There is little to say, other than I paid a cheque for $10,000 into my bank account in the UK on 3 January. "It will take a week to clear, madam!", they squeaked. It did not! A week became three weeks; then six; then eight. Finally, it was revealed that the cheque had been lost.
Three months and two unpaid mortgage payments, ten returned direct debits, approximately 20 unreturned phone messages and forty emails later, I write to them or call them* pretty much every day. Nothing ever happens, but still I write. Here is the email I sent them today:
Morning all,
Hope you all had a good and relaxing weekend. I didn't, really, to be frank; sadly (and despite my best efforts, meditation, breathing into a paper bag, etc), I'm getting increasingly irritated by the fact that I'm being ignored. Anyway, here goes with today's email! (Are you enjoying them? They could make quite a collection!)
I left a message for you on Friday Mr Rogers - I take it you didn't get it? I bet you didn't. You didn't call me back, and there's only one reason why someone would ignore a pissed-off customer: because they didn't get the message! (Weird - that's happened twice this week.)
I really hope you haven't written to me at my London address. There wouldn't be any point in that; I live in Canada, as I keep saying. Still, just in case you do want to write to me and apologise, and tell me what you're going to do about lost interest on my offset mortgage, refunded bank charges, paying unpaid Direct Debits, etc, here's my Canadian address:
I've written to customer services via RBS online, just to see if something else will help prompt a response. I'm not quite sure what to do after that, mind you. Any ideas?
Now, I realise that the thought of phoning and talking to me fills you with dread. (It's been frightening you for at least six weeks, it seems - poor you). But you could give it a go: here (again) is my number: 001 450 .... If a French message kicks in, don't be afraid - we speak French in this part of Canada. Just leave a message. It'll be nice to hear from you. In fact, if I don't get it immediately (which I may not: I travel a lot, you see), don't worry: I'll make sure I call you back.
If that seems too difficult and/or scary, you could send me an email. (It would be nice just to know you're getting them - I think it's called "polite acknowledgement" or something?) If you don't want to do that, though, you could write to me at the address above. Oh yeah - the address I've ALREADY given you, asking you to re-direct my statements and correspondence - something else that (heavens!!) seems not to have happened.
Have a great week - fingers crossed this is the week you finally get rid of me by getting back to me, eh?!!! (As we say in Canada.)
Best wishes
NWM
Does anyone know a really effective way of kicking up a truly enormous fuss about things like this? I am - despite writing sarcastic emails (an occupation that always amuses me) - properly at my wit's end, in a kind of 'aching at the back of the throat and stinging eyes' way.
Oh, and if you work for the Royal Bank of Scotland: sort your shit out, would you? (Particularly your branch at 1 Fleet Street.)
* Them: the regional manager, the area manager, the private banking person who was looking after my account, and his boy.
25 comments:
Advice from someone who has had twenty years of long distance banking: Contact the Ombudsman: http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/
They will contact your bank and make it plain that you have a complaint. If the bank doesn't follow it up, they will.
Go to his boss and copy it to the highest, top-most person in the company, plus the press office if there is one.
The journey to your wit's end (for you are not short of wit, whichever meaning of the word you choose) must be a tiring one. I have no useful advice, only sympathy. And admiration for your restraint in not (yet) calling them a bunch of cunts.
Or whatever the correct collective noun for cunts is (discuss).
In addition to Totty Teabag's advice, tell the bank that you are going to complain to the Ombudsman. That might just set off enough panic alarms for them to actually get off their arses and do something, even before the ombudsman intervenes.
Yup press, the Beeb's Watchdog or summat like that.
And as others have said write to the top of the org. But try the useful numbers here first:
http://www.rbs.co.uk/global/h/contact-us/personal-banking/complain.ashx#tabs=section3
The 'executive e-mail carpet bomb' really is the only way to proceed from this point, you should be able to get corporate contact info on RBS online. I might suggest posting your complaint on The Consumerist blog too.. to my knowledge that gets an enormous following. Bad press is sometimes an effective way of getting some resolution. Hope you get what's yours and give them what's theirs soon.. I fucking hate banks.
Ombudsman approach seems best - but i recommend going public. In the US we have these annoying local news "Problem Solver" people - and sending the bank a copy of a letter you've sent to a television station about their poor customer service might turn up the heat. I resorted to this once when i couldn't get a department store to provide service to my mother... it was fun to play up the "eleder abuse" angle in the letter... a service technician was on her doorstep within a day. I was surprised he didn't bring flowers...
Or whatever the correct collective noun for cunts is (discuss).
Quiver?
gosh thats a pretty sum to have overlooked isnt it. I have had problems with Nat west bank whilst living in France and it aint fun trying to contact them from another country. They seem to think that they are "off ground" in some way if you are across a border. Make an appointment to go and see them (whether you go or not) The horrible prospect of them seeing a very voluble complaining angry woman in the flesh seemed to do the trick for me.
I think you have to send the bank a Letter Before Action, first, which says that in 7 days you are going to send a dossier about the RBS f***-up to the Ombudsman.
You could also join the Money Saving Expert forum
and bounce your situation off other people. I gather than most banks have staff looking in there (and possibly trying to head off trouble).
