my Abbey story of absolutely disgusting "customer service"

mickymellon

Voyager2002 wrote: »

No, of course it was not "fine". I suppose that my expectations are very low.

I just want you to appreciate that you asked someone a question that he could not possibly answer, and were trying to get at more money than their standard procedures allow. He tried to be helpful, although his answer was stupid and impractical. You persisted, so I am not surprised that at that point he became suspicious.

Obviously they ought to have ways of dealing with kind of situation without it becoming a disaster for the customer; there ought to be ways for you to speak to a manager by telephone; and promises made by branch staff should be kept. In much the same way, politicians should tell the truth. However, we all need to acquire skills in surviving in the real world, where what happens in practice is very different from what ought to happen.

well it is because of this rolling over attitude that large corporations can do what they are doing.
The very fact that this chap became abusive in the first place then proceeded to freeze my account from his incompetence or whilst not knowing anything about basic banking transactions had authority to mess with my account in the at all.

Surviving in the real world means provisioning, when a bank which (we all rely on) screws you over in the middle of nowhere and all you have to speak to is an idiot in Bangalore or wherever the call center is then having to beg so you can get a bottle of water!!!, that is out of order and absolutely unacceptable.
I guess *you* had to be there

robpw2

i kinda have to agree with stiffnuts on this one

plus they gave you £100 for nothing i would love £100 for a bti of bad customer servcie.

You should always make plans when going abroad to prevent situations like this so i would say you were partially to blame.\

robpw2

plus you only gave 2 options not three..

Idiophreak

robpw2 wrote: »

plus you only gave 2 options not three..

I think the point was *they* only gave *him* two options, not three.

My sister's in the process of complaining to Abbey about a number of things...between the problems she's had in the first place and the *poor* customer service she's got since complaining, I won't be touching them with a very large stick this lifetime.

mickymellon

robpw2 wrote: »

plus you only gave 2 options not three..

that's what I said to the call center rep

mickymellon

Idiophreak wrote: »

I think the point was *they* only gave *him* two options, not three.

My sister's in the process of complaining to Abbey about a number of things...between the problems she's had in the first place and the *poor* customer service she's got since complaining, I won't be touching them with a very large stick this lifetime.

Thanks

this post is mostly to let everyone know what they are getting into if they even think of banking with Abbey.
I have been banking with them all my life and the average customer service dropped through the floor as of late especially after the buy out from Santander.
I have been trying to switch to First Direct but am again held up by Abbey who have been unable to do anything right including sending me 3 months statements so I can switch!

stiffnuts69

oldagetraveller wrote: »

It takes one to know one.

"Pls be nice to all MoneySavers" - see forum etiquette on the right.

Get a life

ffacoffipawb

stiffnuts69 wrote: »

I think you are a bit of a joke. You went all the way to India relying on your debit card in the first place.

Your geography is a bit of a joke too. Since when was India in South America?

;o)

surreysaver

Voyager2002 wrote: »

In fairness to Abbey, they are not responsible for the policies and practices of the banks in South America. The daily limits that you encountered were set by the banks there, not by Abbey. And I don't see how a call-centre operative in India could know about banks in another continent.

Which is one reason why shAbbey are so carp in this country.

SouthernSoftie

Mickymellon, sorry to hear you have had this problem and have had stick off of some forum members for posting.
I have called the Abbey call centre before and did find they were pretty useless tbh but did you let Abbey know you were travelling abroad before you went?
This is always wise when travelling, esp to a country where a lot of fraud originates from, ie S. America.

I usually have enough currency on me when I travel, but if I think I may need a card I take the ones I might use and let them all know when I am going and due date back to avoid 'suspicious' spending being blocked, in case of emergencies. It doesn't always work as some transactions are screened and decided by software but for those being checked manually they can then see that you have warned them you will be abroad.