Yest (Saturday) my purse was stolen @ Rome Termini shortly before I boarded a train for Salerno, Italy. I have no money + 5 biscuits until my Mastercard is replaced on Wednesday.
I disc the theft on t train when I wanted to buy tea + a sandwich.
By 11.13 my branch had stopped my Std bank ch card + gold Mastercard after I emailed my branch. The nightmare then began. Std told my son to tell me to ph them to verify my details. Why have they not once called me? They gave two local O800 nos tt obviously do not work internationally. Before I left I bought std bank top level travel ins policy. Alan Hales md of Std card div knows because I refused to put my CV number (bank security code) on faxed forms + complained tt this wld breach my security.
At 11.20am I called Pamela @ std Chartis, london t travel ins brokers. At 4.20pm I again called her to find out what was happening, this time she put me thru to mastercard altho the std policy should pay out for theft of cards, wallet, cash E200 + ret train ticket.
Useless!
Mastercard is worse altho the prize for total disinterest + nonperformance goes to Std.
My son (in cape town) finally got the uSA Mastercard no. Claims have to b done thru them. I spoke to 1 person who sd Std SA would have to authorise issue of emergency card + cash. Put thru to Adolf in SA who seemed uninterested put on hold for full 5 mins. All these calls will cost thousands of rands altho I intend suing all 3 institutions. All from cellph 1st during 2 hour train journey then + now no access to pub ph.
Then put thru to Meshak. Indian man who sd Std could not authorise Mcd US had too. I asked him to sort out. An hour later my son called him + he insisted I had to call the US’
Spoke to Soni @ MC USA who seemed to hv difficulties w English. I repeated my ph number 3X and she got it wrong. I asked for a suprtvisor + was put thru after another long wait to Ismael Ramos the rudest, most pompous + unhelpful person I have ever encountered. He kept speaking over me. I was now w the Italian police who can tell how upset I became (I hv the officer”s ph no).
At 3,5O I ph MC back to find out what was happening + left a msg w James for Ramos.
At 3.55 I ph back + asked to speak to snr supervisor + spoke to Michael Monk who gave me a long explanation @ my cellph cost of how r system should work. Frankly I don’t care about explanations I want to experience it working which has yet to happen.
At 4.10pm James gets all my details for the fourth time that day despite existing file. He says I shld have emergency credit card by Wed – 5 days for an emergency + em cash in 3 days Monday.
Promises to get back to me. By now cop has arranged transport to my self service apartment. So no tea, coffee nor food nor ph. I have made this clear to all 3 inst + none have offered to put me in hotel + give assurances tt I will pay despite being a v long standing personal + business client of Standard and .Mastercard with a v gd credit record.
4.40 Pamela in London ins puts me thru to mastercard still no word of how + when ins will pay out. Virginia @ MC says Std systems in SA having trouble printing new card number not sure now when I will get card or cash.
Friends offer to help but after walking 10km in rain last night could not find Moneygram or W Union outlet. Have 5 biscuits in luggage had 1 ydy w water + enough for 1 per day till Wednesday.
Shocking sit esp as I bought the top, most expensive travel ins policy from Standard bank.
Monday: 45hrs after theft of purse reported. Not a word from Standard bank. No sign that Chartis will honour travel insurance. Mastercard given no indication in 35 hours of when I might receive emergency funds or card. Only reason I ate after 36 hours of no food is that a friend, an international tv exec sent a stipend yesterday afternoon.
Charlene Smith
Sent via my BlackBerry
I know it might come across as impotent fury, but I find the banks’ treatment of you utterly disgraceful!
Shame on MasterCard and shame on STANDARD !
My wife, as well as my daughter both bank with Standard. I will be urging them to close their accounts.
Sorry to hear.
I think your chance of getting (non-violently) pickpocketed by professionals in mainstream destinations like Rome or Paris is much higher than anything happening to tourists visiting SA. Hundreds must lose their wallets every day in Prague. Even being vigilant does not always help, those guys are very good at their job…
Sorry to hear about your ordeal. But don’t you mean to say before you “misplaced your purse”? Last I checked there was no crime in Europe? Or is there? Just kidding.
I remember the first time I went to Europe. Someone I know(white) told me to be very careful when I get to Heathrow airport as I was to wait for about 3 hours for a connecting flight to Europehe said people there can steal your belongings within a wink of an eye. I couldn’t believe him, my first impression was, “But you said South Africa is the worst country to live in and now you tell me London is just as bad?”
