Difficulty changing sole to joint account

expatasia

Has anybody else had trouble changing an ordinary UK current bank account (for copyright reasons I shan't name the bank) from sole to joint? Is this following example just rank incompetence or something else?

Despite being told on the phone by my branch that it'd be no problem and having had the necessary forms sent to me out here - I filled them in TWICE as it transpired with the requested ID/address details of my partner, in fact we already have a joint account with an offshore arm of the same bank so she, a non EU citizen, is already 'known' to them - the process is dragging on and on to my immense frustration. Let me quote from letters received from the branch over last few months:


"..it appears that the letter and forms to add your wife to the account may have been shredded as confidential waste"
"I have enclosed a new form to add your wife to the account. I have only managed to find the international account which is in your sole name, meaning that I do not have your wife's details to be able to do so"

The latest one;
"I have all the forms here ready to implement this change but unfortunately you didn't attach a copy of your wife's visa page of her passport..."

The bits in bold are dubious/untrue/mistakes by their staff. Yesterday I called their call centre and asked them to send me another sole to joint form, I'm thinking of filling it all in with the same documentary proofs with copies of their letters to me and mailing it all directly to their main complaints dept office.

opinions4u

for copyright reasons I shan't name the bank

If I utter the words "Barclays" or "Lloyds" are you saying I could suffer the same fate as the bloke who said "Jehovah" in Life of Brian?

(In answer to your post, complain officially and take it from there).

expatasia

opinions4u wrote: »

If I utter the words "Barclays" or "Lloyds" are you saying I could suffer the same fate as the bloke who said "Jehovah" in Life of Brian?

(In answer to your post, complain officially and take it from there).

Er..thanks.

I'm new to this, how does one complain most effectively? Any tips? Since I don't live in the UK any more it's practically impossible to open another current account so it's not simply a case of thinking I'll switch bank if I don't get customer satisfaction.


Anybody had experience of successfully lodging a similar complaint? Thanks.

rb10

The bank will have its complaints procedure on its website. That will tell you how to make your complaint.

expatasia

rb10 wrote: »

The bank will have its complaints procedure on its website. That will tell you how to make your complaint.

Thanks yes, there's an address to write to given there - I was thinking more of the right tone to adopt when complaining.

opinions4u

expatasia wrote: »

Thanks yes, there's an address to write to given there - I was thinking more of the right tone to adopt when complaining.

Short and to the point.

- I want to do this
- Date commenced trying.
- This and this have happened.
- Was told this
- Date is now ddmmyy and it's still not happened

Please take ownership and resolve this.

expatasia

Don't know if anybody remembers this thread. This is part of the letter of complaint I sent to the bank three weeks ago. Do you think they will fob me off or give some form of redress/compensation in a reasonably short time period? Should I complain to the ombudsman, is this level of service acceptable in Britain? I think it is appalling but that could be just me living in a country where excellent customer care is standard. Thanks for reading.

Since last summer I have tried to change my current account from sole to joint to include my wife. In telephone conversations with my branch I was told that this was not a problem especially since my spouse is already a customer of (offshore arm of the same bank) too. They encouraged me to go ahead with what is supposedly a simple process. The first attempt incurred delays and ended in failure as I was told in writing, after my faxes finally prompted a response, that my letter and completed application forms might well have been 'shredded in error as confidential waste'! My second attempt also failed, the staff claimed to have only been able to find 'the international account which is in your sole name' (untrue, all our accounts are joint ones) and that I'd failed to attach a copy of my wife's visa page (also untrue, copies of all non-blank pages of the passport were submitted with the application along with proof of address/bank statement from the offshore branch in our joint names). Thankfully this time the staff had not lost/destroyed the application documentation and claimed to have 'all the forms here ready to implement this change'. However the process subsequently stalled for months.
Fast forward to mid March this year and the terrifying earthquake we experienced here, followed by the Fukushima nuclear power station accident and subsequent release of radioactive materials into the skies of this region. In that first week of the disaster, seeing various European embassies order their citizens to leave the country and mindful that the UK embassy might only provide emergency evacuation transportation for myself (a British citizen) and not necessarily for my wife, I hastily submitted to the branch for a third time another sole to joint account application form, with certified evidence of ID/address yet again. Obviously my wife would also need access to our money in case of overseas evacuation/our possible temporary separation. As it happens we have not evacuated (city in NE Japan) yet but the danger is far from over as you will be aware from the news. Finally, in mid April having not heard anything back from my branch I discovered during a phone call to them that changing the account to joint is simply not possible as my wife is not currently living in the UK (money laundering reasons?).
I felt humiliated. Why was I not told this at the very beginning to save all this wasted time and effort? Not to mention the expense of international postage, fax & telephone calls.

