lindiwe Sithole. I told her that I was expecting my account to be activated but I got an SMS requiring FICA documents. She explains that they only have a tax invoice as a FICA document in the system and that my bank account was never submitted for activation. I explained to her that I have submitted additional documents which were CIPC documents, ID Copy and Ekurhuleni municipal taxes and rates statement for July 2017. She spent some time looking for these documents and came back to me that she could not find them.

She advised that I sent my proof of operating address document to her email address: ********** and to enter the name of the company in the email subject. I did as she instructed immediately after the call. But then I received a reply from her, it read:

Good Day Tshepo Please sent email to the correct person. Regards

I then sent a direct message on Twitter, using the handle, @tsepomaleka to ********** I explained my query and they advised that they have escalated my query. About two hours later, a gentleman called me and asked that I reply to an email from ********** from which I had to attach the same proof of operating address and he’d have my business account activated by end of close of business. I rep**** to the email, about four times. But the day ended, and my account was not activated at all.

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I am very dissatisfied with the level of customer service and disorganization that is currently happening at FNB business banking. It has been a good 14 days that I have been trying to get my business account to be activated but with zero luck from FNB. And no matter how many times I do as I am asked to do, nothing seems to come right and I do not know how FNB become such a troublesome financial service provider. After the few interactions I have had with FNB, it became very clear to me that: · You no longer have the best interests of servicing customers fairly and promptly, that you have very little compassion for your customers. Honestly, I do not understand what is going wrong when I am doing what is expected of me.

· Your turn around time is insane – to make it worse, the staff seems very *********** and do not follow workflows correctly. Every query is attended to, exactly after 3 business days and each time they do attend to your query, nothing materializes and you’d have to wait another 3 hopeless business days.

· There is no organization – I did not understand how one consultant could locate my documents when another could not. I also did not understand how one consultant could tell me something else and another something totally different. Don’t you keep a record of what you do on each application case?

· And what happens to those call recordings you keep telling us about? It appeared to me that, even that online declaration was never recorded, it does not exist and I was totally deceived. I thought that, these recordings can be retrieved at any given time, to prove for example, in instances where telephonic declarations are made and to prove that, what a customer is saying, is really true, because honestly, I now feel like a fool, a joke and some crazy guy, blowing out of proportion, over nothing, when honestly, I feel very tired of calling FNB every day about something I thought was supposed to be simple. Am I asking for the stars? Is this difficult, do I need to bribe someone now? Do I need to sound desperate, do I need to shout at your staff, cause drama? Is this how things have become?