ABSA driving me insane!

[Crusader]

This is freaking ridiculous! Never in my life have I struggled this much to get an overseas cheque deposited at ABSA.

On the 10th I deposited a US dollar cheque at my local ABSA branch. As normal there was a bit of a struggle for them to find out if they are using the right forms etc, and then the forms need to be send to George for processing. Filled in the forms and thought everything was fine.

On Monday the 15th, I got a call from the George branch asking what the cheque was for. Strange, since that info was included in the form I had to complete. Told the chap what he needed to know and thought it was sorted.

Ten minutes later he phones again. Apparently NOW there's a problem with my physical address not being the same as my postal address. (Which is actually correct since my postal address is my home address and the physical address is the address for my business). Now, I have to go to the bank and have it changed BEFORE they can start processing the cheque. Fine.

Went to the bank and tried to get them to change things. The teller couldn't understand what the problem was, but made copies for the lady that handles the inquiries (not present at that stage) and who had full access to the 'address system'.

Yesterday, got a call that they changed the address and that I had to come and sign the form. Went and signed it. Now hopefully the cheque can be sorted. Wrong...

This morning I got another call from the chap in George. Apparently they can't authorize the cheque so now it needs to be send to the issuing bank for verification. 'The process will apparently take 4-6 weeks and will cost between R150 to R2000' he informs me in a tone begging me to give up and stop the process. He also tells me that they are struggling to get hold of the Canadian bank (guess he completely forgot about time differences), but he'll phone me back when he knows what the cost will be.

I'm STILL waiting for that call.

Now, the craziest part is that I've deposited multiple cheques from the same issuing bank and the same company previously without any of these problems. The normal cost for the transaction then was around R85. The new cheque is for the same amount so I really can't understand why there is suddenly all these hold-ups and problems.

 

[Geriatrix]

Drop. Absa. They suck.

 

[Ou grote]

Eish.
Always get their names and try to work with same person.
If it don't work, talk to the manager.

 

[Crusader]

Drop. Absa. they suck

Wish I could, but they are the only bank in town. I do have an FNB cheque account which work extremely well with my FNB merchant machine. The only reason I still have an ABSA cheque account is for these overseas cheques since I can't get to the FNB branch that's 200km away on a very regular basis.

Eish.
Always get their names and try to work with same person.
If it don't work, talk to the manager.

I do have the name, at least I think it was Max. He said it so fast I could almost not hear what it was.

I've filed a complained with their customer service, so I'll so if anything comes from that - aside from my local branch's people being pissed at me for complaining.

 

[Rosaudio]

So who's the best bank these days?

 

[Ou grote]

So who's the best bank these days?

These days, this one

 

[Geriatrix]

Wish I could, but they are the only bank in town. I do have an FNB cheque account which work extremely well with my FNB merchant machine. The only reason I still have an ABSA cheque account is for these overseas cheques since I can't get to the FNB branch that's 200km away on a very regular basis.

If the Canadian company is a regular customer how about arranging bank transfers instead?

 

[Crusader]

If the Canadian company is a regular customer how about arranging bank transfers instead?

The problem is that they don't offer that facility. It's an advertising network, but they can only do payments via PayPal or cheque, not bank transfers.

I'm just waiting to see what FNB brings to the table with PayPal. If they make it possible to receive funds without too much hassle I'll drop ABSA immediately.

 

[guest2013-1]

My question is why in the hell are there still people using ABSA???

 

[Ou grote]

My question is why in the hell are there still people using ABSA???

We have money

 

[Creag]

I am getting 2 - 3 emails a day for online fraud using ABSA (don't even bank with them) and its really soured by perception of them

 

[Crusader]

Got a call again today. Don't know whether it is with regards to my complaint, but Max phoned and said that apparently their mandates have been changed so the local branches can no longer sign for approval of foreign cheques and that all cheques will now need to be send for collection. Which doesn't make all that much sense to me, but what can you expect from ABSA?

He did manage to narrow down the cost for me from R150 - R2000 to R200 - 300. Still way higher than previously, but guess I'll have to take it.

Come on FNB launch your PayPal service already!

 

[blaaislaai]

My question is why in the hell are there still people using ABSA???

Because there's unfortunately no better bank available.

 

[Tristen1]

post the issue on hellopeter.co.za - repost everyday. that'll get them scampering

 

[guest2013-1]

Because there's unfortunately no better bank available.

WHAHAHAAHAHA, you're serious? PLEASE tell me you're not serious. *any* bank is better than ABSA. I promise you.

Come on FNB launch your PayPal service already!

I bet you that FNB & PayPal will only allow payments made directly from your FNB account without the need for a credit card. But they will still have the "You can't receive or withdraw money in your PayPal account because you are South African" rule.

Go read the article again. You'll see there is no correlation between what they stated (which was "consumers can look forward to getting access to a much wider range of Paypal services in South Africa") and what the article ended by just stating a fact unrelated to the announcement (which was "To date local consumers could make online payments via Paypal, but could not accept funds and deposit them into a local credit card account.")

If you follow them on facebook, you would also see there's a screen capture leaked where they show functionality, which was only to pay through PayPal using your FNB Account.

To date you are only allowed to use Credit Cards with FNB. FNB also recently started rejecting foreign credit card transactions automatically (effectively nulling any purchases you would want to make online with amazon for instance), which I'm not sure was a bug or a new measure to force people into linking their bank accounts directly with PayPal and using PayPal as the means to pay rather than a credit card (which technically is very unsecure online)

Trust me when I say this. You will have to KY jelly it up and take it like a man up the ass when it comes to anything banking. Mark my words. We will NOT be able to receive money through PayPal or have it paid out into our banking accounts. Come the 25th, I will certainly eat my words if it's not true and will most probably fall off my chair a couple of times... but I'm positive when I say this. We will NOT be able to receive money via PayPal.

 

[BigAl-sa]

I am getting 2 - 3 emails a day for online fraud using ABSA (don't even bank with them) and its really soured by perception of them

You actually read spam and phishing emails?

 

[Johand]

We have money

Not as much as you thought you had! Mwhoahahaha. I had a long thought about why you are such a big ABSA supporter in these forums, and not actually willing to face to facts. But don't worry ... you are behaving predictably irrational and giving too much money to ABSA is actually you fulfilling an emotional need. Good for you!