Banks- blood sucking money grabbers

[Daniel Weston]

My title might sound a little over exaggerated but I'm not so sure....

I found out in late December that for probably the past 5 years or so I should have been migrated to a better banking package with substantially reduced banking fees. This option would have saved me about R200- R250 per month on charges so times that by 12 x 5 and it works out at quite a bit of moola.

Since 2006 I have been extremely active on my account with many vehicles financed, a property purchased and a number of other account activities that should have alerted even the most humble bank employee that I should have been spoken to about a 'better' package.

I even applied for a new transmission card in late November 2011 and even then, nobody said a word to me about anything even though they had full access to my cheque account (where my salary is paid into each month) where they could clearly see that I qualified for a better banking package.

What makes me even more upset is when I upgraded to the correct banking package just before Xmas, my new personal banker (what a joke) told me that she and her colleagues go through lists of customers every month that can legitimately qualify for better packages and then contact them to invite them in for a chat.

I then spoke to the branch manager where my account has been sitting for the better part of 10 years and she said that she is not aware of any of her staff contacting clients to offer them more cost effective packages (this was the Musgrave branch in Durban where I first opened my account)

So, the debate here is do I have a justified reason to be a little annoyed or is it all my fault from day one for not being observant and educated enough about what my options are in terms of banking packages?

I'm happy to hear comments both for and against so don't be shy to speak out!

[Rodney_gold]

Banks offer you an umbrella when the sun shines and then take it away when it rains.
They run a business and do everything possible to wring every cent they can from you , so why should they attempt to "save" you anything?  It's all up to you to monitor things.

[Crankshaft]

It's amazing how one can get far better rates, just by asking.

They certainly are not going to offer.

[Daniel Weston]

I agree with that statement and yep, I do know that one should be vigilant wrt bank charges and what offers there are but I will be very interested to see how they handle the response to why some branches contact Gold clients with a view to upgrading to Platinum whilst other branches don't.

By the way, it's ABSA that I am with.

[Batman]

When I went to sort my car finance they advised me that I'd be saving banking fees if I switched to one of their chequeing accounts. I pay a small flat rate every month and I swipe for almost all my purchases. I used to withdraw money before instead of swiping because my bank charges used to be hectic on my savings account. Plus I get free cellphone banking, internet banking, unlimited transfers, etc.

[d0dja]

I'm with ABSA and while they generally get things done pretty competently, they have ZERO personal customer service. It's all a machine, and a blood sucking one at that.

I changed to the Platinum account last year (mostly I wanted access to the lounges at airports), and saw precisely no change in how they handle me or my business.

You really are just a number to them. A number they don't even know a lot about.

> They run a business and do everything possible to wring every cent
> they can from you , so why should they attempt to "save" you anything?

Because your choice of bank is a grudge decision, and for a bank to maintain market share they need to take care of their most profitable customers. They don't though...

[Daniel Weston]

And let me guess, was it ABSA?

I informed the branch manager this morning that since '06 I have financed 8 or 9 (I forget the number lol) vehicles with Bankfin. Her reply was that they have nothing to do with the banking side of things and don't care at all if you are on the right or wrong banking package....

[siphiwe]

By the way, it's ABSA that I am with.

You also need to really scrutinise what they are taking away while they reduce the charges. For instance, Immediate Interbank transfers will whack you R50 each time you do one. I think they also charge you for SMS notifications.

[Daniel Weston]

Nope, I'm more than happy with the Platinum package. I pay a set fee for all transactions and only pay higher charges when I draw cash from other ATM's or go into the bank to deposit cash and these are two things that I very rarely do. Both linked to the fact that ABSA have been shafting me so much that I don't have cash to draw or deposit lol.

[CAD]

Got halfway through the first post and thought man this must be ABSA 
Had the same issue and yup my "personal banker" is a joke.
The one lady actually told me they are only really interested Private Banking clients(da bik buks).

[Batman]

I used to bank with Standard and they shout at you through the glass. I don't have any accounts with them anymore. 

[Daniel Weston]

Got halfway through the first post and thought man this must be ABSA 
Had the same issue and yup my "personal banker" is a joke.
The one lady actually told me they are only really interested Private Banking clients(da bik buks).

So what you are saying is that I should be ok then

[Gnarls]

Nope, I'm more than happy with the Platinum package. I pay a set fee for all transactions and only pay higher charges when I draw cash from other ATM's or go into the bank to deposit cash and these are two things that I very rarely do. Both linked to the fact that ABSA have been shafting me so much that I don't have cash to draw or deposit lol.

Bru, you got the platinum at least they use lube.

This one time in Arcadia's Absa, I tried to ask this lady to explain some stuffs about my prospective student loan to me, she done gave me that look, you know, the nigga please one. I was more than a bit miffed cause why, I'd been banking with them from when my moms opened up my account for me when they was still Trust Bank and now when I wanted to get my edemacation on they wanna pull this number on me?

Aw hell no! So, I calmly I told her that I'd be moving ALL of my other fixed deposit cash monies to another bank and then all of a sudden my raggedy ass became a sir!

Greedy somammabitches!

[Atjan]

Ah, the Absa Platinum account. Wonderful. Had one of those a few years ago. If you want to use the banker for anything out of the ordinary (why the heck else would you want them anyway?!), get yo ass in the branch, 2days from now and then wait in the queue for your 'Absa Personal Banker'. Joy. Then, because it costed about 3x what I could pay at Nedbank I changed and they paid me R750 for my trouble.
I banked with Absa for years, even had a home loan. Went there a month or 2 ago to get my statement for SARS, they couldn't even find a record of the fact that I had a bond less than a year ago. So much for loyalty. Try getting a 4 month statement? Oh no, we have to get that out the archives for you, come back next week.
As far as I know they're the only big bank thats still charging you for using Internet banking and not clogging up their branches. 

[BigWoodenSpoon]

Ah, the Absa Platinum account. Wonderful. Had one of those a few years ago. If you want to use the banker for anything out of the ordinary (why the heck else would you want them anyway?!), get yo ass in the branch, 2days from now and then wait in the queue for your 'Absa Personal Banker'. Joy. Then, because it costed about 3x what I could pay at Nedbank I changed and they paid me R750 for my trouble.
I banked with Absa for years, even had a home loan. Went there a month or 2 ago to get my statement for SARS, they couldn't even find a record of the fact that I had a bond less than a year ago. So much for loyalty. Try getting a 4 month statement? Oh no, we have to get that out the archives for you, come back next week.
As far as I know they're the only big bank thats still charging you for using Internet banking and not clogging up their branches.

Yup, I've migrated from Absa as well