Freightdog wrote: ↑Wed Mar 24, 2021 5:33 pm This is more than 1 paragraph, so if you have attention disorders, go here>
topic30352.html

Andy

It’s the first time that I’ve read this thread, but some of the shenanigans are painfully familiar. Especially, when you mentioned Halifax. These clowns cost me many sleepless nights many years ago. In fact, they still impose on my life despite having not banked with them for nigh on 9 years.

The Big problem with many businesses, Banks especially
It’s not what they do when things are going well, but what they can’t do when things don’t go as planned. I have a figure in mind of 95%. I’ve no idea what it might truly be; it’s just my notional figure. 95% of the time, their methods and procedures have no real problems, and any small issues are easily resolved in a quick phone call. And everyone seems content. 95% of the time.
95% of the time, there’s no problem.
But as mentioned earlier by another postee, it’s when they run out of script (or intelligence, training, or authority) and the easiest thing is to pass the problem on to someone else. A change in the banking app, that inadvertently required you to update your security details. But which can’t be done from overseas.
Banks play the international game while things are running smoothly, but then they get all fixated on rigid geographical ideas when the problem doesn’t fall inside the parameters that their procedures normally work within. Like fixed landlines. Like sending out new cards to your registered address, even though you are overseas Whalen the card stopped working, or mistakenly got flagged and blocked. ‘Oh, just go to one of our ATMs, and enter your PIN number, blah blah blah.’ You’ll have to do it when you return to the UK. It doesn’t figure in the thinking of the people who defined their processes that you might not be there for some considerable time.

Fixed landline. I get the reason why this is so, and why they think it’s a point of security. But they fail to appreciate that outside of their own national borders, it’s a very different world. It’s a crutch that they have. But they fail to appreciate that in many parts of the world, people simply don’t have a fixed landline. The irony goes one stage further- they’re likely talking to you via telephone systems that are entirely run through computer systems, with not a fixed line in sight.

The real difficulty in resolving problems such as the one that you have experienced, (as have I) is that their procedures have never been properly tested to make sure that they actually work. That they are fit for purpose. All of this making notes for feedback that is done on your and my behalf is part of the process, but unless it’s acted upon, nothing much changes. (My 95% figure again). For most of the problems that are encountered, the procedures work. So nothing needs to be fixed. But the problems that go unresolved for long periods of time are usually quite stressful- to you, me, the other poor sod. Complex problems that are outside the 95% norm.
The company treat it as a first occurrence every time you contact them, though. It matters not a jot that you may actually be relaying the story for the umpteenth time today, and have been dealing with the issue for many days, or even weeks.

I don’t actually bank with Halifax anymore (it was HBOS at the time that I had issues with them.) Nearly 3 years of unravelling the mess that they made. I got a large refund of monies that were part of the payment protection furore at the time. I still have an account with them, though. A mistake that they made. It maintains a 0.00 balance in my favour. It can’t be closed, because I’m no longer a customer! They can’t issue a card to go with it...because I’m no longer a customer. They maintain it, issue statements by post, have increased the credit limit. They don’t have a process to deal with it, because it falls outside of their normal processes. It’s been unused since inception, for 8 or 9 years.

I had similar problems with HSBC Canada. If you think UK banking is fucked up when dealing with issues, you’ll not want to deal with this lot. I closed all of my accounts with them in 2018, in utter disgust. They technically owed me about $30. I’d have to go into my local branch to activate my new bank card, and pick up the cheque for $30? At the time that I opened the account, I was briefly living in a suburb of Montreal. I lived somewhere else in Quebec for the rest of the time, and hadn’t been back to Canada (since 2014) when I closed the accounts. They happily changed my registered address, by telephone call because the system only allows (allowed) postal codes in Canadian format, online. You could set your home address to anywhere in the world, but the postal code had to be in Canadian format.
The US uses numeric zipcodes. The UK uses alpha numeric codes similar to, but not the same as Canadian. As a result, on a frequent basis, I’d be invited to go into the local branch to resolve a query that they had. That local branch being in Montreal. Being in Bangladesh, the Middle East, south East Asia or the UK didn’t figure in their needs. Their processes are designed around the 95% (my figure) of their customer base, and didn’t cater for the 5% who might well be remote from their local branch for 95% of the time. They couldn’t even make a customer call outside of North America, because their system didn’t allow for it. They refunded me a large amount of money on calls that I made, and I used Skype a lot. But if they don’t really know how to communicate, as a great many people don’t, then there’s a gaping hole in the process before you even start.

But that’s ok. Just pop into your local branch. Or get a friend to help you out until you come back.