FNB - How CAN'T we help you

<p>I’m writing this mail to let you know about the stocking service I received today from your Card Collection Division.</p> <p><br />I have been with FNB since I owned a BOB card over 25 years ago, and can tell you that the attitude of (some) of the consultants was terrible. Bad enough to have me reconsider having my accounts with FNB.</p> <p><br />My credit card was in excess over the last 10 days by R278,29. I received an sms, and told myself I would transfer money across from my cheque account come pay day (today 25th April 2017). I have done this before on my online backing profile – simple. Then the phone calls started regarding my credit card being in excess – up to 3/4 times per day over the last 10 days. I spoke to one consultant & said that I didn’t feel comfortable disclosing my personal details with someone who had contact me, knowing that ***** is pretty rife. I have also previously had a terrible experience with these card collection consultants, whereby one even threatened to have me blacklisted if I did not make the payment. When I contacted FNB to query if this was true, I was advised that sometime these outsourced consultants could be a bit aggressive – hence my hesitation to deal with them this time.</p> <p><br />Today, my salary reflected in my cheque account. I was in a meeting, and as soon as it concluded, was going to do the transfer… I don’t like being in excess, and wanted to sort it out asap. Before my meeting even concluded, I received an sms notification stating that the amount of R278,29 had been debited from my account. Now I was surprised, as this hadn't been happened before. I must admit that I was also a bit frustrated, as I think this is quite invasive, and surely based on my history with the bank, unnecessary.</p> <p><br />I then decided to call Fnb to query why a debit was made. </p> <p><br />The first consultant I spoke to was called Fortunate ( ********** ) – she was pleasant & as helpful as she could be. I explained my query and about my credit card being in excess, and wanted to find out why my account had been debited, when I would have done the transfer myself. She said that this was not her department, and that I would need to speak to someone else. I explained that I was not contesting that I owed the money, but merely the manner in which it had been handled. She noted that this was unusual behavior, and something that was only usually done with poor paying customers. She said that given my good payment history, that it was unusual. She then transferred me to another consultant called Sifiso, who she said should be able to give me clarity. Sifiso was also helpful & pleasant, and when I asked him the same question – as to why the amount had been debited when I had always settled the excess in the past, he put me on hold while he spoke to someone in the Card Collections Division… he came back to me and said that they thought there had been a mistake, and that he would transfer me to this division. I was then put through to a lady called Zanele (I think) in the Card Collection Division. She explained that the debit was done to settle the excess, but once again, when I pressed her for an answer regarding what had changed between my previous experience of just doing a transfer personally, to now having the money debited – she could not answer & said that she needed to speak to her supervisor. I was put on hold again & waited…. My line was then cut / or the call dropped.</p> <p><br />I was busy at work, and then decided to try call again once I got home…. This is when the experience went from fine to shocking. I called the FNB credit card number on ********** and was transferred three times, each time having to give the agent my details, go through the verification process & then be told that theirs was the incorrect division & they could not help me. I then decided to call the ********** again and asked to speak to Fortunate who has assisted me in the morning. She transferred me straight to the Card Collection Division, where I was trying to track down ‘Zanele’ whose call I had been disconnected from. I was unlucky enough to then have to deal with a lady called Adele. By the time I was transferred to her, I was frustrated at being given the run around, and asked to speak to a manager. She said the manager was on lunch and didn’t know when they would be back. This was at around 2pm. I explained that I was frustrated and didn’t want to take my frustration out on her, and would prefer to speak to someone more senior in the hope of getting answers. She again said that there was no one there I could speak to. In my quest to be heard, I decided to tell her my query. Her attitude and the manner in which she spoke to me when I pressed her for more details / asked question was awful. She was rude, obnoxious and down right arrogant. She stated that the debit was standard procedure, and something that was in the T&C’s – when pressed as to why I was unaware of this, and why this had never happened to me before, she said that it was all in black & white and that I should read my agreement with fnb, and that the processes where allowed to change, and that if I was so concerned I should contact my branch for a copy to read. When pressed as