Anyways good luck and I hope you come right. I thought I was the only one being ripped off by both the banks,medical aids, tax, etc.
Sub Standard Bank hits a new low! They must rank as the worst bank in the country. They put in my company’s registration number incorrectly and I had to rectify it at my cost. They have not paid my invoice or replied to my complaint to their internal Ombudsman – so back to the Banking Ombudsman again. Best of luck, Charlene and make sure they lose a customer
After a similar experience I now travel with 3 different cards from 3 different banks, and none of them are standard bank.
I do not like the SMS type messaging when reading what is meant to be a serious journalistic article. Scanning through it, I seem to understand that someone stole our purse and the bank is not helping.
Advice: When you travel, do not put all your eggs in one basket (or one bag). Keep some cash on hand in your bra or your shoes. Keep a copy of your valuable papers (passport, tickets) for easy replacement by authorities.
When putting your luggage down in any airport in the world, put your foot through the handles. At least you feel when it is going.
Come on, I thought you were a seasoned traveller.
It took me 4 months and a dozen letters to CLOSE my Standard Bank Mastercard. I paid up the outstanding balance in full, and wote to instruct the bank to close it. At the month end, I got a statement with a debit balance of 6 cents. I wrote a cheque for 6c (!), send a copy of my closure letter under the cover of a second letter asking why my instruction had not been effected. At the end that month a new statement arrived — with a debit balance of one cent. Letter three went out, enclosing copies of letters 1 and 2 and another cheque, now for one cent — yes, the cheque fee, stamp duty, postage etc amounts to hundreds of a percent more than the one cent debt, but still… Then came two statements with a zero balance. And then one with a debit balance of R50 for my “annual card fee”! It took a conference call at 9pm between me, Standard Card Division in Marshalltown and Mastercard Intl in the USA to — finally — get my card account closed.
@Tlanch Tau: Of course there’s crime in Europe, and everywhere else in the world – the difference is that it’s mostly just robbery, unlike S.A. where you’re likely to be tortured and/or murdered for a purse or cellphone.
I also see you have lost your ability to type full words and sentences. Damn hard to read your blog. Is this an SMS blog or an email blog?
I tried to read one paragraph. Gave up.Whats with the sms speak. Write in English.
Standard bank services are appalling to be honest…I just don’t have any faith in banks anymore and wish there was a better alternative
Yes, we’re truly in a double bind. Disinterested government, and truly awful, monopolistic private companies, who use a cynical “we’re all equally bad so there’s no point in changing” business model. The banks and cell phone companies excel at this. (The only thing they excel at.) High profits, lousy service.
It is obvious that travel insurance is another instance where banks lie to the public. Banks every day advertise how they will assist you in all kinds of human endeavour, untill you actually insist that they make true what is advertised and then you hit a brick wall. It looks like the advertising divisions do not speak to the bankers on the floor, because what is advertised and what happens on the floor are distinctly two different things. Ergo, banks lie to the public every day of the year.
Banks are supposed to be the safe keepers of our money, but they steal this every day through the charges they make that are absurdedly high and so reduces the earning from the man in the street. I am aware of any number of instances (myself included) who had put money in the bank and when it was required found that every sent had been usurped through banking charges.
why would travel insurance be any different? I ask you with tears in my eyes !!!
A similar thing happened to me, but my local branch of Standard Bank refunded over R2000 worth of calls I made to them trying to sort it out, they never did, but at least I didn’t have to pay for the calls.
The problem lies with the insurer, Chartis (former AIG that was part and parcel of economic meltdown in the USA and which had to be bailed out by the USA government otherwise they would have been bankrupt). I have had an outstanding claim for two months now. Still they are delaying and their excuses are running very thin. HellopPeter has 50 complaints against Chartis just for the month of May 2010. Beware if you have anything to do with Chartis.
Charlene Wouldhavebeenmoreinterestingifyouhadtakenthetime to write full words in place of silly abreviations. Blackberry or not there is no excuse.
@Tlanch Tau you still do not get it. In case you are not yet aware, likely due to you not read anything but propaganda.
In CRIME FREE SOUTH AFRICA theft is usually accompanied by wanton violence. Unlike Europe where a bruised eye, when being robbed is still rarity.
