1 reviews | Active since Feb 2018
Pathetic service and unprecedented incompetency
The rating of a single star is dramatically overstated for the pathetic service stanlib (yes with small letter best suits their values) offers to their customers, the level of incompetency and the ignorance towards customer needs is unheard of and unprecedented in the financial service industry or in any other fields for that matter.
Correspondence and deadlines are not existing and if you are lucky enough to score an e-mail after a turnaround time that is unheard of, it for sure will come without a signature, name and contact details of any responsible person. There is no accountability taken by anyone and their dealings are unprofessional in every single way.
I am lucky enough that I only dealt with this "brand" for a single year as my financial broker talked me into their "services" of RA and when I still believed it was possibly beneficial for me a few years back. As it turned out my broker likely to benefited much more out of the deal than myself, ever. It is not about the amount invested into a portfolio that stanlib managed, it is more about the principles around the regulations that stanlib cannot possibly ignore without consequences.
Customer services are non-existent, never mind customer experience. They don't give a damn of what a paying customer thinks or needs.
I have left SA for good and emigrated back to the country of my origin, which is one of the conditions listed under the legal withdrawal of invested funds into an RA policy. Knowing the long processing times when someone is due for a refund, we launched the process and sent instructions for the withdrawal back in Sep 2017. My broker never in 3 months had a joy of even getting a meaningful response. I took over from my financial adviser and contacted stanlib directly in Dec 2017. After an endless chain of emails originated from me I have never received a single personalized message or a phone call from any officials, account manager, operations manager, customer service manager or compliance manager to date.
Besides the automated messages in which they recognize the receipt of my queries and guarantee a 24 hour turnaround time for feedback (what a laughing matter)I only received a single e-mail signed by an official named Ingrid Marsha Naidoo - Complaints Resolution Manager (what a promising title and what another laughing matter) in which this lady has the decency to inquire about the name and contact details of my financial broker and which information should be readily available for stanlib based on the policy number what I used in all my correspondence as reference. So all this after 5 and a half months into the matter.
Once again the instruction for the withdrawal was submitted in Sep 2017 through the specified channels. On the Instruction form the Business cut off time in case of full withdrawal is maximized in 8 business days by when the sums should reflect on the customer's account (so many laughing matters I lost count).
To make the matter sweeter as a non-resident to SA all my SA bank accounts have been closed at the time of my departure from the Republic on 24 Jan 2018. I wonder if this now will serve stanlib with another excuse to delay the payment even further, regardless that it is due to their own negligence and non-compliance and unprecedented incompetency.
At the time of this review the complaint will be submitted to the office of the ombudsman. I have spent 10 years in SA in senior managerial positions with a luxury retail brand and therefore I have high level connections with influencing social and other media representatives, and this matter will be brought to not only their attention but to international media as well. This joke of a financial institution will then be provided with a fair opportunity to express their views concerning this matter.
The amount due back to me is a fracture of what this financial organization spends on a half a minute TV commercial in which they convince future customers to invest with them and about their fair, professional and competent dealings in securing your financial future. Will be definitely beneficial to see footage about this matter before and after such commercials are aired for a fortune and have all that effort and money wasted for a small amount that stanlib wouldn't even feel, not to mention that this is MY MONEY.
Dear Istvan Brem,
Thank you for bringing your dissatisfaction to our immediate attention. The reason for my not responding on the public forum was that we like to be sure of all the details of a case before jumping to just any conclusion.
We do understand that we have not been efficient in contacting you directly - our path has been as per arrangement with your Priority broker, through your financial planner. When this avenue did not yield the results we sought, we should have circumvented your broker and approached you directly. We will provide the necessary training to ensure this does happen automatically going forwards.
My legal team did respond with the following:
In terms of the Taxation Laws Amendment Act No. 15 of 2016 (as it currently stands), individuals may withdraw a lump sum from their retirement annuity fund if:
– They cease to be a tax resident; or
– They leave South Africa at the expiry of the work visa contemplated in the Immigration Act, 2002.
The change these regulations introduced then become effective from 1 March 2016.
Further to the above, it has been confirmed that in these particular circumstances, we are permitted to pay to your offs**** bank account providing it is in the parameter of allowed accounts, which is determined by the Bank and not STANLIB.
The administrator will be getting hold of you shortly.
Kind regards
Barbara Egan on behalf of the STANLIB team
Dear Istvan Brem,
Thank you for bringing your dissatisfaction to our immediate attention. The reason for my not responding on the public forum was that we like to be sure of all the details of a case before jumping to just any conclusion.
We do understand that we have not been efficient in contacting you directly - our path has been as per arrangement with your Priority broker, through your financial planner. When this avenue did not yield the results we sought, we should have circumvented your broker and approached you directly. We will provide the necessary training to ensure this does happen automatically going forwards.
My legal team did respond with the following:
In terms of the Taxation Laws Amendment Act No. 15 of 2016 (as it currently stands), individuals may withdraw a lump sum from their retirement annuity fund if:
– They cease to be a tax resident; or
– They leave South Africa at the expiry of the work visa contemplated in the Immigration Act, 2002.
The change these regulations introduced then become effective from 1 March 2016.
Further to the above, it has been confirmed that in these particular circumstances, we are permitted to pay to your offs**** bank account providing it is in the parameter of allowed accounts, which is determined by the Bank and not STANLIB.
The administrator will be getting hold of you shortly.
Kind regards
Barbara Egan on behalf of the STANLIB team
Dear Istvan Brem,
We have heeded your response and have terminated your present financial planner's services. We will send you confirmation of this.
Kind regards
Barbara Egan, on behalf of the STANLIB team.
Dear Istvan Brem,
We have heeded your response and have terminated your present financial planner's services. We will send you confirmation of this.
Kind regards
Barbara Egan, on behalf of the STANLIB team.