ombudsman moan moan

shoi

I made a moan to the bank ombudsman because the bank dropped the interest on my Euro Tracker account to, I dunno, 0.1% or whatever.

My moan to the bank then the ombudsperson was that if it's called a Euro Tracker then it should do what it says, track the Euro bank rate.

Her latest reply says
[FONT=&quot]When you opened the account you agreed to the terms & conditions and are therefore bound to the contract you made with the Halifax (now Lloyds TSB Offshore). [/FONT]
and indeed she tells me that clause 7 (7!) does indeed say that they will drop the interest after a year. Without telling me.

She says my arguments about the code of practice, the bank having to be clear (clause 7 in the small print isn't what I call clear) have no value. The small print wins every time.

My reply runs thus:
I'm not writing to you as a lawyer seeing if there is some loophole in the banks's T&Cs, I'm writing to you as a consumer protection officer seeing if the customer has been treated fairly. Frankly if all you're going to write is it's ok it's in the small print so tough mate then really you shouldn't be doing this job (sorry)

Is there any hope do you think?

(PS it's the Isle of Man, offshore, as I live in France)

dunstonh

I'm writing to you as a consumer protection officer seeing if the customer has been treated fairly.

They are not a consumer protection office. They are an independent arbiter of complaints. They work on the basis of law, regulation & guidelines with a touch of fairness thrown in.

Frankly if all you're going to write is it's ok it's in the small print so tough mate then really you shouldn't be doing this job (sorry)

It is hard to argue with something that is documented. Also, you are referring to the terms and conditions. You may have had better luck had you referred to the promotional literature which no doubt is what you used when you purchased it.
Problem with that is it will almost certainly also mention it was a bonus rate with much more prominence than just being in the T&C. Indeed, a quick historical document search indicates that they used introductory bonus rate on their documentation and didnt hide from it.

pfpf

shoi wrote: »

Her latest reply says
[FONT=&quot]When you opened the account you agreed to the terms & conditions and are therefore bound to the contract you made with the Halifax (now Lloyds TSB Offshore). [/FONT]
and indeed she tells me that clause 7 (7!) does indeed say that they will drop the interest after a year. Without telling me.

T&C's state rate will drop? how does that tally with the "without telling me" bit?

shoi

Apparently I clicked on the smallprint acknowledgement on their website. (You know someone once inserted a You hereby sell me your immortal soul clause in their smallprint and nobody noticed).
It's odd, I do normally spend a little time looking through this guff. But I'm thinking on the lines that the PPI smallprint (T&Cs) said we wont normally pay up if we can possibly avoid it in some form or another, but in the end our hero and the FSA drove through that and and it didn't stand.
It's really that the $%^& thing was called Euro Tracker, even on the head of the statements which showed negligible interest. So it's the antithesis of clear, and I understood the code of practice calls for stuff to be clear.

shoi

pfpf wrote: »

T&C's state rate will drop? how does that tally with the "without telling me" bit?

without reminding me at the time it does actually drop.

It's how all the B**s work, a fab opening rate which plummets later. It's one reason why everyone hates them.

What's different to me is that the account has a specific name with a clear meaning. How about they had an account called the TENPERCENT account, but in clause 7 it said only for a while, would you think that's OK?

noh

Which code of practice?
The account is regulated in the IOM. Was it their Ombudsman you complained to?
http://www.gov.im/oft/ombudsman/


http://www.lloydstsb-offshore.com/important-information/company/

1. The Isle of Man branch of Lloyds TSB Offshore Limited is licensed by the Isle of Man Financial Supervision Commission and registered with the Insurance and Pensions Authority in respect of General Business. Business Address: PO Box 111, Peveril Buildings, Peveril Square, Douglas, Isle of Man IM99 1JJ
2. The Isle of Man branch of Lloyds TSB Offshore Limited is a member of the Depositors' Compensation Scheme as set out in the Depositors Compensation Scheme Regulations 2010.
3. Complaints involving the Isle of Man branch of Lloyds TSB Offshore Limited that it cannot settle should be referred to the Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme for the Isle of Man.

The FSA and and UK financial ombudsman had no jurisdiction over this account.

Do you often enter into contracts without reading them?

shoi

noh wrote: »

Which code of practice?
The account is regulated in the IOM. Was it their Ombudsman you complained to?
http://www.gov.im/oft/ombudsman/


The FSA and and UK financial ombudsman had no jurisdiction over this account.

Do you often enter into contracts without reading them?

undeserving of a polite reply

opinions4u

shoi wrote: »

undeserving of a polite reply

The first question seems remarkably reasonable though.

Otherwise any responses and hints relating to the FOS may assume that this is the UK FOS that you're dealing with.

shoi

Dear Noh

If you read my small print carefully you would observe the following:

Her latest reply says
[FONT=&quot]When you opened the account you agreed to the terms & conditions and are therefore bound to the contract you made with the Halifax (now Lloyds TSB Offshore).
[/FONT]
I think you could actually have worked out that a reply like that was not sent by the UK Ombudsman.

30-0 ?

noh

shoi wrote: »

Dear Noh

If you read my small print carefully you would observe the following:

Her latest reply says
[FONT=&quot]When you opened the account you agreed to the terms & conditions and are therefore bound to the contract you made with the Halifax (now Lloyds TSB Offshore).
[/FONT]
I think you could actually have worked out that a reply like that was not sent by the UK Ombudsman.

30-0 ?

How would I or anyone else be able to work out which jurisdictions ombudsman wrote the reply?
You didn't make clear that it was the IOM ombudsman. This is a UK consumer financial forum. Many readers of this thread would asssume you meant the UK ombudsman.
I asked you for the sake of clarity which was not present in your first post, unlike the contract you entered into when you opened the account that explicitly informed you the interest rate would drop after one year.

You also mention the FSA in post #4 which has no jurisdiction in the IOM the relevant authority beng the FSC

In my opinion you have no grounds for a complaint.

shoi

expletive deleted