What the RBS has done to you is just appalling.
I hastened here this evening dear NWM to tell you about these monkey scented soaps - sorry, I'll try that again - scented soaps carved in the shape of the three monkeys, at Heals
That is a long time to be in limbo, longer than Indian banks.
Was there no way you could get the people who issued the cheque to cancel the first one and give you a replacement?
Transfering all your accounts (what a pain)to a Canadian bank and then suing the English bank for lost interest in the three months period would get their attention. Something about letters under a law firms logo.....
Internal complaints procedure followed by Ombudsman if necessary.
If you haven't already tried it, there's this:
Customer Relations Manager
The Royal Bank of Scotland
Freepost
PO Box 1727
Edinburgh
Scotland
EH12 9JN
Failing that, there's the CEO:
Sir Fred Goodwin
Chief Executive
Group Chief Executive's Office
42 St Andrew Square
Edinburgh
Scotland
EH2 2YE
and/or the ombudsman.
No wonder we - er, they - made 9 billion pounds profit last year. Cunts indeed.
--A Cunt
All I have is a hug for you.
Bit of research might get you the emails of his direct boss and the boss ahead of him. E-mail them by name and clearly CC him with the following in the body of the e-mail:
Date of check sent (assure them of physical copy of said action)
Date of correspondence on your part and the names and titles of those who ignored you
Date and amounts of moneys lost by you
Grand total, including all interest charges etc with a clear statement that you are sure the bank will be taking direct action.
Politely worded threat of just what will come next (ombudsman - which is a title I've always loved and which I hope means you get a nice pair of boots and a swirly cape as part of the job; complaint to the Times; full disclosure in Parliament; low-level harassment campaign to infect all those mentioned with a variety of embarrassing and probably rash-producing disorders)
Signed, yours ever, faithful customer NWM.
It might or might not help to address them in a friendly way as, "dear Cockwit."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?menuId=244&menuItemId=10148&view=PICHEADLINESUMMARY2&grid=F7&targetRule=14
Try this link. I completely agree with the take things public route. Write to Jessica and cc to the chairmen, the public relations officer and the local manager.
OR! Or you could cuddle up with some absinthe, place your fez at a truly fetching angle and try to figure out which of these fine religions you will join. After all, if a cock-worshiping sect can't help you with money problems, who can?
All brilliant advice. Thank you all.
All emails currently go to Regional (i.e. SW England), branch (i.e., branch), private banking advisor (the joy for which I pay a fee), and his gimp, who wears shiny suits from Burton and aspires to drive a BMW 3-series.
Next step will be to:
- write to the CEO, who obviously will be reading my letter - but who I am sure has a super little PR department
- write to customer complaints
- continue to email the quiver (correct, yes, I think that's right) of cunts at RBS
If all that fails, I will:
- get in touch with the people I used to work with (at, er, a national newspaper)
- get on to the Ombudsman
- fly back to London and set them alight.
I will also do the forums and the like you all suggest. Thank you for your advice - honestly, it's great -and Anonymous Cunt, you aren't a cunt. Only Child & Co Fleet Street are cunts. Fact.
IN the meantime, I shall adjust my fez, sip at some absinthe and order some monkey soaps from Heals.
Pip pip!
Setting them alight was exactly what I felt like doing several years ago, when I was living in Denmark and asked them to transfer a four-figure sum to my Danish bank to cover little things such as rent, food - you know. THREE times they sent a sum of money over to the Danish bank. THREE times they charged me £25.00 for the privilege. And EACH time they sent the princely sum of - wait for it - £2.50. I think what happened eventually was that they heard me screaming all the way from Copenhagen to Manchester and finally got their gormless arses in gear. And when I got back to Britain, I changed to First Direct, and have been an extraordinarily happy banking customer ever since! Good luck with your mission to knock some sense into RBS!
Arg, I got here too late and all my suggestions have been made.
I think Ombudsman and Watchdog are the way forward. Banks hate bad publicity.
Hope you get the cheque through ok
*note to self: don't tell NWM that you're currently sunning yourself on a lovely beach courtesy of a mysterious cheque which arrived in your bank account 3 weeks ago*
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nuttycow
www.parlezvousmoo.com
Still unable to post comments in blogger.
Ooh! How awful! Cunts!
Sorry, I have nothing more useful to say, but that's OK cos I see everyone else has. Phew.
Britain just does NOT do customer service. End of. And that, as North Americans say, sucks. Tu dois bein etre tanne. Allez, bonne chance quand meme!
If it's any consolation to you, I've just had a similar problem with HSBC, who managed to lose a standing order payment from my current account to my offset mortgage. They were f*cking useless, didn't seem to care about me or my money at all, and to top it all, having initially told me that I wasn't able to complain, decided that my complaint was not actually called a "complaint".
I found the money myself and I'm moving my account. No free dictionary given to me when I was 7 years old is worth this hassle.
Go to the FSO and the bank will be penalised regardless of the outcome.
ST
Yep. The Ombudsman is the best bet Everyone in financial services is frightened of them.
Sincerely.
Anon
Financial Services
UK.
Sssh.
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