Secondly, in early **** I instructed my branch by phone to open a fixed term deposit for **,000 Pounds (* years, *%). Despite the website's claim that such accounts can be opened immediately over the phone provided funds are already in one's current account I was told to send a fax to confirm the request. I did so on **/**. You can see from the documentary evidence that it took my branch until **/** to open the deposit and when it was opened it had a rate of only *%. Trying to get hold by phone of the right person (or any person at my branch) in those summer months to sort this out more quickly was nigh on impossible, almost soul-destroying. Often nobody picked up the phone at the place (prestigious location but is it understaffed?) so I gave up on numerous occasions or else I got told the person in charge was unavailable. I was even informed that the branch's 'one international phone' was broken and that they 'don't do email'. So I never ever heard back. Consequently I have lost out on months of interest payment (I estimate **% of a year's interest, ie. *00 Pounds minimum) and been given an inferior rate for the fixed term deposit. Can you rectify this, please?

Thirdly, two months ago I phoned the bank's call centre to set up a monthly standing order from my current account (** Pounds/month to ****, actually not even a 'new payee' as the staff had on a previous occasion transferred money instantaneously to the same account of mine). The SO was set up there and then, no need for me to put it in writing said the gentleman. At the end of the following month I noticed that the SO had not gone through. Unbeknownst to me the transaction had an 'interceptor' on it (is that the correct term? I only found this out much much later from a lady at the call centre who advised me to get the branch to 'sort it out'). How could the call centre staff not have noticed that the standing order wasn't going to go through and was he oblivious to the fact that I could have been seriously inconvenienced by missing a payment date, why was a letter/text/email not sent to me informing that the standing order was not initiated? It's hardly as though it was a suspiciously large amount of money either.

Finally, despite on two previous occasions having returned a tax exemption form to your Customer Support centre I note that on my current (& annual) account statements I am still after many years getting my interest paid net instead of gross. I just spoke to a lady at the call centre who promised to send me yet another tax exemption form to fill in and submit. Will it have the desired effect this time? Ensure it does, please.

northerner77

expatasia wrote: »

This is part of the letter of complaint I sent to the bank three weeks ago. Do you think they will fob me off or give some form of redress/compensation in a reasonably short time period? Should I complain to the ombudsman

They will reply within eight weeks and won't want it to go to the ombudsman.

opinions4u

I think it fails on the "short and to the point" suggestion.

Have they acknowledged the complaint yet?

expatasia

opinions4u wrote: »

I think it fails on the "short and to the point" suggestion.

Have they acknowledged the complaint yet?

No, they haven't. I have just received the wrong tax form from the call centre people (R85 not R105). Why am I not holding my breath....

Mr Ex-bank manager, I wanted it to be short and to the point but there were too many points! (All backed up by documentary evidence). :cool:

opinions4u

expatasia wrote: »

No, they haven't.

The lack of acknowledgement would drive me insane. It really is poor. A simple "we've got it, we've just not got round to reading it" message would at least reassure.

One option would be to email the CEO. That doesn't mean he'll reply personally, but most banks have an executive complaints team where the delegated authorities have a bit more clout to make things happen. Take a look at the link below.

http://www.!!!!!!/

Perhaps a short email along the lines of "Here's a copy of my complaint. It was sent 3 weeks ago. Please can you acknowledge receipt and arrange for a speedy and acceptable solution". Include a phone number so they can easily contact you - they can pick up the international dialling costs.

I have just received the wrong tax form AGAIN from the call centre people (R85 not R105). Why am I not holding my breath....

Some banks don't accept R105s in any circumstances. Lloyds for example. Could this be causing the problem?

Mr Ex-bank manager, I wanted it to be short and to the point but there were too many points! (All backed up by documentary evidence). :cool:

It isn't always easy!!