MSE News: FSA tightens complaint rules

Former_MSE_Guy

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"Banks and other financial firms will be banned from trying to fob off complainants before they've made a final decision ..."

Read the full story:
FSA tightens complaint rules

pmduk

I suspect that the best way to encourage banks to handle complaints better would be to increase the amount they pay when a complaint is made about them. It might concentrate their minds on sorting the matter out directly with the complainant.

JuicyJesus

pmduk wrote: »

I suspect that the best way to encourage banks to handle complaints better would be to increase the amount they pay when a complaint is made about them. It might concentrate their minds on sorting the matter out directly with the complainant.

What do you suggest? Is £500 not already a steep enough sum when many complaints are regarding (or result in compensation of) less than that?

ChiefGrasscutter

JuicyJesus wrote: »

What do you suggest? Is £500 not already a steep enough sum when many complaints are regarding (or result in compensation of) less than that?

The problem is that when you complain 'the banks' send you a load of !!!!!!!! letter in an attempt to fob you off.
This forces you to write again suggesting that they might like to investigate your complaint properely and now adding a new complaint about the appalling way your initial complaint is being investigated.
If they don't satisfy your now 2 complaints....then you have to write to the F.Ombusdman service complaining about everything again and it is AT THIS POINT the banks get charged the £500.

Clearly their objective is to hope you give up en-route....which would then cost them nothing....hence their writing drivel in their replies and deliberately avoiding the query/complaint.

This ruling by the FSA is to stop the first 'hope the customer goes away/dies/emigrates' letter and making them actually consider your complaint in a proper manner in the first place.

pmduk

JuicyJesus wrote: »

What do you suggest? Is £500 not already a steep enough sum when many complaints are regarding (or result in compensation of) less than that?

It's obviously not steep enough when so many complaints could be resolved before reaching the ombudsman.

shepherdboy

We have a complaint regarding a major insurance company and a so called financial advisor. The FO were as much use as a catflap in a submarine. The amount involved is £20,000 earned the hard way over 50 years. We have been advised to sue them as we have a very strong case, but no one has told us what to use for money.

JuicyJesus

pmduk wrote: »

It's obviously not steep enough when so many complaints could be resolved before reaching the ombudsman.

The thing is though we currently have a situation where someone can make an obviously invalid complaint to their bank, have it rejected and then run off to the Ombudsman with their herp-derp-Martin-Lewis-said-so-derpdee-derp complaint, who then automatically charge the bank £500 for the pleasure of considering it, even when the complaint is totally without merit. Banks and other businesses are now undergoing a tidal wave of try-it-on cases launched by claims companies, and even when there's no evidence in the customer's favour and they're lying through their teeth they get charged £500.

Again; most complaints result in compensation of less than £500. Ombudsman-covered businesses are required to put the contact details of the FOS on every complaint letter they send out, meaning the way is open for consumers to go to the Ombudsman should they wish to do so. What good does it do if that sum is £1000?

meer53

JuicyJesus wrote: »

The thing is though we currently have a situation where someone can make an obviously invalid complaint to their bank, have it rejected and then run off to the Ombudsman with their herp-derp-Martin-Lewis-said-so-derpdee-derp complaint, who then automatically charge the bank £500 for the pleasure of considering it, even when the complaint is totally without merit. Banks and other businesses are now undergoing a tidal wave of try-it-on cases launched by claims companies, and even when there's no evidence in the customer's favour and they're lying through their teeth they get charged £500.

Again; most complaints result in compensation of less than £500. Ombudsman-covered businesses are required to put the contact details of the FOS on every complaint letter they send out, meaning the way is open for consumers to go to the Ombudsman should they wish to do so. What good does it do if that sum is £1000?

Hear Hear ! I've dealt with so many complaints where customers ask for unrealistic amounts of financial compensation, it's getting ridiculous.

Yesterday i had a complaint where we (the bank) hadn't made any error but our customer didn't agree with this (on several occasions he was very aggressive and intimidating towards the people who were trying to sort out his problem), which was his own doing due to his inability to understand how internet shopping works.
The conversation was going round in circles, he was blaming us, we were trying to tell him where he had gone wrong, we rang the retailer for him (in the USA) who confirmed that he HAD placed 2 orders with them, but he just wouldn't accept that he was in the wrong. This HAS to be logged as a complaint as per FOS which is ridiculous as the customer has expressed dissatisfaction with the bank, even though he was in the wrong ! He was asking for £200 compensation :eek: For what ???? For his inability to read Terms and Conditions, thats what !!

What will happen next is that we will offer him a fraction of this as a gesture and he will reject this, he will then, probably, get the £200 ! It's disgusting that people are so consumed with this "something for nothing" attitude. These are not true complaints, they're just people milking the system, when people go on about bankers bonuses and the problems within the banking system it makes me really angry :mad: