Pathetic service from Woolworths Financial Services

BIZARRE EXPERIENCE AT THE HANDS OF WOOLWORTH’S ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT On Thursday March 8 I alerted Woolworths by email that I had not received a statement for February. My due date for an installment was 11 March. On Monday 12 March I received a reply stating that I need to submit my 16-digit account number or my 12-digit identity number – one would have thought that my unique email address would have been sufficient to identify me. The account is password protected in any case. By Friday 17 March I still had not received a statement so I sent another email and an alternative email address. I then received a statement, 9 days after my initial request. While waiting I made a payment of a guessed amount, the same as the previous month. Then on April 26 I received an obnoxious URGENT REMINDER sms from Woolworths, claiming that “despite several reminders” (which is pure bull) my Store Card Payment is still outstanding. I emailed Woolworths to enquire what the fuss was about, and received an email on April 27 claiming that “no payment” for my February installment (which was due on March 11, according to my statement) had been received. That was simply not true – the payment was delayed by the slow reaction of Woolworths to my alert on March 8, and there was a small shortfall due to an “overdue amount” incurred. Despite the fact that a payment had been made every month, the email on April 27 from a Samuel Petersen stated “Kindly be advised that the amount of R605.12 is due by 09 May 2018…” Can’t these people do basic arithmetic? After some more emails Woolworths Financial Services finally concluded in an email from Wilma Nel on May 1 "…there is currently an overdue amount of R53.12 that needs to be paid with your next instalment of R366.25.” Amazing insight, finally! Despite this email the Woolworths harassment squad continued their attacks on my person. I received another obnoxious sms on May 7 that “the non-payment of your Woolworths Store Card has negatively impacted your Credit Bureau profile” (so the countless faithful payments over all the many years count for nothing) and that I had to pay R 366.25 “today”. This happened to be the payment due on May 9. If that wasn’t enough I received a telephone call from some Recovery Agency in Johannesburg on Tuesday evening, May 8, about my truant behaviour. I told the lady that I had made a payment earlier in the day and she rep**** “Oh, I can see it on the system” (!!). So much paranoia about a measly R 53.12. One would swear Woolworths was heading for bankruptcy – possibly intellectually. The antics of the client-unfriendly Accounts Department must have cost quite a bit in wasted communication and time. An apt title for this melodrama would be “Much Ado About Nothing”. In summary, I can’t wait to repay my balance – it may take month or two as I’m a pensioner - and get Woolworths out of my life, to avoid harassment by their stupid Accounts Section. Yours faithfully, W A Richter. ********** 685