CATASTROPHIC RETIREMENT EXPERIENCE WITH FNB

I have been a private wealth client and customer of FNB for over a decade. ALL my assets have been managed by FNB. How dare you say that your customers are important and are valued!! We are not!! I have NEVER experienced such shocking, non existent and couldn’t give a #$%& attitude and service EVER!! I have been bounced between call centres, we sights, client service departments and representatives within FNB, who only pay customers lip service, by saying they are “so sorry for your experience” and are not willing to ensure that their customers are treated fairly and ethically. I have spent over a month desperately trying to to get my retirement from their preservation fund concluded and the benefits transferred to a Living Annuity with Sanlam. A very obvious glaring, prejudicial option error was made, after consultation and advice from an accredited financial adviser from another blue chip corporate financial services entity. Immediately after becoming aware of the outcome of this recommended option, which should have been adequately investigated and tested with SARS by the adviser AND financial services entities, I requested that the entire transaction be reversed, the directive cancelled and the full benefit transferred directly to the Living Annuity (as was intended by me), as it was blatantly obvious that the outcome was definitely not managed in my best interest and resulted in serious financial losses for me and my ability to take care of my financial needs into the future. It is merely an administrative process that needs to be managed and processed by FNB and they have refused to do so, despite more than a months efforts of relentless calls, emails, letters and escalations. They have done nothing logical and prudent to address this very obvious failure on the part of all the service providers involved and have made a huge amount of effort to frustrate my efforts to address a glaringly obvious failure of the financial services industry. I have once again lost ALL faith in those that are supposed to guide, advise and protect our interests, especially at a critical time of retirement due to ill-health. To date, my complaints submitted to all their formal channels have not been rep**** to and I only have a string of reference numbers to show for my efforts. I also have a few futile “sorry for your experience” letters from their client services team. Shame on you once again FNB!! I would be safer to keep my hard earned pension fund savings under my mattress. After this entire fiasco FNB also deducted a huge amount of fees from my assets, just as an additional farewell gift, which they have also tried to justify. So we pay for advice, we pay for administration services, we pay for investment platforms etc. But we as the unsuspecting and trusting public, still end up on the back foot. Is there anyone in the financial services sector that will protect our interests and make sure that we are treated fairly? OR when errors occur do they all just keep pointing in the direction of someone else, rather than ensuring that their LOYAL AND TRUSTING customer is PROCESSED , in their best interest. This is surely why the financial institutions exist? What do you want me to do FNB????? Even your contact details on your website and investment platforms are INCORRECT. Please do the right thing and restore our trust.