Money and UK Banks Cavalier Treatment of Customers

[PeterRS]

I have a bank in the UK which I use for UK income sources and occasional payments over to Bangkok. It is not my main bank. I have generally sent money to Thailand using online banking twice a year in May and November. To do so I have to have use a special log in number plus two passwords. I then get on my Thai phone a 6 digit PIN number which has to be added before I can access my account. For years it has worked well. Nothing since then has changed. But on November 30, for the first time, I did not receive the 6 digit PIN.  

There is an on-line CHAT function which I then used. Generally I find these hopeless. This one was worse than hopeless. It recommended deleting the app and startng again. Same problem. Then that I use my debit card with the card reader sent years ago by the bank. The battery is dead as I have never needed to use it. Then that I use a special international banking phone line (which I have to pay for). Having dialled and been told there were 2 customers ahead of me, I finally put the phone down after 112 minutes! Effectively I was locked out of my account.

I wrote to the bank's Chairman. I know; a hopeless exercise as it would only be sent down the line, but it made me feel better. Eventually I had an admission from the bank saying they had a fault with their third party contractor which generates the 6 digit PINS. Within a week this had been reversed and I was informed the problem was with AIS which has always been my provider in Thailand. It stated the PINS had been generated but not recognised by AIS (although no reason given why this should suddenly have happened). I have had the AIS technical team check 3 times and they advise there is no problem at their end and they have not received any PINS out of the UK. In the meantime, I have no trouble with similar PINS required for online banking with a Hong Kong bank or with ordering a variety of merchandise from the internet, including from London, using Hong Kong credit cards.

Then I tried to order a gift for a family member from the catalogue sent by the Mandarin Oriental hotel group for special small Christmas gifts. I have double checked that this was a genuine offer from the Group. Since all gifts were made in China, the payments were in Yuan. Using my UK debit card, the transaction did not go through. Eventually I was advised my card had been discontinued because of a "suspected" hack. The hack was the Mandarin Oriental payment! The bank's fraud office then sent me a letter - a letter that took 12 days to arrive! - to inform me about the debit card being cancelled and asking me urgently to phone them. They stated they had tried to call me three times. This was pure bullshit. During that two week period, I had no incoming phone calls from the UK on either my mobile or landline. I asked why, given the urgency, they did not use my email. No answer other than the bank does not use emails! Funny that, given that this mess has led to an exchange of at least 24 emails so far!

At least the Indian gentleman who answered from the Fraud department said he would replace the debit card urgently. Although the bank has a policy of not sending new cards overseas, after a 5-minute discussion with his superiors, I was informed an exception would be made in my case. Five days later, I get a form email from the bank stating they could not send new debit cards overseas and so I should provide a UK address! The Complaints Department then apologised for my having been given wrong information but no alternative way for me to access my account!

Thankfully I shall be in the UK for two weeks in early March. After almost five decades, I will close my account with this Bank, make an official complaint with the Banking Commissioner and inform the Chairman in another letter I am considering legal action. The last will be a useless exercise as I will naturally not even take that route. I will then change to a bank which has my main account in Hong Kong.

I have heard of many complaints about UK banks and had felt good that my banking had aways run smoothly. Now I am totally locked out of my account. I can't even find out what the balance is! F--K the Royal Bank of Scotland!

[caeron]

 

I loathe banks. They're remarkably ingenious in figuring out ways to bleed you while making the simplest of actions unachievable. 

I moved to a credit union a couple of decades ago. They're often inept, but they do really try to help. After a cockup on their part on my last trip to Brazil, they called up and chatted through the details of the incident with my partner and modified their processes to ensure it didn't happen again.

The incident that made me change from Wells Fargo was a trip to the UK. I withdrew money in pounds with my debit card. Upon reviewing my statement, I noticed that I had been charged two fees. One from the bank who owned the ATM which I found reasonable, if annoying. One from Wells Fargo for using  another bank's ATM, which I found galling.  I asked about the charge and was told I should just use a Wells Fargo ATM. The agent I spoke to had no answer to my question on what ATMs Wells Fargo operated in England. I doubt they cared.

I closed the account the next day. Fortunately, that was long before the long list of other sins they perpetrated on their customers that cost them $3.7B in fines.