Did u know? Absa Lost Card Benefits means u pay R92 for a new card?

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kickin_da_habit

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Hey guys

Not sure if any of you knew this but I thought I should let as many people know as possible.

I reported my ABSA credit card lost last week and was charged R 92 a few days later.
I have an ABSA gold credit card and according to the absa website there is a lost card benefit included in my monthly service fee.
But now I am told that I still have to pay R 92 for reporting the card stolen and it is Absa's way of protecting me if any transactions were done on the card (none were done by the way)

If there is a lost card benefit for gold credit card holders, why is it that I have to pay R 92? Lost card protection or lost card benefits means that in the case I lose my card, I will get a new one free of charge right?

Well it does mean that for Kulula Credit Card because when I reported my card lost to them, they cancelled it and my new card was delievered via courier to me without charging me a single cent. That's what lost card protection means to me, means to everyone I am sure.

I just thought all of you should know that Absa has false advertising on their website and that lost card benefits (according to Absa) does not mean you get a free card in case you lose your card.


Guys can anyone help because I want to report this to some authority so that Absa changes their advertising on their website and that no one else gets caught in this scam.

Kickin
 
IIRC, Standard Bank do the same thing though I think the charge is wavered if you have a police report.
 
Well, that's not how I understand lost card protection.
I thought that it means that if there are any charges on the card you are protected from that.
I still think it's crazy that they charge you for the card tho. They make a killing out of the interest they carge you and the merchant fee's, but they still charge you for the actual plastic?
 
Banks are dodgy , was just browsing the absa credit card charges the other day on the site , they charge different interest rates depending on if you had your credit card post or pre June 2007 , i think thats when the NCA came into effect. in some instances depending on the card you have you can be paying upto 5% more interest than if you got the credit card after June 2007
 
Fudzy said:
IIRC, Standard Bank do the same thing though I think the charge is wavered if you have a police report.
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Ive had my card replaced 3 times over the last year and I didnt get charged for it at Standard bank? :confused:

Oh, and +1 on the ABSA is useless. Staying with ABSA you are just funding British interests.
 
How on earth is that a benefit?

You are already using their card and paying the fees and interest - surely it in their favour to replace it for you.
 
Yeah it should be in their interests to replace so i can make them more money.
Thanks guys, I have posted this on hellopeter.com
I think I will also contact the Ombudsman cos this kind of behavior needs to change and the only way to make them take notice and change is to put up these complaints to all and sundry.

Absa needs to change their advertising and misleading people.

I mean Kulula who's primary focus is flights, can replace my card via courier for free yet this huge bank wants to milk me as much as they can.

Guys just to let you know I have a kulula credit card (for a few yrs now) and they rock with the benefits it offers. Like u get your entire yearly fee back (R300) to use on flights and also i make about R 150 - R 200 per month to use on flights. So in essence I make over R 2000 per year from Kulula to use on flights and it costs me 0 rands to have the card. Now that is service and I still wonder how is it that the big banks can't offer these kind of benefits but Kulula, woolworths, discovery etc can. Makes no sense at all man esp since all these guys bank with the big banks.
Such a RIP OFF
 
ABSA is useless, their expensive, they have to fund their political influence somehow to make sure the springboks are not to white. And the rest of the money goes to barclays, funding the brits :) So yeah, get FNB, i lost 4 cards this year, just went and got new ones from them. Afaik there was no charge.
 
LOL, SA banks are the biggest criminals in the country. Forget about corrupt politicians etc, the bank is the bigger thief.
 
In July I reported both my ABSA Private Bank Credit and Debit cards lost and was never charged for their replacements.
 
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dlk001 said:
In July I reported both my ABSA Private Bank Credit and Debit cards lost and was never charged for their replacements.
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Private bank customers get treated a bit better, but you are paying for it nonchalantly ;)

@ the OP - left ABSA for good as well - my debit card was lost and they wanted R45! I walked out and changed banks.
 