This is for all to see – banks sell you expensive insurance as income for themselves and clearly have absolutely no intention of doing anything to actually “help” a good long standing customer. Standard Bank debited my account in error for nearly a year to the tune of R5 K per month for someone else’s car. It was only when I let the account slide into OD that they became snotty and eventually reversed the charges and interest. And trying to get a new card to actually work at their counter in Pinetown, I heard them make up rules as they go along, just to give their customers a hard time. They are a disgusting bunch that are only driven by shareholders needs for profit, not by their customers need for service.
@Tlanch Tau
Pickpocketing at an airport is not “just as bad” as home invasion, armed robbery, murder, rape, and a conviction rate so low the police might as well stay at home, as they probably commit as many crimes as they solve/prevent.
Reminds me of my days banking with ABSA…they’re worse than the Sicilian Mafia
Just had a similar experience while abroad with Standard bank which turned out to be a string of failures on their side:
- My branch was not aware that cheque cards had to be cleared for international travel (I checked!) – FAIL 1
- Once I was abroad, the fraud department blocked my card due to its use in a foreign country. They then tried to contact me on my Cell, but they had my wrong number even though Standard bank’s main division had my correct number! FAIL 2
- Falcon foreign travel never replied to any of my emails, nor did Standard bank card services follow up on the matter. FAIL 3
I am seeing if they will resolve my complaints, but will probably end up switching banks.
Wow, what fools we all are to buy travel insurance. Your comments are of concern Neil & Ma’at – why does one of SA’s biggest banks use an insurance company with such a history?
Why too has Standard become so arrogant? Despite copying their PR Erik Larsen on Sunday he has failed to respond.
Mastercard said Standard only faxed them on Monday morning so they could not act before.
Sean, Nicholas, Benzol, Hugh – I too hate sms language BUT I typed this at 4am after a sleepless night after two days of no food & only water on my BlackBerry. Try put yourself in the same situation.
Chartis finally at 4.30pm yesterday sent me a claims form that will require hours of work, multiple documents to be sourced, copied then no doubt couriered to them. All actions that are exceptionally difficult for a traveller and which reinforces what Ma’at & Neil say about an apparent unwillingness to pay or help.
Debit orders against my account (which has funds)are now bouncing & despite 3 requests to card division and 4 to my branch nothing has as been done to remedy this. Standard has failed to tell me if there has been fraud on the account despite me asking.
Received emergency (the term is a joke) cash yesterday and “emergency” card is due tomorrow.
Vodacom has sms’d twice querying high expenditure on phone which I have already told Chartis & Standard I am going to charge to them.
For all happy Nedbank users: talks are under way between Old mutual and Standard to sell Nedbank to Standard.
Happy banking
)
had a similar experience with Standard while traveling last year. never again. ever.
anyone who deals with ANY standard bank or stanlib branch can tell you that this group have completely lost the plot. Have you tried dealing with home loans ? It is seriously depressing. No one knows anything in this group- what a pity that a once great institution have sunk to such abysmal levels of ignorance and incompetence ! New logo should be ‘moving backwards’ I put it down to the arrogance of their management team.
Sorry to “hear’ of your bad experience, Carlene. I personally think that all South African Banks screw us all the time and we do nothing. I’ve been a customer of NEDBANK for years; all my business and private banking is done with them + I purchased their BEE shares last year BUT when, a few months ago, I tried to apply for a study loan they gave me a flat technical “NO”. I had to drop of my course because I cannot afford to pay the R51k fees that are required. When is Virgin’s Bronson going to come up with an alternative people friendly Bank??
“This is for all to see – banks sell you expensive insurance as income for themselves and clearly have absolutely no intention of doing anything to actually “help” a good long standing customer”
Bro, there is no such thing as a long standing customernanymore unless you part of the elite.
All the banks have created systems to disassociate themselves from coming into personal contact with their “clients” and you are just a number on a computer screen after standing in a queue at enquiries for a half an hour.
We are being screwed by legalized bullying and banks prey on the ignorance of the masses who don’t understand their deliberately created complex systems. Worst of their entire workforce is poorly trained and this only helps to create more chaos until the exasperated “client” gives up in despair and loses his/ser well earned bucks.
Bank ombudsman are employees of that particular bank. I need say no more.
That wasn’t a blog, it was a bitch! Empathise with your plight, South African banks are all as bad as each other, but you might have made better use of your hunger by writing each of the banks and the insurance a rude letter!
