Woolworths and Absa credit card nightmare

A recent experience from a Woolworths credit card user revealed shortcomings in Absa’s support services.

The user, who shared her experience with Newsday, applied for a Woolworths credit card to take advantage of its benefits.

Woolworths credit cards are issued by Woolworths Financial Services (WFS), a joint venture between Woolworths South Africa and Absa. 

The card bears the Woolworths logo and links directly to the WRewards loyalty program, which has numerous benefits to Woolworths shoppers.

The underlying banking infrastructure, credit balance management, compliance under the National Credit Act (NCA), and card processing are powered by Absa.

She used the card for online transactions, including Facebook advertisements, which resulted in the card being erroneously blocked.

She tried to resolve the issue with Absa. However, the call centre was so difficult to work with that she gave up and decided to cancel the card.

What followed was a situation where she was sent from one place to the next, making it challenging to do something basic.

She called Woolworths to cancel the card. However, the company said that they could not help her and that she had to call Absa.

She then called Absa. The call centre agent also told her they could not cancel the card either, sending her back to Woolworths.

This time, Woolworths said they could help if she sent the required documentation to cancel the card.

She emailed the required documents to Woolworths for the cancellation. However, they informed her that she first needed to lift a block that Absa had placed on her account

She tried to contact Absa at the number provided. However, despite trying a few times, there was no answer. She decided to try again the following week.

The same happened when she tried the following week. She decided to call Woolworths to see if they could help.

The Woolworths agent was helpful and said that she understood the frustration of trying to get Absa to lift the block.

The Woolworths agent then tried to call the Absa helpline, but like the client, she struggled. However, after a long period, she finally got through to an agent.

The Absa agent was of little help. He said that he did not know what a block on an account was and needed assistance.

After he failed to find any help, he put the client through to the original Absa call centre, forcing her to start from scratch.

She called Woolworths again, explaining the problem. The call centre agent said she would personally find someone at Absa who could assist.

The Woolworths agent did indeed succeed, and the Absa block on the account was lifted. It was now time to cancel the credit card.

This time, nobody from the relevant Woolworths department answered the phone to assist with locating her submitted documents.

The original Woolworths call centre agent took the initiative and provided her with a new email address to resubmit the documents, and the process was initiated.

From start to finish, the credit card cancellation took nearly a month, with numerous phone calls and emails.

This story, like many others in South Africa, highlights the challenges South Africans face when dealing with their banks.