Urgent Request for Investigation into Debt Review Cancellation and Refund Issues

Good Day,

I have been considering going under Debt Review with Gold Leaf Financial Services due to issues I have been experiencing with a joint bond following the passing on of my Dad who was one of the joint bondholders. After consulting with Gold Leaf, I asked Kauthar if she could check if the bond could be included under the debt review umbrella. She informed me after I was told that I needed to approve the debi check first, in order for them to check, that it could not be included because we needed to follow a different legal process since the property is part of an estate late. I communicated to Kauthar on May 18th that I would then not be proceeding with the debt review process.

On that same date, 18th May, Kauthar confirmed that she would cancel my application and assured me that no funds would be deducted from my bank account. However, on May 26th, R11,427.82 was deducted from my bank account. I immediately informed Kauthar, and she advised that she would consult her manager, as she had already sent an email to the relevant department on May 18th to cancel the mandate. I was asked to provide a copy of my ID and the bank statement showing the deduction, which I did on May 26th. Kauthar later that day mentioned that she spoke with her boss, who assured her that I would have my money refunded, and that I should inform her once I had received it.

By May 29th, I had still not received the refund. When I followed up with Kauthar, she told me they were busy and asked me to be patient as it was month-end. I requested some email confirmation that the refund process had begun and when I could expect my money as I had bills to pay, but she stated that this was not possible and I could not be copied on the correspondence with the department responsible for processing refunds as it was against their policy for me to be cc’d on that mail.

On June 2nd, I followed up with Kauthar again, but she told me she was not at work and would respond the next day. When the next day arrived, I was informed that Kauthar would be unavailable until the following Thursday.

I attempted to call the Gold Leaf office for two days, leaving messages that went unanswered. Finally, on June 5th, I managed to speak with a manager. When I asked for her name, she simply referred to herself as "the Manager" and refused to provide her name. I explained all of the above, only to be told, after she has asked for my ID number, "Sorry ma’am, but you only cancelled on May 29th, so there’s nothing I can do." I clarified that I had indeed cancelled on May 18th and was asked to forward the relevant emails to her proving this, which I did.

The manager, who I later discovered is Ilhaam, promised to call me back by the end of the day, but that did not happen. The following day, I called her back a few times and left messages again. Eventually I called in again and got hold of Ilhaam, and instead of apologizing for not returning my call, she immediately began to dismiss my concerns, stating that they would only refund R6,300, which I would receive on June 10th. I expressed my dissatisfaction, stating that it was unfair since I had been cautious in my discussions and was initially assured that I needed to approve the debi check first as my bond account would be covered. I was sent the debi check which I approved under false pretenses, received from Gold Leaf Financial Services that our joint bond would be covered under the debt review.

I have sent numerous follow-up emails to Ilhaam at ***, ***, and ***, but to date, no one has responded, and I have not received any of the funds that was taken from me.

Please investigate this matter as I am appalled by how I was led to believe I would be helped, only to be deceived by this company and its employees.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent issue.

Sincerely, Lynette Wyngaard