Standard Bank Secunda lost my NATIS and nobody takes accountability

My experience with Standard Bank, particularly the Secunda branch, has been nothing short of a nightmare.

I requested my vehicle NATIS document through my then private banker and specifically asked for it to be delivered to the Secunda branch. The dispatch status still reflected that it had been directed to her, yet when I followed up, instead of receiving assistance, I was met with a rude and dismissive attitude.

Rather than helping me trace an important document, I was told that if I wanted the issue resolved, I would need to drive hundreds of kilometres to sort it out myself. This after I had already been sent from pillar to post with no clear answer, no urgency, and no resolution.

I was later told that the NATIS had been rerouted to the Southdale branch on my instruction. However, no one could provide basic details such as who the parcel was addressed to, who received it, or where exactly it ended up. So where is it? How does a NATIS document simply disappear into thin air within a bank’s system?

This is not some minor admin error. A NATIS document is an important legal vehicle document, and the complete lack of accountability in handling it is both careless and unacceptable. To avoid wasting any more time with this level of disorganisation, I ended up paying for a duplicate NATIS out of my own pocket just so I could move on with my life. Let that sink in: I never received my original NATIS from Standard Bank, yet I still had to pay again because of their failure to deliver and trace it properly.

To make matters even worse, the Secunda branch never answers their phones. And when you do eventually get hold of someone, the response is to “come to the branch.” Come to the branch to do what exactly? Surely all that needed to happen was for someone to check the bank’s document management or tracking system and establish the whereabouts of the NATIS.

This entire experience has been exhausting, frustrating, and completely unacceptable. Poor communication, rude service, weak internal controls, and zero ownership of a problem that should never have become this difficult.

I cannot wait to receive the duplicate NATIS that I was unnecessarily forced to pay for, and once that is done, I will be cutting all ties with Standard Bank.

Absolutely disgraceful service.