Absolutely disgusting service

<p>The biggest mistake I have made was to open up a saving account with Standard Bank earlier this month. In all my life, I have never received such pathetic service. As a customer service representative I understand the importance of customer satisfaction, so for this useless bank to treat me the way they did was absolutely degrading and appalling.</p> <p> </p> <p>Earlier this month (July) I decided to change banks , this was the sole purpose of accessing my salary. The consultant at Gateway Standard bank in Durban didn’t seem to clued up, however I gave her the benefit of doubt. I gave her all the required documentation including my pay slip which she attached to the account. The next day after receiving a text message that ********** activity has taken place on my account I called into the call centre. The guy on the phone advised me that my account is fine and that I should ignore the message. On the 27th of July 2017 my salary was paid into my account. I then go into gateway on my lunch break and tried to purchase goods from Game Store. I swiped my card and to my embarrassment the card declines twice. As a diabetic patient my stress levels reached it maximum. I then tried withdrawing money from an ATM which then showed that my account was suspended. I am now at my wits end as I needed my money urgently to pay my cash accounts. I go into the branch just after 2PM. The consultant at the bank showed no sense of urgency as she brushed me off by putting me on the phone with head office without even bothering to explain to them what was going on. I tried calling her to the phone and she tells me she’s busy and can’t help me. ( why move on to another customer when you haven’t assisted your current customer as yet) Another consultant Ayanda who had no clue what was going on as he seemed like it was his first day on the job tried to assist, speaks to the lady on the phone and tells me that head office blocked my account on the 12/07/2017 because they picked up ***** on my account. I will not be able to access my money until I prove that I work were I claim to work. They then ask me for a pay slip (that I already submitted when I opened up my account which was already attached to my account) before they can un suspend my account. Ayanda says sorry until you give us that pay slip we can’t help you. This ****ed me off as they now make it seem that my hard earned money is ********** and that I am now a ********. My lunch break is now over which means I am now in trouble at work. I tell Ayanda to go back to my files and get my payslip from there. He goes away for a while, comes back after about 15 minutes and says to me “ leave it with me I will send the documents to head office and call you once it’s done” AFTER 15 MINUTES YOU STILL HAVENT SENT THROUGH THE DOCUMENTS!!!!!!</p> <p> </p> <p>I refused to leave that bank until they gave me MY MONEY. Another consultant hears the commotion and takes it upon herself to help as the bank manager Nklakanipho is unavailable. She then checks the account and advises me that Mpho Moegale from head office blocked the account on the 12/07/2017. She calls head office and after being put on hold for another 15-20 minutes we finally get a hold of Mpho who asked the consultant to send through the pay slip of which she does, take note that she is taking the very same pay slip that I provided to them when I opened up the account, that is attached to the same profile that both consultants have access to. It’s now 16.05PM. I have already taken 2 hours of my day trying to access my own salary. At 16.20PM the consultant checks again and tells me that the account is still blocked and that she needs to call Mpho again to check . By this time I am tired and stressed and didn’t even eat or take my medication because Mpho didn’t think that this was a priority. After a few tries to head office the consultant finally gets a hold of Mpho. It’s now 4.55PM and Mpho finally decided to unblock my account. She then calls me with the excuse that it takes long to get to her desk and unlock her P.C. She also says she blocked the account due to security reasons that weren’t even justifiable, as all documentation was submitted. I then leave the bank with some of the branch staff laughing in the back ground like my problem was a joke to them. The only person that apologised for my inconvenience was the branch manager who came in towards the end of the day.</p> <p> </p> <p>My point is:</p> <p>· Before blocking or suspended a customer’s account, the customer supposed to be notified of this.</p> <p>· Why suspend my account in the 1st place if my pay slip is attached to the profile</p> <p>· Why make it seem as my hard earned taxed money is **********</p> <p>· Why make me waste 3 hours of my working day that I now have to cover up</p> <p>· Why does it take 3 consultants 1 idiotic head office woman and a branch manager to solve a problem that could have been resolved in 10 minutes.</p> <p>· Why treat the customer like a ******** when it’s obviously the banks fault.</p> <p> </p> <p>An apology is not going to solve my problem as I felt stress and embarrassment. I lost hours at work that I now need to cover up. I want this issue resolved. Please train your staff as they are *********** and pathetic. Even the bank app is pathetic. This bank should be closed down as they are an embarrassment to this country. I will make sure this reaches all social media as people need to know about the injustice that I had to go through.</p> <p> </p> <p>Samantha Naicker</p>