Uncaring and Unsympathetic FNB

I am an ABSA client, but unfortunately I have had a very bad indirect experience with First National Bank (FNB). During January 2021 we and some friends made a booking at the Forellenhof Guest Farm in Wakkerstroom. The owner of the guest farm, Mrs Ronelle van Eeden is a FNB client. After making the booking I received an invoice from Mrs van Eeden and my friends made an immediate EFT for half of the amount. The next day I received an e-mail from, apparently from the guest farm, indicating that they had some problems with their bank account and that they would send me an alternative account number the next day for payment of the outstanding amount (R3,600). The next day I again received an e-mail from the guest farm with an FNB alternative account number on a official FNB letterhead. I then paid the outstanding amount into the alternative account number. On the final day of our visit to the guest farm Mrs van Eeden presented me with an invoice for R3,600 after which I indicated to her that I have already paid the outstanding amount. After checking her accounts Mrs van Eeden could not find evidence of any such payment and requested me to provide the proof of payment. On doing so Mrs van Eeden indicated that she does not have such an account and suspected that fruad might have been committed. It then became evident that ********* cloned the guest farm's e-mail address, intercepted the e-mails between me and the guest farm, created an account with the name of "Forellenhof Guest Family" with FNB and then presented me with the account number into which I, unsuspectingly paid the outstanding amount. Mrs van Eeden immediately reported the incident to the SAPS and FNB (Reference Number ***) and asked FNB if they could refund her for the outstanding amount as the loss was in actual fact incurred be her and not by me. FNB however indicated that if they were prepared to refund the amount it would be provided to me and I would then have to refund Mrs van Eeden. Unfortunately, even though she is a FNB client, the case officer of FNB has failed to provide any feedback whatsoever to Mrs van Eeden. On 24 February 2021 I at least was informed by ABSA that FNB would not be refunding me for the outstanding amount, because the money has already been withdrawn from the account. I then had to inform Mrs van Eeden of FNB's decision. Up to today she has not received any feedback from her own bank. I suspect that the clearly uncaring personnel at FNB does not realize that the loss was actually incurred by their client and not by me. I am also of the opinion that in the creation of the **********ly account at FNB all the FICA regulations were not adhered too and that FNB does want to admit their negligence in this regard. All that being said I am very glad that I am not a FNB client and I cannot believe that FNB is so unsympathetic and uncaring about their own client at a time where the tourism industry is already suffering to recover from the adverse effects of the Covid pandemic. For FNB R3,600 is most probably miniscule, but for Mrs van Eeden's guest farm it is "bread and butter" money.

Dawid Fourie