to why my account hadn’t been debited before when it was in excess – she said that I had never been in excess before. When I tried to correct her, she cut me off. When I tried to bring up the comment from the other consultants regarding this being practice for clients that were considered ‘poor paying’ customers & the comment by Sifiso that there seemed to have been a mistake – she ignored me & made me feel as if I was wasting her time. She was dismissive and completely uninterested in assisting me, or taking the time to talk me through the process / explain why it had been handled this way. I then got frustrated and shouted at her & said that if I left Fnb, I would list her & the way she had treated me as one of the reasons for closing my accounts – she said I should do just that. I then asked to speak to the supervisor again (who was still away on lunch) and she said that she would leave a message but couldn’t guarantee that the supervisor would return my call. How can your tag line be – How Can we help you, when you have no channel of communication to a manager on duty, whose sole discretion it is to decide IF they want to call you back. All I wanted was an answer to why my status had been changed to that of a poor paying customer? I then asked to be transferred to the complaints department – she then transferred to to some general division!!! When asked who I needed to speak to to lay a complaint, I was then told to send an e-mail?????!!!!! If that was the process all along, then why did Adele not tell me this, instead of transferring me again to some irrelevant division, and wasting my time. How the hell am I meant to make my voice heard, when there is no channel of communication to supervisors, and complaints are handled via e-mail? You are taking the human element out of your service, and this is cascading down to the way some of your consultant are treating customers – with disregard & like we are a waste of their time!!! I was then transferred another three times before finally being put through to the Card Collection Division…only to be transferred directly back to Adele. Once I knew who I was speaking to, I immediately asked to speak to another consultant in the same division. I was then transferred to Palesa, who tried to assist. What shocked me, was while I was once again having to explain my query, I could hear my name being mentioned in the background. When I pressed the Palesa as to why they were speaking about me & what they were saying – she ignored me / tried to steer the conversation off the topic. I once again asked to speak to a supervisor, and she said that their supervisor Cynthia was still on lunch and that no body knew when she would be back. I asked again whom else I could speak to, and she said there was no one else in the division whom I could contact & that I should send an e-mail. I said that I wanted Cynthia to call me back, and she reiterated that this was at Cynthia’s discretion – I told her that I wanted Cynthia to contact me, so that I could get an explanation, and she said that it would be best for me to call again tomorrow morning. I had now spoken to 9 different agents, and over the course of the day been on the phone for over two hours, only to be told that I needed to call them back?! I keep thinking how stupid I must be to accept this kind of behavior from a service provider, where I am the customer, and who’s tag line is HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?????</p> <p><br />I work for a well known fast food outlet, and can tell you that the training we receive and enforce in our stores is to treat customers like gold. Nothing is ever too much for a customer to ask, whom is ultimately paying my salary and paying for my service! I cannot tell you how disgusted I feel to be a customer on the receiving end of such poor service, especially that received from Adele, when I know how much other companies out there appreciate & value their customers.</p> <p><br />Overall, I spent over 2 hours on the phone, was transferred more times than I can count, spoke to at least 9 consultants, and still have not had a simple answer to my query. The service alone from Adele was enough for me to consider closing my accounts, and then to hear them speaking about me in the background was appalling. </p> <p><br />I initiated this process to just query why the debit occurred, when I have always made payment. This was compounded by the feedback I received from some consultants that this was usually procedure reserved for poor paying customers. My curiosity was then treated with distain and irrelevance, which resulted in me being a very frustrated customer. All this over R278,29??? FNB – is this really worth it? </p> <p><br />You have the telephonic recordings of the conversations – go back and listed to them, and then tell me FNB, would you really want to be one of your own customers? If these are meant to be your values – you have lost your way.</p> <p> </p> <p><br />"Make your voice heard<br /> <br />FNB aims to be a values-based company whose employees share one job description - to serve you the customer.</p> <p>Our promise of "How can we help you?" says it all. We pledge our commitment to giving you great service and helpful information. "</p> <p> </p>