Graduate account grievances.

Othela

I have just finished putting together a rather lengthy letter for my bank. The short story is they left me without a debit card for several months, despite me calling to chase them up at least once every month. In order to have access to cash, I was forced to use my credit card; on which I have had to pay almost £150 in charges in the four months I have been waiting for my card.

Now my card has shown up, I'm waiting on a cheque book which I believe has been sent out to the wrong address (I have been given assurances to the contrary, but I ordered it a month ago and it still hasn't shown up!)

The full letter is below for any who want to read it. My main question is what kind of information do I need to provide in the letter so they can track me and verify what I'm telling them?

Many thanks!

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Dear Sir or Madam

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I am writing to raise a complaint about the handling of my personal accounts by your Customer Services team. [/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The debit card for my Graduate account – which I have held with you since the Summer of 2007 – expired at the end of October 2010. Having not received a card by the middle of that month, I telephoned Customer Services to inform them of the problem. I was assured the card would be received 'around the last week of the month'. By October 31st, nothing had arrived. As a temporary measure, I began to use my credit card in lieu of a debit card.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Still without a card by mid-November, I made a call to the Card Loss helpline and explained my situation. I was assured a card had been sent out to me at my home address in *** (which I confirmed). In the course of this phone call, the previously-sent card was cancelled, and a new one sent out. This card also never arrived.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I made another call to the Card Loss helpline on December 17th. I discussed my previous phone call and asked whether it would be possible to have a new debit card sent out to my local branch for me to pick up in person. I was assured this could not be done. In addition, the assistant raised that the address of my first-year student accommodation (***) was still registered to my account. I pointed out that I had not lived at this address for several years; that all of my *bank name* correspondence including bank cards had (to date) been sent to my home address and, furthermore, that this address should have been removed when I discussed my accounts with a representative at *** branch in the summer of 2008. Once again, my home address was confirmed and I was assured the student address had been completely removed from my account.
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[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]My most recent phone call was on January 25th. I talked with two different representatives and was informed that as a result of my phone call on December 17th, my new debit card had been sent to the student address which had supposedly been removed – but was apparently still on the data-base. I raised concerns not only that the address was still on the system and that my debit cards had been sent out to it, but also over the possibility that a cheque book I had ordered had also been sent out to that address. [/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]My debit card finally arrived on February 2nd. Although I have been assured that the cheque book I ordered has been sent to the correct address, it has yet to arrive. It was ordered almost a month ago.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]For the past three months, I have been paying money to my credit card in order to have access to it. To date, I have incurred £**.** of cash handling fees alone, which I would not have had to pay had my debit card arrived in a timely manner. On top of this I have also been charged £**.** in interest and other fees, which would again have been avoidable as my debit card allows me access to an up-to-the-minute report of my account balance (whereas even if I access my credit account online, there is often up to a four-day lag before transactions and payments are reflected in the account).[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Had these fees been incurred out of choice rather than necessity, I would not have a problem with them. However, because I have had no choice but to use my credit card in order to ensure the smooth-running of my finances, I feel these fees have been unfairly charged. I have clearly stated my situation and my problem to your staff in all of my dealings with them and I feel insufficient steps were taken to resolve my difficulty, as it persisted into its fourth month before it was rectified.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I feel my accounts have been made insecure due to the negligence and incompetence of your staff. Should sufficient steps not be taken to reassure me of the safety of my accounts, I will be forced to bank elsewhere.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I enclose all statements for my credit account for the entire period I was left without a debit card. I hope to hear back from you as soon as possible.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Yours Faithfully,[/FONT]

onlypaddy

Santander?

jonesMUFCforever

You did not need to cash money via a credit card - going into a branch with ID would have got you access to your money.

zppp

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Othela wrote: »

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[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I feel my accounts have been made insecure due to the negligence and incompetence of your staff. Should sufficient steps not be taken to reassure me of the safety of my accounts, I will be forced to bank elsewhere.[/FONT]

Lose the bit above. Keep all personal comments and opinions like this out of complaints. It's a matter of being objective.

opinions4u

I don't get why you had to use your credit card.

because I have had no choice but to use my credit card in order to ensure the smooth-running of my finances, I feel these fees have been unfairly charged.

You need to explain why other options, such as using a branch, were out of bounds. Additionally, surely you could have made purchases on your credit card rather than relying on cash advances.

I agree that you should receive a goodwill payment for their poor service (£50 is not unreasonable in my view), but your letter doesn't make it obvious that you should be compensated for fees and interest on the credit card.

Additionally, the pedant in me hates "I am writing" at the start of a letter. Espeically if it's typed! "I wish to complain" would be more than adequate.

I would also summarise at the end:

"I would be grateful if you could refund the sum of £xx as compensation for costs incurred by me having to use my credit card. In addition, a sum of £yy for time and phone calls trying to resolve this is also appropriate. Finally, as well as compensation to return me to the position I would have been in, I believe that a substantial goodwill payment is also appropriate. Please give reasonable consideration to the sum you feel is appropriate given the difficulties you have caused me".