HELP: Reclaiming phone charges from your bank?

dalesrider

skytrotter81 wrote: »

There seems to be a lot of defending of the banks but in reality i dont see how they have a leg to stand on. I told them the dates i would be in a country and which country i would be in. Whether said country has a problem with fraud should be irrelevant to my case. I need a card that works between these periods. They cant claim to be an international bank otherwise.
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I will not defend a bank when they are in the wrong.

As I work in fraud/disputes and also cover security systems I have a big insight into how they work.

As I said in a previous post. You can tell the bank that you are in X country, but if there is fraud in that country. You are going to get a security check.

Let me put it like this, and I have seen plenty of these cases. Customer is in country and we know. Due to fraud in that country customer has a security check. Cm confirms all as genuine. This places a anti referal on the card for a set period. Now in that period fraudsters are at work in that country and empty said account of all cash.
Given that you are in that country, the bank could also with hold any refunds pending a invistigation. Leaving you high and dry...
Who would you be blaming in that instance ???? Bet it would be the bank for not protecting your money.

Security systems are double edged sword.

I do fully understand your frustration, and the time you spent on the phone is not acceptable at all.
You should never have spent more than 10 mins on the phone. Any long delay due to security team being busy. Often the case overnight as there will only be a few staff members on shift. Should see someone call you back, so you are not paying for the call.
So I would expect to see some redress to cover the phone costs. If thats the full amount or not is upto your bank.
But as you had other cards with you. You did not have to spend all that time on the phone, you could have tried again later. Which could well be the way they look at your claim.

skytrotter81

dalesrider,No they wont. As far as they are concerned and have knowledge of, i had 1 card, which they blocked every time it was used. I agree with fraud protection and understand its vital but we also all want a debit card we can use when we need to.

Thanks for your response 'Malcnascar' small claims court may be be another avenue. The banks take enough off us so we may as well try and get what we can out of them when the opportunity arrises, and having watched how corrupt barclays are on the Panorama show last week, i feel even more persuaded to.

Anyway, phase 1 - success. I went into branch and they have agreed that they were bang out of order. They have also in the last month since i've been back changed their systems so people can tell them all the countries they are visiting. This is just a question for the people that aren't defending banks now...How do i play it when i inevitably get a compensation offer from them, which i presume will be just the cost of the phone bill. I'm thinking, say its not satisfactory and try and get more or is this a bad idea and i should just be taking whatever they offer?

Any useful advice would be great

pmduk

Work out what your out of pocket expenses are, as long as they're covered, accept the offer. If these expenses are high, then be prepare to prove them.

mulronie

Common sense would suggest you:

• have a back-up source of funds to avoid undue stress... it's a holiday after all
• ask the bank to call you back, instead of using your UK mobile to call an 0845 number from Vietnam (actually when I went to Thailand Barclaycard told me to do an international collect call if ever I needed to contact them)
• avoid behaviours very likely to trigger your card being blocked... behaviour like, I don't know, raiding an ATM continously for as long as you can....

skytrotter81 wrote: »

Most notably when we spent 3 hours on the 5th floor of a bank in Vietnam trying to get as much money out as possible

:T

dalesrider

skytrotter81 wrote: »

This is just a question for the people that aren't defending banks now...How do i play it when i inevitably get a compensation offer from them, which i presume will be just the cost of the phone bill. I'm thinking, say its not satisfactory and try and get more or is this a bad idea and i should just be taking whatever they offer?

Any useful advice would be great

Lets just say. If you push it you will be asked to prove the costs. At a guess they will cover the costs and add a bit on to smooth the waters a bit.

Anyway nice to see you are getting a result :T

izools

Any time I go abroad I take my debit card and two credit cards.

I use the card that is cheapest to use first and foremost, and if for any reason there are any problems, use the second cheapest and so on.

Whoever is the most unreliable gets the least of my custom.

I never carry less than two cards in the UK, let alone elsewhere.

If, however, I were in your situation I would raise a formal written complaint asking for a full refund of the phone bill plus extra for your time purely for the fact alone that the number they provided for calling from overseas didn't work.

I'd happily take it as far as the FOS personally but IME this isn't likely to be necessary.

stclair

Have you since saved their telephone number to ensure the same circumstances do not arise again in future:

I'm having trouble using my cards abroad. What can I do?

If you're having difficulties using your debit card outside of the UK, or your card has been stopped, please call us in the UK on 0870 010 4503 (outside the UK +44 1928 58 4421).

Lines are open Monday to Sunday 7am-11pm (GMT) – call charges to this number can be reversed.

For Barclaycard, call 0844 811 9111 (outside the UK +44 1604 230 230).

If you're planning to travel, to help us provide you with the best service, please keep your contact details (including mobile number) up to date, so we can get in touch with you if we need to.