Unauthorised deduction from my account by Standard Bank

I have been battling with Standard Bank to reverse a deduction they made off my Current Account on 31 January without my authorisation. Standard Bank allege that I subscribed to one of their services/products "myupdates" and that the deduction of R18.60 is a fee for my subscription.

I have never subscribed to their service/product. I do not know what their service/product is about. I do not want to know. I don't want anything to do with their service/product.

I deeply resent Standard Bank unilaterally deducting money from my account without my authority. This is an ******** action in my view. The fanciful assumption that I sommer just subscribed to this service/product is wishful thinking at best. I have never subscribed to this service/product and cannot fathom how Standard Bank could act so recklessly and just assume I'm a subscriber. Not the responsible behavior one would expect from one's bank.

I complained by email to Standard Bank and a case was opened with a reference number. I received a very eloquent letter of apology from Standard Bank who enthusiastically proclaimed in their email: "Complaint resolved. Your issue has been successfully addressed."

A quick examination of my current account proved that this was not the case. The deduction had not been reversed. There was no credit to my account.

I addressed a follow up letter of complaint to Standard Bank and thanked them for their apology and the good news that they had successfully resolved my issue. I explained that unfortunately their joy in resolving the matter was premature as they had not taken any action to address my complaint apart from apologising to me. I spelt out to Standard Bank what was required to resolve the matter.

1. Refund the monies ********ly deducted from my account without my authorisation. 2. Remove me from their list of subscribers to their service/product as I had never subscribed and have no intention of subscribing. 3. Never do this to me again.

Another polite email arrived from Standard Bank asking if they could phone me to discuss the matter. I rep**** there is nothing to discuss. Its simple. Just please see my three points required to resolve the matter:

1. Refund the monies ********ly deducted from my account without my authorisation 2. Remove me from their list of subscribers to their service/product as I had never subscribed and have no intention of subscribing. 3. Never do this to me again.

Another polite email arrived from Standard Bank begging me to allow them to phone me because of security reasons to protect my account. At this stage I gave up - how was the protection of my account now so important but just a short time ago Standard Bank was making an unauthorised deduction from my account! It was strange indeed to have a thought that my account needed to be protected from Standard Bank! I advised Standard Bank in exasperation that I was referring the matter to Hellopeter with the hope that they could help.

I note from Hellopeter's site that I am not the only one to be the victim of this very same issue with unauthorised deductions for a fictitious subscription. I also note Standard Bank's response is invariably the same to Hellopeter ie " they will find a solution that works for you and a member of the team will get back to you asap." Please tell Standard Bank no more of this drivel. The only solution is what I told Standard Bank initially ie:

1. Refund the monies ********ly deducted from my account without my authorisation. 2. Remove me from their list of subscribers to their service/product as I had never subscribed and have no intention of subscribing. 3. Never do this to me again.

Thank you so much.