Charlene I feel your pain. Ever since the advent of the call centre, large corporations have hidden behind a veil of pathetic and robotic service. There is no responsibility or follow through. Nobody gets back to you, some put the phone down on you becasue they know they are anonymous and you will get the next robot when you phone back fuming. Its a sick system and it will fall when one of these collosal parasitic growths kills the hosts it feeds on – its customers. The power will finally shift back to the customer.
If anyone from any bank, cellphone company, metro utitlity or the like is reading this: we hate the way you treat us. Its not humane and I would pay more to have somebody answer a phone that actually cares, has a name instead of a reference number and actually would consider phoning back. Your financial management’s cost cutting measures are building up pressure that will explode in your face when a better alternative arrives. Your brands are being destroyed. Wake up.
To all of those that moaned about the sms language, adapt for dog’s sake. This is not an article but a message from a starving hostage you thoughless chops. Those who boasted about how they would never be in this situation, the big wheel turns. And nobody likes a smartass.
Standard bank, this is pathetic!
Why does Thought Leader not prodcue this to STD Bank and ask them for comment……..
When my wife died in the UK in 2006 I quickly run up
R 45000 in costs. I thought that I would be covered by the travel insurance that I had bought. They paid Zero. Travel insurance is the biggest con of all insurance deceit.
This is so sad. I would not like to be in your shoes Charlene. Please keep updating us.
We need CREDIT UNIONS IN THIS COUNTRY and soon.
…and i though Standard Bank was the biggest (and leading) bank in Africa – eintlik how did they get to lead the pack if they are so bad at “simple” Customer Service? Things is banks and many other financial institutions have become good at hiring “financial gizmos and sales officers” who can sell leaves to a tree while offering people with “seemingly great financial and insurance products” that people mostly don’t need, but the same institutions have no Total Quality Management culture to match their products as sales offering with work-processes that tick and better designed to exceed customer expectations!
Hope you come right there… and are in shape in time to blow your Vuvuzela come June the 11th!
It is good to air this failure by the banks and the insurance institutions.
I carry a Diners Club card for access to airport lounges and it was them who rescued me from a theft in Jakarta. They gave me an immedate replacement couriered to my hotel while MasterCard and Visa phaffed.
Now I carry my business and private credit cards in different places in the hope that I will have at least one should there be more theft – and there will be ….
Malcolm – it is impossible to imagine the callousness of an institution tt cannot assist when your spouse has died. I am so sorry.
Regrettably, looking at all these depressing comments dreadful service seems to be the norm. Coupled with acute arrogance.
I sent Standard Bank the link to this blog when it was put up, so they are reading it and following my comments on Twitter.
I hope all banks read these comments but do something about shocking customer service. I received an emergency card today but can only withdraw money at a bank that accepts Mastercard which will be tomorrow. Finally, after an interview on 702 ydy, requests from IOL & interest from international TV in this matter, Standard Bank finally woke up today. A replacement card will be waiting for me in SA thanks to Saki Modupe, a call centre agent a Std card fraud dept who should be CEO, he not only listened, he cared and went out of his way to help me. For the rest it has been incompetence magnified.
I have a card but cannot internet bank. All my debit orders are bouncing despite significant funds in my account because Standard has blocked the account – this impacts on my credit record but too could see my cellphone and internet access switched off. Three days after asking for this to be rectified Prunella Reddy, credit card pr said she will ask IT to remedy this tomorrow – why does it take four days?
2. Alan Hales, credit card MD said they will cover all my phone bills for this period which must be tens of thousands by now. BUT my holiday has been completely disrupted, I travelled to s Italy to see Pompeii which I have yet to see I spend so much time on the computer and phone trying to rectify this.
My recommendation – never EVER take out additional travel insurance. I will write more in a blog tomorrow.
I very, very much appreciate words of kindness written, thank you. Such a small event has caused a remarkable amount of distress and I really appreciate the kindness of those who have written and of Italians, gosh do they have a lot to teach us about manners and kindness.
Good luck! “I fought bureaucracy and bureaucracy won…”
THE NIGHTMARE CONTINUES. Mastercard sup Michael Monk phoned last night to apologise and to assure me I would have no trouble withdrawing from a bank today. I have been to 9 banks and walked more than 30km today. Not a single bank will give cash on the emergency card. It has no pin.
