Most useless service *ever* for simple account opening

<p>I have banked with FNB for a number of years now, so when I recently decided to start my own business FNB was the logical choice for my business account. I tried applying online for the account, however the online registration process could not find the registration number of my company - sign number one. I then called the business banking number and set up an account online with relative ease; all that was required was for me to submit my registration documents, proof of address and ID copies, seemed rather easy...</p> <p> </p> <p>I received an email on the 6th of June requesting the appropriate documentation, which I duly submitted on the 8th of June.</p> <p> </p> <p>On the 15th of June I received another email requesting the exact same document again, to which I simply forwarded the mail I had sent the previous week.</p> <p> </p> <p>On the 18th of June I received another email asking (for the third time) for ID copies of the directors of the business and for signed copies of 3 new forms that I hadn't seen before</p> <p> </p> <p>Due to being somewhat busy, I rep**** with the required forms, and yet again with the ID copies on the 30th of June.</p> <p> </p> <p>I received a reply on 1 July requesting a signed copy of one of the forms I had already submitted on the 30th of June and asking for the 4th time for ID copies of all directors, this time specifying that they needed to be "CLEAR" copies - this was something new. I dutifully resubmitted the requested form and sent in more copies of ID documents on July the 7th</p> <p> </p> <p>On July 11th I received another mail requesting yet more documentation, I called the contact centre to verify which document was needed and was assisted by an agent and as such I duly sent this off on the same day.</p> <p> </p> <p>The very next day I received yet another email asking for the exact same document again, again I forwarded the document with a request to please acknowledge receipt. I received the following response:</p> <p> </p> <p>"Good day</p> <p>Please send through the name of the business application in order to be able to assist."</p> <p> </p> <p>That was the sum-total of the email I received. I rep****, quoting my ID number and business number, yet to date have received no reply.</p> <p> </p> <p>Meanwhile, on the 9th of July I had received the following SMS and email:</p> <p> </p> <p>"Dear valued customer<br />• FNB :-) Bus a/c ...209260 was not used for a period of 35 days since opened. Kindly transact on a/c to avoid closure. Contact ********** 000 for queries.09Jul 07:00"</p> <p> </p> <p>This is now starting to get embarrassing, I have a customer who wants to pay me however I have to ask them to please wait until my business bank account is unfrozen...</p> <p> </p> <p>After not receiving any reply to my last email, I decide on the 18th of July to phone the contact centre. I am told by the agent that my account has been finalised and all that is required is for someone from some other department to call me back in order to authenticate me and then my account can be activated. I let them know that I have now been waiting 5 days for this to happen and the agent informs me that they have issued an urgent request to call me back and someone will contact me before close of business - great, finally I can get paid!</p> <p> </p> <p>Fast forward two more days to Thursday, and still no call. I call the contact centre again, and get told the exact same story - they just need to call me back and it has been urgently escalated and someone will call me back, if no one has called by 3pm I should call again. So 3pm comes around and still no call, I phone the contact centre and get hold of a very helpful agent (Jennifer I think) who actually gets up and physically delivers the request to call me back. She promises I will receive a call shortly. An hour later I receive a call which I unfortunately was not able to answer, I receive a voicemail and an email from Shaunice saying the following:</p> <p> </p> <p>"Good day</p> <p> </p> <p>I have been trying to contact you regarding your business account, please provide me with a convenient time or alternative number to contact you on."</p> <p> </p> <p>I reply at 8am the next day saying the following:</p> <p> </p> <p>"Hi Shaunice,</p> <p>Apologies for missing your call yesterday. I am available any time after 11am this morning"</p> <p> </p> <p>To which I receive, take a guess? No response.</p> <p> </p> <p>Today I call in, filled with renewed hope that I can finally get this sorted out since I need to issue two more invoices but cannot because my clients cannot pay me and what happens - technical difficulties which mean that apparently no one can help me and no one can call me back, so I get told - yet again to phone back later...</p> <p> </p> <p>To really push this into the realm of the absurd, I asked the agent when I called on Monday the 18th whether I could expedite the process by actually going into a branch to sort things out only to be told that going to a branch will not help as I did not open the account at a branch, they would still have to call me back.</p> <p> </p> <p>I have heard some stories from friends about the FNB being rather useless when it comes to opening a business account, sad to say that FNB lived up to those stories and then took it to the next level!</p> <p> </p>