Are Halifax HBoS Britain's most incompetent bank?

TheAceofClubs_2

Firstly some background. I moved to my current address 5 years ago. I'm not a Halifax customer, I have NEVER been a Halifax customer, and I never want to be their customer. And until 18 months ago I'd never had any correspondence from the Halifax

Around 18 months ago I received a letter which I opened without realising that, although it was addressed to my address, it wasn't my name. (seemingly a previous owner) The letter was from Halifax Bank reporting progress on a PPI claim. I sealed the letter back up, wrote on it that it had been sent to the wrong address and returned it to the "if undelivered" address.

A couple of weeks later I received another letter, again to my address, but again with the same wrong name. It was another copy of the same letter. So I wrote on the actual letter that this was sent to the wrong address, resealed it and returned it to the Halifax.

A couple of weeks letter it happened again. It was the same letter, but a new copy (as it didn't have my writing on it). I returned it.

Then, last July I received a Haifax Cashcard. Again to the same wrong name, but to my address. I returned it with a covering letter expressing my shock that they would send cashcards to the wrong address in the totally unsecure Royal Mail. I requested a reply confirming they had received the returned cashcard. I never got a reply.

Onto January this year, I receive another Halifax letter to the other name. I returned it unopened with a covering letter explaining how they had sent the cashcard last July, and how I had returned it asking them to remove my address from their database, and to confirm receipt. I explained that they never had replied and clearly hadn't removed my address. I again asked for a reply confirming receipt and confirming they would remove my address. Again they never replied.

2 weeks later, I receive 4 letters addressed to the other name! Just in case any of them were meant for me, and now getting seriously peed off with these morons, I opened them all.

None were my reply. One was saying that the PPI claim was already investigated and the case was now closed. Two were Identical letters saying this other person had registered for Internet Banking, and the 4th was giving this persons internet banking log on!!!

Thoroughly peed off. I wrote back, giving the Halifax idiots the full story again, and advising them that as I was so annoyed with their continued idiocy, I would in future be invoicing them £15 for every item of wrongly addressed correspondence sent to me. I gave them 7 days to raise any objections to my administration charges, adding that if I didn't hear from them with any objections within 7 days, I would take this as acceptance of my terms... No reply came!

Moving forward to this Tuesday, and I receive a letter addressed to me!! The writer thanks me for my recent enquiry about MY account, and is sorry I'm unhappy....(No wonder I'm unhappy...I don't have an account you fool). He adds that they will respond as quickly as possible to my concerns.

The next day (Wednesday) Another letter comes addressed to the other name again (sigh). It's a five page explanation of the findings of their PPI case. So that's the first £15 invoice that Halifax owe me. Kerching!

Thursday this week I receive another letter! This one is addressed to me again (yippee - the quick response as promised in Tuesday's letter).
This lady is also sorry to hear of my concerns and she apologises. She says she tried to call me but was unable to reach me (Not surprising, since I'm not their customer and I have never given them my phone number).
She says her understanding of my complaint is that I am unhappy that mail is being sent to my address for one of their customers, and I would like this to stop. (No $h1t Sherlock! Could there be any circumstances where I would want them to send their customers' correspondence to me instead??? Well maybe if I was a fraudster I suppose, but I'm not).

"To put things right" she says, she has "enclosed a cheque for £5" to cover my costs.

Guess what? The cheque isn't made out to me, It isn't made out to the name of their customer with the PPI problem.....Nope the cheque is made out to a totally different name!

I repeat...Are Halifax HBoS Britain's most incompetent bank?

rb10

Nope, this is standard practice for big companies.

I've completely lost count of the number of times I've had letters addressed to the previous occupant at this house from Lloyds TSB, Natwest, HMRC, BT, Sky, the local council, ... the list goes on. Each time I return it, marking clearly on the envelope that the addressee is not known at this address ... more letters continue to come.

Doubt you'll get anywhere with your 'invoicing' scheme.

Just keep sending the letters back.

TheAceofClubs_2

The thing is, I don't get the Bank Statements or anything like that for the other person. So only certain departments seem to have the wrong address. The problem is, the more stuff I send back, the more I seem to get.

I reckon my invoicing scheme will work. If I really was their customer and had (say) gone overdrawn, they'd happily charge £15 for the admin involved in sending a letter. Why shouldn't it work the other way?

They haven't objected to my terms, so they've accepted. In fact I'd already have £5 in my bank if they'd not been so incompetent as to put the wrong name on my cheque!

Hominu

Thing is they'll probably do the same thing for your invoice - write a cheque out to a random person and then send it to you, knowing you can't cash it. In the end you'll give up as not speaking to them is easier than trying to deal with them.

tocsin

Suggestion - report them to the Information Commissioner - https://www.ico.gov.uk - as they are clearly not handling personal data properly?

xylophone

Have you tried going to a branch and speaking to a customer service assistant?

innovate

Write to the office of the Halifax Managing Director davidnicholson at halifax dot co dot uk (I have to write it like that to prevent the MSE email addy destroyer to spring into action).

I am sure he and his office won't find your experience remotely funny and will kick some backsides.

cos_2

Good luck, mate!

Some years ago before it was easy to transfer cash abroad online, I made regular monthly trips to my Halifax branch to send cash to the USA. I promise, I would sit at the desk, tell the clerk my request, and then step round the desk to open the drawer to get the forms. Then I'd help them through completing them.

Ok, I can't compare and say they're the most incompetent, but they've got another couple of points!

TheAceofClubs_2

update on the above.... Halifax paid my invoice....In fact they sent me £30 for the inconvenience. (and the cheque was correctly made out to me).

...and a month later they haven't sent me any more incorrectly addressed post since!

plap99

Halifax are definitely incompetent in my book. I have a mortgage with them and they have been writing to the wrong address for 18 months, whats more I got into arrears because they changed the mortgage rate and sent the letter to the wrong address, Then sent a bailiff to the wrong address too!

They agreed that they had the wrong details, apologised and refunded almost £4000 in charges, interest and compensation, but four months on they still have the wrong address for the mortgage and the wrong interest rate.

I have now written to them to advise that I am charging them £35 per letter or call, plus £10 per day the error continues and that I expect them to write off the mortgage as they appear to have the mortgage on the wrong property and therefore the debt is unenforceable! I'm sending them an invoice for £1200 this weekend , I wonder if it will get paid?

Jegersmart

Why only £10 per day?

J