LOAN ****

We were recently the victims of a loan **** by someone purporting to be Direct Axis. We had dealt with Direct Axis before and everything seemed legit. After the loan was granted and before transferring the loan funds, they asked for an amount close to R5,499 to cover “insurance”. This was paid from my Standard Bank account to a nominated FNB account After discovering that we were de*****ed, our attempts to obtain repayment of our funds through FNB was a nightmare, including: • There is no means to contact FNB ***** unit other than via a single telephone line • Their service agents advise that they have rules and procedures and are reluctant to receive any information from callers until a ***** investigator is appointed • FNB Branch staff inform us that were we FNB customers the ***** department would be more responsive to our case • We open a police case, forward all the documentation to Standard Bank (for onward transmission to FNB), establish from the FNB line that the “Direct Axis” account is actually in the name of Lucky Selipe (clearly evidence of *****), are informed every time we ask that our money is safe and on hold, not to worry, an investigator is sure to be in touch with us soon • We are suddenly advised by Standard Bank that the outcome they have received from FNB is that the ********** funds were all utilised by the account holder by the time the case was reported to them. (This doesn’t stack up – unless the funds were never on hold). They further advise that through SA Police we can subpoena FNB with a section 205 to obtain information, and approach the Commercial Crime Division, “assisting them track these attempts and hopefully bring an end to the current onslaught”! This was a huge loss to us, an unconscionable theft, and FNB’s response pathetic and uncaring My reading of their service culture, ethics and process in this instance is that FNB are simply not interested in learning, nor responding to what is not in their direct short-term interest