Outsurance - Never let a debit order bounce, you will regret the admin that follows.

I have been a client of Outsurance for almost 16 years now. Debit order for vehicle, household and Life cover have happily been coming off my account since inception. Happy days. Super service, always happy to deal with them, would not go anywhere else... But then.

Due to unforeseen circumstances and a death in the family, me having to financially support extended family after the funeral, then moving into a new rental apartment to accommodate extended family etc, I had my first ever debit orders bounce this month. Just bad timing of everything, rental deposits, moving trucks, etc etc. When the 1st rolled around, my account was not looking good at all. Trying to be proactive, and shuffling some funds around, I think, "No problem",I will just call Outsurance and ask them if I can make an EFT payment to make sure my cover is still in place. Wow, was I wrong.

I speak to agent no 1 - Give my sob story, no money in my account for debits blah blah, I need to make an EFT payment from another account as I have "debit orders waiting" for any amounts put into my account. "Sorry, we do not do EFT's as it is a nightmare to keep on top of" I am told. "But don't worry Mr. Hunt, I will send you a payment link and you can make payment using that". Oh well, let me try. Agent 1 confirms amounts to be paid, and sends me the link. The link shared only has limited payment options, all of which I have to download a new app, and link it to my bank account, which I do not want to do for a once off payment. I opt for the "pay instore" option. Only to find out, at till point, the amounts in the sms comms sent by agent 1, compared to the link provided, do not correlate?? Huh? I then call Outsurance again, and ask what is going on.

Step in agent 2. Fields the call as per the usual provided script, and then communicates completely different amounts to me, which are slightly lower to my surprise so I happily accept (lol), and receive another payment link sms. I'd just like to make payment to specifically cover the vehicles my wife and I are commuting with daily. Again, back to the "pay instore" option, only to find THE EXACT SAME ISSUE still applies. Amounts do not correlate!!?

I call Outsurance once again only to be informed that Agent 1 actually ****ed things up royally and requested another debit order run on my account(??), with the usual "unpaid debit order" charges, over and above him giving me incorrect amounts via the sms comms and payment links shared. I then "off load" a little on the person on the line as I am now highly frustrated, and anxious about my vehicles not being insured. "I just want to pay you money!! Why is this so difficult" I almost beg, countless times on the line. The usual scripted insincere responses.

I get handed to some sort of team lead/supervisor now. Lip service and script reading, promising me a call back, which he did not follow through on. I fall for his smooth talking and accept that I must wait for ANOTHER call because of the entire "s&^t storm" facilitated by the Outsurance teams before him. I receive a call from a young lady towards the end of the day informing me that once the debit order is returned (thanks agent 1), another payment link will be shared "tomorrow", which will have the correct amounts etc. I thought I was "home and dry".

It is now day 3 of me having to call Outsurance again to find out what the hell is actually going on. I have had the returned debit order messages from my bank, probably close on 2 hours of talk time on my phone, only to be told, I must, "just wait for another payment link to be sent", with a slight undertone implying it is actually my own fault for this all because my debit order bounced. Just wow.

How in this day and age do you not accept EFT's? If I am not a regular user of payment links, as I use debit orders (for 15 years and 10 months I think they said), why is this almost "enforced" as the only option? Why do I have to keep following up with you Outsurance? If I had R50 for every time I told one of the multiple people I spoke to on the phone in frustration, that "I just want to give you my money", I would have enough to pay the bounced debit order, and buy a cold beer to calm my nerves.

This experience has been quite the eye opener for me, and I will make 150% sure moving forward my debit order NEVER EVER bounces again. The only 1 in almost 16 years nogal!! Then, the experience of trying to pay the outstanding amount, now has me on the verge of cancelling everything and finding someone else as this has been an absolute nightmare. And guess what, I am still sitting here waiting for that payment link to be sent.