Abuse and Unauthorized transaction on my account from Westbank

<p>I was in arrears with the Westbank installmenent for 3 months and instead of assisting Westbank sent a gentleman by the name of Tshepo Thulare ********** ) to take my vehicle without notice or written correspondence informing me of the collection of the vehicle. This was on 06 February 2017.<br />The gentleman left with the agreement that I pay 75% of the outstanding amount(of which I paid) and that the balance be paid in the following month. Noting that I did not have the full amount available for the following month I contacted Westbank on the 21st of February 2017 to request a change in DO date to the 22nd of each month and to request for some sort of arrangement to paying off the outstanding amount and was directed to the Collections department and a gentleman named Kagiso Lebogang Motlhare (from Westbank collections) assisted me and noted an arrangement of an additional 1808 to be deducted along with my usual instalment on the instalment date. This amount was deducted only for a single month and was never deducted again See correspondence below.<br />‘Good day, Mss Palesa Khantsi</p> <p> As per our telephonic conversation we will debit an amount of R1,808.00 on the 22/02/2017, 22/03/2017 and 22/04/2017 to cover the arrears on the account, note that your due date has been changed to the 22nd of every month as per your request.</p> <p> Kind Regards,<br /> <br />Kagiso Matlhare<br /> <br />Collections Agent<br /> <br />WB MOTOR<br />I then found new employment and was at a position where I can meet the obligation on a monthly basis and therefore contacted Westbank on the 05 May 2017 requesting them to change my instalment date to my new salary date of 27TH of every month. I was told that due to their internal policy of debit order changes happen once every six months that I was unable to make the changes even though there is an admin fee attached to my instalment which therefore should not be a problem. I then informed the agent at that time that I will then prefer to make a direct deposit into their account and that I no longer wish to have a debit order. He informed me that every month until the 6 month period I will be liable for interest charges added to my account as the 27th is passed the instalment date of which I refused as the reason why I contacted them was to avoid any additional interest or any other unnecessary charges.<br /> On the 22nd of May a debit order of R4888.92 went through my account of which had insufficient funds and they cleared my account into a negative balance. I then queried this with my bank (Absa) and the transaction was reversed. On the 26thI made a direct deposit ,as promised to the agent, of R4890 on the same date (4 days later in the same week) Westbank debited my account again with an amount of R4888.92 and cleared the account as I had insufficient funds once again as I had met their obligation for that month.<br /> </p> <p>I contacted Westbank on the 27th informing them of the payment and that they have double debited my account. I was informed that this was due to their system which runs DO’s sometimes 3 days post the DO date should they have not received their funds. I informed them that they had been paid and that I needed a reversal immediately, they subsequently informed me that their system does not allow for an immediate reversal will only be done on Monday provided that the funds reflect and that he will take on the case and will contact me by 12 noon to advise on progress. This was not a guarantee to reverse the funds but that they will investigate.</p> <p><br /> Here is my questions around the lawfulness of Westbank’s actions:<br />Unauthorised access to my bank account on multiple days in the same week. And holding the funds in their account even if the funds in the account are less than their instalment amount.<br />Refusing to make changes to my account due to their internal constraints that put the customer in a position to either incur additional interest charges or in a negative position and having an admin fee attached to the account.<br />Abuse and humiliation of the Customer by bullying them into handing over their vehicle without written notice or communication informing them by coming to their residence without notice.</p>