Unacceptable treatment by lawyers acting on behalf of FNB.

I hereby wish to lay a formal complaint regarding the treatment I received whilst contacting your attorneys Groenewald and Lubbe to settle an outstanding debt. I politely asked the lady (Chane) if there was a possibility in reducing the amount of owed as I would like to close the account and have the negative rating removed. She very rudely and arrogantly refused and when I informed her that the judgement taken out by them against me was done at a magistrate 160 Km from my home and the summons was sent to an address in that. She got very irate, rude and defensive stating that I had not had the decency to pay the account and shouldn't be asking for a discount. This she did without knowing the circumstances of me defaulting on the account and is not only rude but extremely unprofessional. I am surprised that a reputable organisation like yourselves continue to do business with an organisation like that.

I understand that it is a legal debt and that I am required, and very willing, to settle but being treated in such a manner is unacceptable. I have in-turn approached an attorney to have the "*******ly obtained" judgement rescinded at the magistrates court and am inclined to approach the banking ombudsman and the Law Society of South Africa regarding this blatant abuse of power and unprofessionalism. Not to mention the fact that the lawyer *********ly had the judgement taken out against me without my knowledge at a magistrate far from my address.

I am not unreasonable and would like you to discuss options with you to resolve this matter civilly. However, I refuse to deal with the lawyers as they obviously have no interest in and manner of discussing these matters with me.