Annoyed customer

I have vehicle financing with Standard Bank. When my financing was approved one of the requirements which had to be submitted was proof of insurance.

Up until a month ago I have been extremely happy with the service I have been receiving.

With that being said my debit order came off the end of the month (31st of May 2018) like it does every other month however this time my debit order was R717.00 extra. I immediately called the bank to query what it was for. It took Standard Bank more than 24 hours to let me know what this amount was for. I find this shocking to say the least.

When I finally got feedback regarding this “extra” amount, I was advised it was for car insurance. Now firstly, I would like to know where Standard Bank got the permission to add this on. Secondly, I sent through proof of insurance when I bought my car. Have they lost my documents? If so, this is a fault of Standard Bank. And lastly, they took insurance out with the same company that I already have insurance with. Do they not have systems in place which would indicate duplicate - this would have provided them with the information indicating I already have car insurance.

I was advised in the email that I needed to send through my proof of insurance once again. I sent through my proof of insurance and requested that Standard Bank reprocess my amount immediately. I received an email stating that my documents have been received and that I would receive a response within two working days. And I waited. After five days I contacted Standard Bank yet again. I was advised that the email address they sent the “response” to was incorrect. Shocked? Probably not.

I queried how long it would take for my money to reprocessed and I was advised seven working days. Needless to say, I am still waiting.. We are now on twelve working days. When I called Standard Bank again on Friday the 15th, I was advised it would take an extra seven to fourteen working days.

I am extremely frustrated and annoyed with this service. Standard Bank could take my money within two seconds but when I want it processed back to me, I must jump through hoops to get it. All I keep hearing is “we are sorry”, well sorry doesn’t cut it anymore. I am tired of waiting. This honestly feels like my last resort to get my money back. The fact that this is a fault of the banks, I expected it to be resolved ASAP, unfortunately this is not the case.

When you owe the bank money, your phone rings off the hook. However when it’s the bank that owes the customer money, the silence is echoing.