HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE AND EMPTY PROMISES

I am raising a formal complaint regarding FNB’s failure to honour the six-month fee-free benefit that was promised to me when I opened my Aspire account, as well as the extremely poor service I received via Secure Chat.

In September, an FNB sales consultant visited my workplace and informed us that our company has a partnership with FNB. We were explicitly told that if we opened an Aspire account, our banking fees would be free for the first six months — the fees would be deducted and then immediately reversed.

To date, FNB has deducted fees for October and November (R120 each) and has not reversed a single cent, despite this being a confirmed benefit.

I contacted Secure Chat on Monday to resolve this, and the experience has been unacceptable:

The chat repeatedly disconnected, forcing me to restart the explanation with multiple agents.

Agents took long to respond with no courtesy, no updates, and no professionalism.

I was told the reversal was requested and would reflect within 3 working days.

Today I was told the request was denied, with no valid explanation.

The next agent simply copied and pasted the previous message before the chat disconnected again.

This constant inconsistency, lack of accountability, and poor communication is not acceptable for a financial institution.

I am requesting immediate corrective action as follows:

1. Reversal of the October and November banking fees (R240 total) within 5–7 working days.

2. A clear explanation as to why the original reversal request was denied, despite being confirmed by an agent.

3. A proper escalation to the correct department, with written confirmation and no further “copy-paste” responses.

4. Feedback regarding the Secure Chat agents’ lack of soft skills, delayed responses, and repeated disconnections. This system urgently requires improvement.

I expect this matter to be handled promptly and professionally, and I expect confirmation once the refund process has been initiated.

Thank you. Nikita Bergstedt