Stressful experience with our realtor as electronic payment takes 13 days to be credited !!

<p>To whom it may concern</p> <p> </p> <p>My wife and I had a terrible experience with Standard Bank (again) during the past month. A payment for rent was done to a Nedbank account on the 7th of March 2017. After the realtor phoned my wife a few days later to reprimand her that the rent was not paid, she reported the matter to Standard bank in Vanderbijlpark (in Vaal Mall). They said that they must investigate the matter to determine where the money is and that this will take +- 3-6 days. In the mean time the Realtor had to take my accumulated deposit to put the owner of the property at ease. this was a grave embarrasment for us as we are never late with payments and it caused stress and anxiety, especially for my wife whom is staying in the property (I am working overseas). She cried several times and had the worry of being put out by the owner due to non-payment. The bank did not keep her updated at all about the matter and she had to go back on several occasions to find out what is going on. She had to report it, follow up on it, speak to the staff about it and it took her two weeks to eventually make sure that the money was credited. The bank again send her away on the last occasion again and said that they will go to Nedbank to investigate, but that they will recall the money from them in the mean time because they do not know what happened to it. All of a sudden, an hour or two after her last visit to the bank and her being adamant that they should now give us the money back, the money was credited in the Nedbank account. It sounds pecu**** to me, because it took just and hour or so after she had to seriously confront them about it, for the money to be transferred successfully. I personally think that someone did not do their job and that they just continued with their daily c****s around in the bank without doing anything. The bank is not pro-active, they seem to wait for customers to complain before they take action. The 3rd time around my wife had to go to the bank to cancel the recall instruction of the bank for the money to be returned from Nedbank to assure that the realtors account is not debited and that the money nt transferred back to our account. These efforts made by us to get the job done (which Standard Bank should have done well in the first place [and off course they didn't]) every time was a financial expense for us as she had to use transport to get there and this in itself is very expensive. Approximately R300 of her money was wasted on costs, additional to this, her time was taken up to solve the matter (and everybody knows that time is money) and her stress levels were quite high due to the incompetence of Standard Bank. </p> <p>Please note that according to the Consumer Protection Act, Standard Bank should deliver effective service to customers and if they do not do so, one can approach the Ombud to evaluate whether the bank has done it's duty in their best ability in serving the the client, which in this case was definitely not carried out. </p> <p>One can never get compensation for pain and suffering, which in this case were clearly experienced, but I would, as a courtesy from the bank's side, like to request that you at least refund my wife for the financial loss incurred in getting to the bank on several occasions and for the time spent unnecessarily by her to prompt and prompt Standard Bank to please solve the matter. It is utterly nonsense that customers should suffer due to your incompetence and that they should incur expenses in doing so! </p> <p>Please investigate the matter urgently as we did not get any feedback on the matter at any stage and she had to go to the bank to ask for it every time. There is also still no explanation as to the reason for the delay with the transfer. Plus, there is nowhere a stipulation or rule (that I know of) that transfers can take 13 days to reach any other bank, not even overseas banks (my transfers from Saudi Arabia takes 4 hours, how is it possible for a transfer from one SA bank to another can take 13 days?? The date stated as a maximum in your conditions of use of the account is indeed 3-5 working days. </p> <p>So you may ask: What would I as a customer like for you to do to make us again feel appreciated (as we should at any stage anyway) and to make up for the poor/pathetic service? Firstly, sharpen up your customer service and give feedback regularly. Then, refund the customer for expenses incurred (which in this case would be a conservative estimate of at least R1000 for all the costs, efforts and time spent on this matter in trying to get what is owed to us. Thirdly, get at least someone of stature (not an investigating officer or clerk) to come back to us to explain the reasons behind this utterly disgusting service. Lastly, get someone to train your staff on how to adhere to customer service time lines and service levels and providing proper service to customers. I can do such training for you if you appoint me at least for 1 year (on a contract basis, if you prefer) at your company. I have 12 years of experience in teaching customer service workshops and a further 15 years in dealing with customers in a banking environment. At the right fee, I will uplift your levels of customer service significantly during this period and make you a bank that South Africa can be proud of. Just for information: this is not the first time that we have problems with the bank; it is about the 5th time where pathetic customer service was thrown at our door, which is highly unacceptable - and this has to stop! Please, I am asking you nicely, get your ducks in order as you are dring customers away from your institution and this is not a positive for any company, no matter who they are...</p> <p> </p> <p>Thank you kindly</p> <p> </p> <p>CJ Booyse</p>