Woolworths "Delinquent" wording enough to end my 30 year customer loyalty

Did Woolworths Financial Services really just send me an SMS via their collections agent "Blake and Associates" using the words "the management of your DELINQUENT Woolworths Credit Card account..." DELINQUENT Woolworths... REALLY, when they stopped my debit order without my consent, resulting in this supposed "delinquent" customer payment track record. And it has been a challenge to get it resolved. Using the word Delinquent is one way to get me as a client SERIOUSLY angry, when It was THEIR SYSTEM that created the error in the first place. And I have made 3 attempts to sort it out so far, without success.

The Background: During Lockdown, I started receiving incessant calls from Woolworths Financial Services collections agent, Nationwide Recovery Services asking me about making payments to my Woolworths credit card. I couldn't understand because I hadn't used the card in 4 years. So why now? I was told that Woolworths system "automatically" selected clients with good payment track records (apparently I was one of these clients) and gave them a payment relief of 3 months on their credit cards. Firstly I did not request this payment relief. Secondly, I was NOT called and offered this payment relief and hence did not agree to accepting any such payment relief. This is because there was no need for it. As stated I have not used this card in years and the card was fully paid at this point. I simply pay the monthly financial services admin cost of R40 per month to keep the credit card open / accessible (but I have not used this credit card in 4 years).

So when mid lockdown, I started receiving up to 2 - 3 calls a week from Nationwide Recovery Services, about an outstanding amount of R160 (yes just One blue note, one pink note and one green note) that was overdue. After many irritating phonecalls, most of them confusing and contradictory since the Nationwide Recovery Services consultants all have different levels of understanding and explanations, I finally get a proper explanation from one of them after call number 10 about, that Woolworths system had paused my monthly debit order payment to allow payment reprieve of R40 per month during COVID (NOT at my request) - and now I owe them this amount x 4 months, totalling R160 . I told the consultant I was happy for them to deduct it from my next debit. Only to later discover that they had CANCELLED my debit order (NOT at my request), and could not do this. After much too'ing and fro'ing a few calls later, I tell them I'll pay it in store the next time I go. To which the agent agrees and even makes a note on the system that I will do this A week later I go to a store, and make an attempt to pay it - "No, you cant pay it in store without the physical card." I explain that I have not had the card in 4 years since it long since expired and I haven't collected a new one, since I haven't used this credit card since then. I leave without being able to make the payment. A few days later Nationwide calls, and I tell them this update. They offer to give me my account number - and tell me to give the till operator my account number and I can make the payment in store. A week later I do this at Cedar Square. This time, I'm told "You CANT pay it with the Account Number only. You need to go to Absa Bank". The next time Nationwide calls (a few days later, I tell them I don't have time to go stand in a queue at Absa bank during COVID, and to please send me the Bank Details via SMS). Which they did on 6 Nov. (I have unfortunately been extremely busy since then, and on 14 November I went into an Event System, where I am within a COVID-compliant Protective Bubble after testing and getting a negative result - and to stay safe within the event - we remain in accommodation on site, not able to leave the premises, and are not interacting with the general public - hence I cannot come out until the event is over on the evening of 22 Nov). Yesterday while in this system, I get a call from Nationwide Recovery Services (as I say, I receive calls from them every single week), about my payment again, and I explain the above to them and advise I will sort this out when I am out next week - week of 23 Nov. Each time I also tell them how badly they are irritating me. TODAY, I received the SMS message - with the words that sent my patience through the roof, referring to my account management of my Credit Card as "Delinquent"- THAT WORDING was enough to send my irritation right through the roof, and bring me to post here. I am hoping to hear back from Woolworths about this manner in which they and their appointed debt recovery agents are so poorly trained to manage these issues, but most importantly, One way to loose a customer you've had for 30 years, is to call them DELINQUENT for an outstanding R160, which was THEIR OWN ERROR in the first place....

I'm interested to see if WOOLWORTHS cares enough to be concerned about ONE customer out of their 29 million customers in SA... and whether they will live up to their values spelled out so proudly on their website: "Our values state that we are customer obsessed, inspirational, responsible, collaborative and committed to quality. "CUSTOMER OBSESSED - means that in our world, the customer always comes first" BEING RESPONSIBLE - is about doing the right thing – always value with values COLLABORATIVE - means we are one team working together QUALITY - is the heart of our business. We are committed to quality, in whatever we do, wherever we do it

For the record, none of my experience with the above outlined issue reflects any of your above values... Not by your brand, or your appointed collections agencies.. By the way, who approves the Wording of your Customer collections messages Woolworths, or do you as a brand give your agency free reign to use a word like Delinquent? Is that representative of your brand and how it speaks to its customers.

I have also just sent this as an email to the CEO's PA... Let's see if this gets a response from them.