Worst Customer service by Absa Idirect

On the 6 March 2021 there was a major storm in the vicinity of Greenstone Hill as it was the storm season. My dad who is the registered driver of my vehicle, as it was given to him, drove into a massive flooding that forms at the entrance of Pebble Creek Estate. Following this on the 11 March the vehicle just switched off on his way to Lenasia and the car was towed back to my residence of Pebble Creek Estate. We are not mechanics and had the car viewed by a mechanic and he advised it may be an electrical issue. The car was collected By Bosch services as they are RMI registered specialists. The electric components were stripped, and thorough analysis was done. Due to covid issues there was delays in analysing the vehicle and a report was issued to us that there is water damage to certain electrical components that has damage to major electrical parts, issued on the 20 April. As being covered by my insurance for water damage I immediately called Absa on the 21 April to register the claim.

My communication with Absa: On the 21 April I called Absa to register my claim and was told by an assistant called Denolan that due to covid, they are very busy, and an agent will contact me within 48 hours. Time had passed and I received no call. I then chose to register the claim online. On the 24 April I received a call from an agent who handled my claim and said Absa will be in contact with me. On the 29th April I received a call from a lady who is registered as my claim handler requesting to collect the car so that it can be assessed. I first queried on why the car needs to be moved to do just an assessment. I was advised that the Bosch dealership is not registered with Absa Idirect and cannot be assessed. I was now told that they will pay the assessment fee of R2700 to Bosch which I have to pay on top of my excess which I agreed to and Absa will move the vehicle on my approval. On my call which is recorded I requested communication on who will move the vehicle and when will the vehicle be moved, before giving my consent for the safety of my vehicle. Due to me travelling at the time en route to Nelspruit and poor signal the call was cut. Lesego( i assume her name) was quite arrogant and had my car removed without communicating my request on where my car is going to. She did not even have the decency of calling me to tell me that my car was removed from Bosch. I had advised that I will give consent only if I know when the car will be collected and where it will be going to. On her own accord my vehicle was removed. Absa had not given Bosch time to reinstall the stripped vehicle and collected the vehicle the next morning. I received a call from Auto Bonn on friday the 23 April saying they have collected the vehicle and it has not been put together. I had to wait to monday and called in to Absa Idirect and spoke to a lady named Thuli. She advised that Absa is not aware that the vehicle has been collected and will allocate an assessor. Days go by and no communication. I then call in again thursday 29 April and still no communication.

I get a call back later to say now an assessor has been allocated only. I then get a call from the claim handler for the first time since the previous week and she advises that we concluded our meeting yet we did not. In this call I advised on poor communication and I also want communication via email which to date not a single email has been received. She advised that she is only required to communicate every 4 days and go on to say she will next communicate on Tuesday the 11 May which I accepted. I would like to query this with Absa as well. Is it only policy to communicate with a customer every 4 days as stated by the claim handler, or should the customer be kept up to date on a regular basis. This was also not done appropriately as i received the next call from her On thursday the 13 may I received a call from her to say the claim has been rejected. I was very upset as I would like to know on what basis was this done. I requested a detailed report and analysis by Absa on email on the all the tests that were done to prove this so that we can compare my analysis to theirs. I advised I will be reporting this to the ombudsmen as well. I called in an hour later to request the tests and analysis done only to find that no tests were done and the claim was rejected by a higher authority on face value. They reopened the case on the same day, the 13 May and advised that the will send a specialist to assess. It is now the 18 May and any rational individual will understand that during this long period all evidence of water will now be evaporated. The other problem is that

I want to make note that I am the first owner of this vehicle and have a full service history and stamped at registered dealerships since 2013 and can provide this immediately. I have been with Absa idirect since the purchase of the vehicle in 2013 and have had 1 claim over 4 years ago due to slight hail damage. I have given this vehicle in 2018 to my now retired parents who have also maintained the vehicle very well.

The individual that has rejected the matter is not looking to assist in this matter but rather find another way to not approve the claim. I am appalled in the way the entire process is being handled. No written communication to date. I was positive that Absa would find a way to reject the claim so I reported the matter to the Ombudsmen on the 14 May.

On the 20th May the same claim handler called me in to advise that the claim has been rejected. There is no analysis sent to me to date. The analysis was pulled over time so that the actual water damage would not reflect.

I will not only be cancelling my insurance with Absa but will also be moving away from Absa banking services completely. This vehicle was also financed with Absa.