FNB SIM Card... How can we help you? NOT!!!!

On the 21st of June I discovered that my FNB simcard was no longer accepting SMS's or phonecalls. It just responded with a message that the number does not exist. I could still make calls from the phone, and also was able to receive (and send) Whatsapp and Email messages. When I looked in my phone history, I noticed that the last SMS received was on the 13th of June.

The result of this is that I cannot do any transactions requiring OTP verification. I stressed this to the call centre agent when I reported the issue on the 21st, and was assured that they will ask a technician to contact me before the end of the day.

Not having received the promised return call, on Friday I tested the simcard in another phone, and found that the other phone behaved exactly the same. I then called again, and was assured that this issue had already been escalated and I could expect feedback within 48hours. On the Monday I called once more, and was told that it would now be escalated to their team leader and that I could expect a callback before the end of the day. Obviously that never transpired.

Over the week I called a few times, each time going through the whole explanation of the sad story until Friday the 29th when I really got frustrated and left a strongly worded message on the FNB contact interface. Then, on Monday I eventually got a call back from someone, who essentially told me it was a huge technical problem and that it could take anything from 1 day to 1 week to get this issue resolved. So I resolved to wait a week... meanwhile I am unable to do any transactions requiring my cellphone number.

On Wednesday, I got a message on my wife's phone, which is set as my FNB contact no, that my cell number is being ported. So, full of false hope, on Thursday morning I tested a call to my phone; this time being greeted with the option to leave a message in my voicemail. So, the afternoon I tested again, still the same. I then once more, foolishly, called the helpdesk where I was told that the call is still open and that no progress report has been logged. So essentially, sit down and wait. The agent did offer to escalate the call for me... fat help that was previously.

Now we are on Friday,TWO AND A HALF WEEKS LATER AND STILL NOTHING!!!!!!

Nearly every time I had interactions with FNB I have walked away frustrated and upset. It seems as though they can't, or won't, do anything right when it comes to dealing with me. The only way I have of communicating with this company is via HelloPeter. I honestly believe that the mistake I made when I let myself be convinced to transfer my business to them, ranks up there with the big ones in my life.