Old Mutual not adhering to FAIS and CPA principles!

Dear Old Mutual,

I am concerned and upset at the manner your staff have conducted themselves when handling my complaint. I have a retirement policy with Old Mutual and I asked for advice via the service center, if I could make a withdrawal against the policy (the policy number was included in the initial email). One of the Senior Administrators responded to my query (via email and there is proof) and advised me that I could indeed make a withdrawal. He subsequently sent me forms to complete and submit so that we can fullfil the request. I did all that as advised. He promised that the process would take about 21 days to complete. On the basis of this advice I then went and made other financial commitment hoping to settle (net it off) it when the pay out from the policy came through. When I later followed up with the consultant, I was then advised that I could no longer make a withdrawal against the policy as the rules of the policy did not allow for this. The only explanation they are giving me is that they did not conduct due diligence and they are sorry and I must accept their apology. Obviously I cannot accept this because I have already incurred financial loss due to the incorrect information from Old Mutual. In this situation I am of the view that Old Mutual has to honour the request as the fault is on their side. This is in line with the principle of FAIS. I have been trying to resolve this matter with their service centre and nobody wants to listen to my case except that their hands are tied and I must just accept that they made a mistake and move on. I get the feeling the staff are not interested in solving my query, but they are more concerned about protecting the company and the staff member who sent me wrong information. This is certainly not the right way to do business as they are not putting the customer concern/needs first. They are not living up to their values as a company and the values of the Financial Services Industry.

I am very frustrated with this flagrant disregard of the rules of the Financial Services Act of which they are meant to be bound to.

What I want is for the Old Mutual to accept the liability and pay out as it is their staff who failed to conduct due diligence on the matter and provide correct information to me.

Please Old Mutual can someone senior in the organization get involved and help resolve this matter ASAP!