UPDATE: Someone from Absa called me today because they saw my hellopeter complaint. They said that the R92 charges are for them putting the credit card number on a database to cancel it (like a credit bureau database). And that the lost card benefit is if the card is used (after I report it stolen). So my first thought is, I reported the card stolen, why is it my fault that the card is used? She said they have a threshhold limit (she didnt mention how much) but if a card is reported stolen, it can still be used as long as its under that amount because those low amounts are not reported immediately to the bank for authorisation. (NOTE if you steal a credit card, find out the banks limit and use it all you want under that limit and you're sorted for a while, no trace...even if the person reported it stolen :)

Anyways she did say that she will speak to her marketing dept when i said it is about the false advertining on their website which is the problem.
Also she refunded my R 92 (which after telling me I was wrong, no matter take your money back)

Just to add I sent emails to info@absa, resolve@absa, and the complaints@absa and none of them have responded as yet. The only one who did, responded from the hellopeter website. Maybe they all knew about this and let hellopeter lady sort it out but I think none of the others even cared to do anything and only cos of bad publicity on hellopeter, did they do something.

So guys if you have any problems with absa, well any bank...post on hellopeter first and wait and see how fast they sort it out. Also the lady said, call me (gave me her direct number) if you ever have any other problems with your credit card. Good service only cos I made the complaint public. Just like a big corporation...
 
I had this exact issue, but never even queried it. I've got so used to ABSA screwing me I didn't even think twice about it.
 
kickin_da_habit said:
UPDATE: Someone from Absa called me today because they saw my hellopeter complaint. They said that the R92 charges are for them putting the credit card number on a database to cancel it (like a credit bureau database). And that the lost card benefit is if the card is used (after I report it stolen). So my first thought is, I reported the card stolen, why is it my fault that the card is used? She said they have a threshhold limit (she didnt mention how much) but if a card is reported stolen, it can still be used as long as its under that amount because those low amounts are not reported immediately to the bank for authorisation. (NOTE if you steal a credit card, find out the banks limit and use it all you want under that limit and you're sorted for a while, no trace...even if the person reported it stolen :)

Anyways she did say that she will speak to her marketing dept when i said it is about the false advertining on their website which is the problem.
Also she refunded my R 92 (which after telling me I was wrong, no matter take your money back)

Just to add I sent emails to info@absa, resolve@absa, and the complaints@absa and none of them have responded as yet. The only one who did, responded from the hellopeter website. Maybe they all knew about this and let hellopeter lady sort it out but I think none of the others even cared to do anything and only cos of bad publicity on hellopeter, did they do something.

So guys if you have any problems with absa, well any bank...post on hellopeter first and wait and see how fast they sort it out. Also the lady said, call me (gave me her direct number) if you ever have any other problems with your credit card. Good service only cos I made the complaint public. Just like a big corporation...
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Ye, with most places they only process credit card transactions later in bulk, only high transcation and a few random ones get processed online. So if the card was recently stolen then those sometimes the transactions get authed without being checked. The vendor take a risk on this and often they get screwed when the bank tells them its a stolen card.

Its one of the reasons why they want you to have a chip card now, once those are blocked they are useless.

I'm not sure why they charged you R90 but it could be because you lost it, so its sort of your fault. The cards cost money, it would cost a fortune if everyone lost their cards all the time.
 
LOST CARD fees are a WHOLE LOT OF B.S.

Whether its a store card or a credit card.... all purchases need to be verified by the cashier/teller against your signature and even perhaps for credit cards an I.D.

So if your card is used for wrongful purchases the store/bank needs to be accountable,. Verification of signature is of utmost importance.
 
SinghDude said:
LOST CARD fees are a WHOLE LOT OF B.S.

Whether its a store card or a credit card.... all purchases need to be verified by the cashier/teller against your signature and even perhaps for credit cards an I.D.

So if your card is used for wrongful purchases the store/bank needs to be accountable,. Verification of signature is of utmost importance.
Click to expand...

When was the last time someone at the shop checked your signature against your card...Lazy buggers,then again what do they do if they see something wrong.
 
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