Post Office Travel Money Card communication problems

jayalexander

Hi, I'm new to the forum and I don't have reason to complain about much and wouldn't have this time if the initial issue was sorted out promptly, but I have since encountered multiple problems with this Post Office 'service' that is actually administered via Clydesdale Bank. I apologise for what might sound like a mad rant but I am just trying to put the events in order as they happened...

In theory it sounds like a useful service; load money onto a separate debit card that you can use abroad without incurring hefty bank charges like you might with a normal current account card.

I successfully applied for this card through the website in September, loading £200 onto it, which I could then use as $USD. It was sent out within a few days and I attempted to activate it. Here I encountered my first issue: the website had let me enter and proceed with a four digit access number, whereas the automated telephone line required six digits. I explained this to a member of the customer service team and was told that they would need to pass the issue to a member of the technical team and that they would ring me back the next day. It didn't take a day. It took a whole seven days! During which time I'd ring every day and be told that they would need to escalate it with the technical team. On one of those days I asked if I could be put through to someone on the technical team and was told that they do not have telephones! Another day I said that I thought the best way to sort this out would be for me to get the money refunded back into my current account and gave my bank details. On the seventh day I rang and was told that the card had been activated and was given the six digits that I needed (at last)!

By now, this was approximately 5th October and it would have been nice to have been informed that a refund had been actioned, and offered the opportunity to cancel it, as I flew out to America on the 8th October and the card stopped working on the 10th after a couple of purchases.

I accessed the card statement online and 'LOAD REDEMPTION FEE' was listed for that transaction, which I assumed was the refund. Which I assumed would be back in my account in a day or two. There was no sign of it, so when I returned home on the 18th October I telephoned again and was told that a cheque is posted (the process can take three weeks) and I can then take it to a post office to cash. If this is the case, why was I required to give my bank details as I had done previously?!

So I waited until Nov 9th to telephone to enquire what was going on. I was told that there had been a problem (surprise, surprise), I should have received the cheque between 30th Oct and 7th Nov (during which I went overdrawn) and that they would attempt to transfer the money onto my card via wire transfer the same day, but the person doing it would need authorisation and that it might not be possible as it was Friday. In which case, the person, herself, would ring me on Monday (12th). I didn't receive a call, so I have just rang again. I was told that it has gone through but that it can take up to 8 days for the transfer to be complete!

So as things stand I am looking at having the money back in my account by the 17th, but feel that I have been lied to throughout, and was wondering if anybody else has experienced similar issues with this card?

Will the Financial Ombudsman investigate this if I make a request?

dml3nmh

I agree with jayalexander. I have had a very bad experience with the Post Office Travel Money Card and I would advise NOT TO USE IT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

I was in Germany and phoned up the Post Office helpline to find out why my card was being declined. Firstly I was annoyed that having entered in all my security details to an automated service, I had to repeat them all to the agent, incurring greater phone bill expense. In response to me saying that the transactions were being declined, the agent told me that the Germans were putting the transactions 'throw (I quote from their letter in response to my complaint) incorrectly'. I tried to use it again, and asked whether my PIN had been changed as this was another reason I could think of it not working. The agent said that it had been changed so I agreed with her that the German machines must be the problem and had to resort using a debit card using my overdraft for transactions and costing fees every time I used it.

When I returned to the UK, I found out that the fact of the matter was that for some reason the PIN had not been changed as I believed I had done at a UK ATM, even though the agent confirmed that I had changed it from its original number. Therefore, it was not the German machines' fault at all.

Between September and November 2012 I phoned the Post Office Customer Services three times to log a complaint, then complain that they had still not responded to my complaint. When they did by letter (over two months after my original phone call), they just said it was the German machines' fault and ignored the facts of the matter. They said it was their final response and I could contact the Financial Ombudsman if I wanted!

I emailed them back to request that they respond to the points I put clearly in an email to them regarding their level of efficiency, 'customer service', and my original complaint, and they just sent me another letter (and another copy of the Financial Ombudsman leaflet) saying it was their final response.

I am absolutely livid that they think this is customer service, and at the extra expense I incurred whilst thinking that I had a useful product to use on holiday. I would not recommend this card to anyone because if you run into difficulties, the incompetence you will encounter on the other end of the line is staggering, and any savings that you thought you may have made will be expended in another way many-fold.

Fletchasketch

This is disgusting. I've just been on the phone to my little brother who has had the same experience. £600 just lost and they keep saying they are looking into it at a huge daily cost in phone calls.

Can I ask if the posters received their money back in full in the end and were they compensated for their fees and expenses? Will certainly be urging bro to make claim to the ombudsman, they have made what should be a fun working holiday into a total nightmare!!

NiftyDigits

Why are people getting this card anyway?? It is not in any 'recommended' listing.

Fletchasketch

Guessing perhaps not everybody uses Money Saving Expert for every conceivable transaction. Slightly missing the point, as we're just trying to recoup costs and warn other people not to use the card.

Pretty sure it was recommended at one stage and possibly when the OP bought it in any case.

Darryl68

This is still an ongoing issue. I've just returned from Tunisia and I was naïve enough to believe that I could trust the Post Office Travel Money Card.


I used the Post Office Travel Money Card as I was keeping the holiday a secret from my wife as a surprise for her birthday. I was able to do this entirely over the counter without any letters arriving at the house I wish I had just taken the cash. I loaded the card with £500, for which the Post Office Travel Money Card charged me £7.50.


When I tried to use the card in Tunisia it would not work. I had £500 sitting there that I could not access. I tried to use the card with 3 separate vendors and at an ATM but the result was the same every time. The card was declined by the UK server!


This spoiled our holiday as the money was intended for excursions and spa treatments. In the end we spent a week sitting in the hotel. Telephoning the Post Office Travel Money Card "help" line, at great expense, from Tunisia drew a blank. They wouldn't even transfer my money back to my bank account so that I could use my debit card.


When I got home I telephoned to complain. I was told I'd have to send them back my card for testing. I insisted on a receipt for the card. The advisor was unenthusiastic but, in the end agreed to confirm it's arrival by e-mail. I sent off the card and got no delivery confirmation. That's how far you can trust them.


I got my money back, including the £7.50 fee, but it doesn't cover the cost of the phone calls, the embarrassment of having my card rejected, the inconvenience of chasing the Post Office Travel Money Card to return what they had taken from me or for ruining our holiday by making false claims.


They claim that there was a vendor error so it's not their fault.


If this were the case, then I would not have been asked to enter my PIN number. One of the vendors I used was using other cards on the same terminal while I was present with no issues, and I attempted it at a functioning ATM. The messages at all stated that the server had declined the transaction.


My complaint has got me nowhere. The Post Office Travel Money Card complaints office has taken the "bully boy" attitude and refused to compensate me for withholding my money. They won't carry out anything like a proper investigation and insist that there is nothing wrong with their system. Interestingly enough, a friends daughter has just had the same experience while on a trip to Australia. Furthermore, they have failed to return my card.


I'm taking this to the FCA and making a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.


DO NOT USE THESE CARDS! THEY ARE A FRAUDULENT RIP OFF!


Post Office Travel Money Cards have serious problems with their servers and, rather than admitting it they are happy to keep this a secret and ruin holidays that people have spent their hard-earned cash on.