Smile (Co-operative Bank) make £300 error on current account

maze65

I'd appreciate any feedback on the following situation. I have a current account with Smile (Co-operative Bank) which I use for disposable income. The account does not have an overdraft facility.

Briefly, after withdrawing £550 in cash from the Glasgow branch (Co-operative Bank) the bank cashier has processed this transaction as an £850 withdrawal. This has put my account into arrears and blocked access to funds that are mine.


Monday 18th December

1. Just before Christmas I paid a cheque into the account for £655. There wasn't much in the account (£10-ish) when the cheque was paid in.

Thursday 21st December

2. The cheque has cleared and I go into my local branch (Glasgow Branch -Co-operative Bank) to withdraw cash for Christmas presents.

3. I ask the cashier in the branch for £550 in cash. Leaving a buffer of £115-ish in the current account.

4. The withdrawal slip is hand written by the cashier and I sign it. When the cash is handed over I look at the withdrawal slip and think to myself "That looks a wee bit like £850" written on the slip. Stupidly, I dismiss this thought as I know that I don't have £850 in the account and there is no overdraft facility.

5. I'm at home and the "£850" issue is nagging me. I get the bank envelope and re-check the amount I've been given. Yes, they've definitely given me £550.

Boxing Day

6. I check my smile account and it's overdrawn by £185. My cash withdrawal has been processed as £850.

7. Immediately phone smile and explain the situation. The smile operator tells me to contact the local Glasgow branch of Co-operative bank.

Wednesday 27th December

8. Visit the Glasgow branch and explain calmly that they have made an mistake etc. I am assured that I will receive a phone call by Friday 29th December about progress.

A week passes with no contact from my local branch

9. I try to check my online account and have been blocked from accessing it.

Thursday 4th January

10. A smile operator calls and asks me if "I'm aware that my account is overdrawn". After pointing out a few things to the Smile operator he says that he'll get the Glasgow branch to phone me the next day.

Friday 5th January

11. Glasgow branch call. The woman comes on the phone asking what she can help me with. The same woman who took the details of the complaint in the first place. I get a "Oh, did no one get back to you about that?" No apology for poor customer service. She says that she'll get the Glasgow branch manager to call me. The branch manager does not call*

*Smile informed me today that the Branch manager did call me but couldn't get through. The Branch manager says he left a voice mail which I also never received.

Monday 8th January

I call Smile to ask them what is happening. The operator states that the branch has requested a note of all the transactions that day. They also ask what time I went into the branch so they can check CCTV footage of the transaction.

Anyway...

I assumed being a bank that they should be able to check on a daily basis the amount of physical cash in the branch against the transactions processed. In this case there should have been a difference of £300.

Shops do this when they cash up at the end of the day. I would have thought banks have the same sort of system? In fact you'd think a bank was a wee bit better balancing the books than a shop.

I have a feeling they are going to try and shaft me on this. If they do. How can I take this matter further?

Any feedback or advice greatly appreciated.

Hazzanet

Put in writing exactly what you've done here directly to Smile. State that you are unhappy, and that you would like an immediate resolution. They are usually pretty good when you put something in writing.

realaledrinker

There will be a £300 imbalance on the Glasgow branch cash suspense account looking for a home. I am sure that this is just staff incompetence rather than anything more sinister.

Write to this guy:

David Anderson
Chief Executive
The Co-operative Bank
1 Balloon Street
Manchester M60 4EP

realaledrinker

Just a thought - normal practice would be to make out a cheque to 'cash' or give the teller your debit card which he swipes through his keyboard. He then types the amount into his keyboard and a computerised 'till receipt' is produced, which you then sign. You then get a copy of the receipt and your cash. Your account is then immediately updated for the cash withdrawal in real time and thus presumably would have flagged up the fact that you would have gone overdrawn to the teller. Maybe their system was unavailable for some reason.

I am intrigued by your mention of 'hand written withdrawal slip' and how you established your credentials without a debit card . Can you elaborate?

maze65

Thanks for the replies RealAledrinker and Hazzanet.

To clarify about your query regarding the 'handwritten slip' RealAle. I meant that the amount withdrawn was handwritten on their standard withdrawal form. Other banks that I have used print the amount withdrawn and you sign the slip. If this had been done there never would have been a problem.

I was going to come back on here giving Smile/Co-operative bank a thumbs up for resolving this. However, they've managed to make a complete *rse of things and annoy me even more.

I received a phone call today from the Glasgow branch (it was the woman who had actually served me that called) apologising for the inconvenience and recognising the fact that they'd made the error. Hurrah, I thought, especially when I was told that the funds would be back in my account this afternoon.

I later checked my online account and true to their word the funds are back to normal.

Now for the sting in the tail. I try and complete an online transaction with my debit card and it's refused. Scratching my head, I decide to phone Smile and ask for an explanation. I'm told that a block was put on the card (22nd December) and that they will have to issue me with an new one (3-5 working days) before I can do any sort of online transactions.

I'm gobsmacked. This is probably the worst customer service I've ever received. They've been at fault from start to finish and even when I think the situation has been resolved they manage to !!!! up big style.

Is there any case for trying to get compensation here?

Rafter

I'm sure Smile with make an ex gratia gesture to you for your inconvenience but formal compensation is unlikely.

I guess you should use your debit card or write cheques as Christmas presents next year - or use the ATM machine rather than an error prone underpaid bank cashier!

R.