So here I sit in a Western Union with almost no cellphone battery left (have given Std and Mastercard the phone number of this W Union, no one has called) and yet another Standard – Mastercard disaster.
Mastercard & Standard say they don’t know what to do. They spoke to two bank officials who said nothing could be done.
I finally said pay me by Western Union. It took Standard almost two hours to agree because they say they don’t use W Union although MasterCard does. And Moneygram is seen nowhere in Italy.
Finally Mastercard phoned me with a Western Union number, but I have been at Western Union for an hour & it is the wrong number and Mastercard seems incapable of giving me the correct number despite multiple calls by my son and I to Mastercard and Standard bank.
I have had to forfeit most of my week of Italain classes and have yet to see Pompeii – the reason I came down here, because every day I’ve been trying to unravel yet another Standard – Mastercard mess.
Sounds like you are out of options due to this appalling bad service. At this point would it not be useful to get the embassy involved?
Thanks for airing this Charlene – I identify completely with your levels of frustration! I was pick-pocketed within hours of arriving in London, and went through very similar problems attempting to get my FNB visa card replaced. While the international VISA call centre was fantastic, exceptionally helpful, they are completely hamstrung by the shameful and disgraceful lack of competency on the South African end. I was only in the UK for a week. The emergency card arrived three days before I left with no PIN. When I called FNB SA they robotically repeated that I must go into a LOCAL FNB and get a new PIN! Unbelievable – what about being in a foreign country without access to a local bank is so hard to get here? And why bother to courier a new FNB VISA card to London without a PIN ie it was literally a completely unusable piece of plastic! So after a few more rounds of long calls with unempowered, untrained and therefore indifferent call centre individuals I gave up. I was not in as difficult a situation as you, and could borrow some money from my (student) daughter, but it put a real restriction on all the things we wanted to do together in that brief week, and now a month later I am still trying to wade through the FOREX bureaucracy to repay the money to her. Good luck and I hope you get to see Pompei after all these travails.
Charlene, how utterly awful. I am appalled but sadly not surprised at your treatment. I have finally had it (after 3 decades) with ABSA’s idiotic rigidity, and am interviewing banks to pick my new one. Let’s just say that after reading this, this is a big fat red line through Standard.
Amen to Velabahleke: we need credit unions in this country. One of the main reasons I keep bank accounts in two foreign countries, regardless of the hassle factor, is so that in emergencies like the one you describe I have two banks that actually offer good service. I wonder what sort of service Capitech offers in cases like these?
@hecate: “big fat red line through Standard.”
“am interviewing banks to pick my new one”
Just be aware that Old Mutual is flirting with Standard to flog Nedbank. Good luck.
I have been with Nedbank for decades but are also looking around just in case Standard becomes the new regime. Green and Blue is not a good colour combination
)
The word is hubris. SA is stuffed with companies that provide no choice to the consumer, and therefore feel able to treat the consumer as they see fit.
As I wrote to my bank manager recently:
“Your inability to provide any action confims my observation that the emasculation by dumbing-down of banking branch networks to the extent that sevice levels in most branches are now indistinguisable from the poorer type of supermarket has been a key feature of the last few years. As they have dumbed down, the real power has shifted to computer systems and to regional centres.
Decision by rule based software and by staff who have no knowledge or connection with the customer and simply apply rules has degraded the quality of service customers receive. The final nail in the coffin of customer service is preventing customers contacting their branch by hiding behind a call centre of dubious effectiveness.
The days when a branch manager had real authority and discretion in the affairs of branch account holders are long gone. A branch manager is now just a jumped-up clerk.”
Like the correspondent above, I also have interviewed Absalutelycrap, EffenB’s, and the green pillocks. Not a whit of difference. A cartel or non-benevolent oligarchy by any other name.
It’s time the peasants gathered up their pitchforks and lanterns and marched on the houses of the mighty dragging a guillotine behind them.
OMG! have just sent a second email to “failcon travel”
as they still have not responded to my 1st email sent on the 15th of June about my upcoming travel abroad, its a great start! I really feel for you Charlene and I havent even left. When I enquired at the bank yesterday all they could dumbly repeat was the email I already had… its a hall of mirrors in a maze, revolting. I was told nobody bothers with travellers cheques anymore but I think I would be happy to pay the extra charges now and mastercard can rather just forfeit on the business, might as well help them sink a little faster. FIFA THEM!! (there I said it!) I hope you get to enjoy some of your trip Charlene