According to HelloPeter’s industry complaints tracker, Absa is currently at the bottom of the list of banks when it comes to the compliments and complaints ratios on the site – though only marginally.<\/p>\n
Of Absa’s total posts (5358), 83.4% (4,472) are complaints, and 16.6% (886) are compliments. This gives Absa a compliment-to-complaint ratio of 1:5.<\/p>\n
The average\u00a0compliment-to-complaint ratio on the site for all companies is 1:4.6 based on the total posts (25,010) where 20,197 posts were complaints, and\u00a04,413 were compliments.<\/p>\n
While complaints surveyed by BusinessTech had a response from Absa, few detracted from the copy-paste or variant of the statement:<\/p>\n
“Dear Customer, Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We will investigate the matter and furnish feedback shortly. Kind regards.”<\/p>\n
Of the 4,472 complaints, the biggest portion of complaints are directed at billing and account issues (23%), as well as the bank’s lack of feedback and response (18%) – while other, unspecified issues make up most complaints (32%).<\/p>\n
Complaints against Absa range from simple adminstrative errors – to an instance where a life was allegedly put at risk.<\/p>\n
“Absa tried to kill me”<\/strong><\/p>\n On Monday (20 August) HelloPeter user, “Booi” lodged a complaint against Absa<\/a> claiming the bank indirectly put his life at risk twice in one week.<\/p>\n “When a Type 1 diabetic asks ABSA bank to be 100% certain about the time taken for a new card to work, and whether or not my account will be blocked due to FICA, it isn’t curiosity that drives me,” Booi wrote.<\/p>\n Before allowing the bank to take his old card away, Booi claims to have asked the Absa employee dealing with him seven times whether there would be a chance he wouldn’t be able to access his account.<\/p>\n “My card has now not (worked) for 7 days, and in those 7 days I have twice had my sugar drop low enough to put myself at risk of going into a hypoglycimic coma,” Booi said. “On both occassions I tried desperately to access the cash in my accounts with ABSA with no success.”<\/p>\n At the time of publishing, Absa had not responded to Booi’s claims, nor to BusinessTech’s request for comment.<\/p>\n Banking industry trends<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite Absa having the worst ratios on HelloPeter, it’s a marginal position between it and FNB. The bank is also definitely not the only bank facing an onslaught of dissatisifed customers on the site.<\/p>\n First National Bank (FNB) has the largest number of complaints, overall, at 7,288 (83.3% of total). FNB also has the highest amount of compliments, with 1,466 (16.7%).<\/p>\n This makes FNB’s rounded compliments-to-complaints ratio the same as Absa’s at one-to-five; though FNB’s decimal value (1:4.97) puts it slightly above Absa (1:5.01).<\/p>\n Total HelloPeter complaints and compliments for SA banks<\/strong><\/p>\n Related articles<\/strong><\/p>\n Top online banks in South Africa<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Are banks selling your information?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n
\n Bank<\/strong><\/td>\n Total posts<\/strong><\/td>\n Compliments (CMP)<\/strong><\/td>\n %<\/strong><\/td>\n Complaints (COM)<\/strong><\/td>\n %<\/strong><\/td>\n CMP:COM ratio<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Capitec<\/td>\n 946<\/td>\n 250<\/td>\n 26.4<\/td>\n 696<\/td>\n 73.6<\/td>\n 1:2.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Standard Bank<\/td>\n 6,626<\/td>\n 1,194<\/td>\n 18.0<\/td>\n 5,032<\/td>\n 82.0<\/td>\n 1:4.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Nedbank<\/td>\n 3,326<\/td>\n 617<\/td>\n 18.6<\/td>\n 2,709<\/td>\n 81.4<\/td>\n 1:4.4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n FNB<\/td>\n 8,754<\/td>\n 1,466<\/td>\n 16.7<\/td>\n 7,288<\/td>\n 83.3<\/td>\n 1:5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Absa<\/td>\n 5,358<\/td>\n 886<\/td>\n 16.6<\/td>\n 4,472<\/td>\n 83.4<\/td>\n 1:5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Total<\/strong><\/td>\n 25,010<\/strong><\/td>\n 4,413<\/strong><\/td>\n 19.2<\/strong><\/td>\n 20,197<\/strong><\/td>\n 80.8<\/strong><\/td>\n 1:4.6<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n