Woodford and FNB unable to pay back deposit

On 23rd December 2023 l leased a Toyota Corolla from OR Tambo driving to Cape Town in response to an advert that was ran by Woodford Car Hire which encouraged people traveling to Cape Town to drive there instead of flying. In addition to paying the costs for leasing the car l was requested to pay an additional R5000 deposit to defray any additional costs for things such as damages to the car and traffic fines. In accordance with the agreement l returned the car on 30th Decenber 2023 and received an acknowledgement for the receipt of the car.

In accordance with the agreement Woodford was expected to refund my deposit within 72 hours after dropping the car. However, contrary to this it's been more than 10 days and l have not received my deposit (which is very strange). All my efforts of getting someone to help me from both my bank FNB and the merchant Woodford has fallen on deaf ears and both parties are kicking the can down the road and refuse to take accountability and instead blame the other party. This is clearly causing an inconvenience on my side.

Don't think that l have never tried to resolve the matter by myself, cause l did failed dismally: 1. On 30 December 2023 l received am email thanking me for doing business with Woodford and which further read ... "Rest assured, any deposit cancellations are processed immediately, though it may take up to 72 hours for the funds to reflect in your account." According to the contents of the email l was suppose to get my deposit refund on Thursday, 4 January 2024, taking into account the weekend and public holiday of the 1st January 2024.

2. Contrary to the commitment l didn't receive the deposit back. Owing to this on 5 January 2024 l phoned Woodford Head office in Durban and spoke to an agent who informed me that the money was deposited on 3 January 2024 and that l should allow 72 hours for the money to clear. I was further informed that if the money didn't clear by that time then l should approach my bank for assistance.

3. On Monday, 8 January 2024 l approached my bank FNB who told me that my deposit was reflected on my portfolio but was not cleared by Woodford's bank. For this reason they were unable to assist and that l should go back to Woodford to request them to clear the deposit. After spending an hour at the FNB branch in Woodbridge, Kempton Park and speaking to the Credit Card and Cancellation divisions l left the branch.

4. I immediately contacted Woodford who told me that they have already released my deposit and that l should go back to my bank to enquire further.

5. On 9 January 2024 l reached out to the cancellations division of FNB for assistance. I was informed that l should go back to Woodford requesting them to send them instructions to release the deposit (including information such as merchant name, my credit card number, amount to be released and clear instructions to release the deposit.

6. I took matters on my hands and reached out to Woodford OR Tambo as a place where l leased the vehicle for intervention. I spoke to Mr John Paul who remains the only person who was able to listen to me, understood my frustrations and was able to give me a letter with all the information required by my bank.

7. I immediately sent the letter that l received from Woodford to FNB cancellations department for immediate attention.

8. To my dismay on 10 January 2024 l received an email from FNB cancellations informing me to go back to Woodford and request them to send the letter themselves, despite the fact that l sent them a letter with all the requested information plus the person to reach out to to verify the information contained therein.

9. I phoned Woodford contact centre and spoke to Ms Tanya Davids who sent a letter to FNB . I took the same email and sent it to FNB cancellations division for action at 10:26 AM.

10. In the afternoon, made a followup with FNBs authorisation division and was informed that they have not yet received my email and that l should wait for another 24 hours before l can make a follow up.

11. A period of 24 hours has passed and have not yet received my deposit back.

The question that l have yet to find an answer to is why l should be caught up in the internal processes of both FNB and Woodford. Clearly, where a customer raises a concern both parties should give it all the necessary attention and not deny liability or display a 'l don't care attitude'.