my story video-clip
how the ombudsman service helped me ...
when my bank-card was stopped abroad
(04:54min video-clip)
transcript
a consumer phones the Financial Ombudsman Service ...
Hello, you're speaking to Sonia at the Financial Ombudsman Service. How can I help?
Hello. I have a complaint about my bank, and a friend said you might be able to help?
Yes, we might indeed – what's the complaint about?
Basically, the bank suspended my debit card while I was on holiday, which caused me a great deal of trouble, and I feel they should give me some kind of compensation.
Right. Have you contacted the bank since the problem arose?
Yes, I have, and they say they can't do anything.
Well, we do deal with unresolved complaints against banks, so I hope we can help. Can you give a few details about what happened?
OK, sure. I was on holiday in Turkey with a few friends, and after a couple of days my bank card no longer worked – but I knew there should be money in my account. So I phoned the bank, and they said that their system had discovered ‘suspicious activity' on my account – since I had been using it in Turkey – so they'd suspended use of my card. The problem, they said, was that they couldn't remove the suspension unless someone popped into my branch personally. They'd gone through all the security checks, so they knew who I was, but they insisted that someone had to pop in – I thought this was rather unreasonable. Anyway, I tried to get hold of my sister to see if she could pop in. But this was on a Friday afternoon, and she didn't get my message until after the bank had shut – and then it was a Bank Holiday in the UK on the Monday – so it was Tuesday before she could pop in. Consequently, I was stuck in Turkey without access to my money for almost five days. I thought this was disgraceful. Had I been travelling alone, I would have been totally bereft with no cash – I was lucky I was with friends. But it ruined our holiday, and I'm extremely disappointed that the bank left me in that situation.
And have you contacted the bank since coming back?
Yes. I phoned them the day I got back and they told me to put the complaint in writing, and I did – about six weeks ago. And they've sent me a letter saying that this is the policy and that they can't do anything – and I'm none too pleased with that.
Well, it sounds as if we could possibly investigate on your behalf. The next step is to register the complaint with us, and then we can look into it in greater detail.
OK... Will it cost me anything?
No, we are a free service to consumers. We were set up by law specifically to offer assistance in resolving complaints between financial companies and their customers.
Oh right. So what must I do to register the complaint?
You'll need to fill in our complaint form. I can help you do that over the phone now and send it to you for signature, or if you prefer, you can download it from our website and fill it in yourself.
I think I'll get it off the website if that's OK – I haven't got all my notes in front of me at the moment.
No problem – then, once we've received your form, we can look at your complaint in greater detail, and we'll contact your bank to get their side of the story – and then we'll decide what we think is the fairest solution.
Can you give me any idea how long this will take?
We aim to resolve most disputes within six months. Since we are a completely impartial service, we have to listen to both sides to the dispute in order to be able to weigh up all the facts. We want to make sure that customer complaints are treated fairly – but we do not seek to punish businesses.
OK – I'll get the form off your website and send it in. Thanks for your help.
some time later ... Sonia from the ombudsman service phones the customer to give them an update on their complaint
Hello, Sonia here from the Financial Ombudsman Service. It's about the complaint you recently registered with us.
Oh, great. Are you any the wiser?
Yes. We've contacted your bank and, taking all the facts into consideration, we've decided that they were behaving reasonably when they suspended your card – since they had good grounds for believing that the transactions from Turkey might be suspicious.
Oh. Right...
But... we also feel that, once you contacted your bank to make them aware of the fact that you had been using the card abroad, and that you were dependent on getting access to your money, they should have resolved the situation better – and we appreciate the anxiety you were caused on your holiday.
Definitely.
So we recommend that your bank should pay you compensation of £400 for the inconvenience and the bank have accepted our recommendation. How does that sound?
Excellent – thank you! Wait, though - does this mean that they have to pay this money?
If both you and the bank accept our suggestion as an informal agreement, then, yes, the bank are under obligation.
Splendid. I thought they were going to ignore me – when they could have left me bereft in Turkey, you know? I thought they should give me compensation as a matter of principle. Thanks very much for your help.
Don't mention it – we're glad you're happy with that agreement. We'll post the necessary paperwork for you to sign.