Warning about Smile/Co-Op

simonneilgoodall

I have banked with Smile (the Internet arm of Co-Op Bank) for many years. Recently, in order to complete my tax return, I requested four copy statements via the Smile web site. I could not view these statements online even though they were less than a year old.

They provide you with a screen where you input the statements you want. Naively I thought this was a free service. After all, they send me paying-in books and envelopes free of charge all the time.

Imagine my shock when I receive an email from their customer services letting me know that they have charged me a fee for this service: £40 for four pieces of paper for the privilege of checking my own bank account.

I complained to them and received a reply justifying their, in my opinion, rip-off fee. They claim that old statements are stored on micro-fiche and the fee covers their retrieval and printing. This I can understand but even so, I feel £10 for each statement is very steep. I certainly feel ripped off.

Customer Services say that the charges are laid out in their terms and conditions small print and I guess it is my fault for not checking that before requesting the copies but it still smarts that a bank can charge such a high amount simply because I want to look into my own account beyond 6 months ago and make no mention of the fees on the statement request page.

I suggested to them that they spell out these high charges on the request screen in order to warn customers of the charges for this service.

In light of the fact the bank has gradually reduced the interest on my current, savings and ISA account to virtually nothing over the months, this charge felt like a slap in the face.

So be warned, especially if your bank is Internet based. Check the small print before requesting anything in paper copy. You might be in for a nasty surprise.

I'm certainly not 'Smiling' now. Time to test the new 7 day switching service.

Simon

Hazzanet

opinions4u

You should have asked them for a tax certificate.

datlex

Can't you get 6 years worth of statements as a statutory right for a minimal charge? Or has that changed?

EarthBoy

datlex wrote: »

Can't you get 6 years worth of statements as a statutory right for a minimal charge? Or has that changed?

I think you are referring to an SAR, or Subject Access Request, under the Data Protection Act whereby they have to give you details of all the information they hold about you. It used to cost about £10 but it might have gone up now. This info might go back longer than 6 years, it depends how long they keep it. You wouldn't get copies of your statements though, -at least not in the format they were originally issued, there's no requirement on them to do that. Instead, you'd probably get an enormous computer print out showing all your transactions. This might be easy to follow, or it might be harder to understand than the statements would be.

Frozen_up_north

simonneilgoodall wrote: »

I have banked with Smile (the Internet arm of Co-Op Bank) for many years. Recently, in order to complete my tax return, I requested four copy statements via the Smile web site. I could not view these statements online even though they were less than a year old.
Simon

Are you sure they were less than a year old? My Smile current account lists statements back to 2006, but only allows me to print statements back to just over 12 months ago. Given the small amount of data statements take up and the low cost of storing data on servers, it's a poor show when Smile can't provide the data without a £10 charge.

This is my last week with Smile, their virtually zero interest and the 7 day switch proved too much, I am moving to a Santander 123 current account with completion in a couple of days.

There are a few snags with Santander by the way, the Post Office card readers won't work with Santander debit cards, so you currently can't withdraw cash at a Post Office counter. And for some reason my credit card payments have been fouled up in the transfer, there are more than 100 identical payments showing under their "pay bills" tab when I log onto the Santander account! I am also not impressed with their mostly 0845 contact numbers and told them so. With Smile at least there is a mobile friendly 0161 number to call in order to query account matters.

Hazzanet

Equally with hard drive storage space being ubiquitous, it's hardly a chore to save the smile statements to disc (Google Chrome has a 'save as PDF' function) as and when the e-mails arrive to say a statement is ready.

Looking back, the earliest transaction I can see is 21 March 2000.

rb10

Frozen_up_north wrote: »

I am also not impressed with their mostly 0845 contact numbers and told them so. With Smile at least there is a mobile friendly 0161 number to call in order to query account matters.

It's quite well hidden ... but does exist:

http://www.santander.co.uk/csgs/Satellite?c=Page&canal=CABBEYCOM&cid=1210607136939&empr=Abbeycom&leng=en_GB&pagename=Abbeycom%2FPage%2FWC_ACOM_TemplateA2#3

Archi_Bald

rb10 wrote: »

It's quite well hidden ... but does exist:

http://www.santander.co.uk/csgs/Satellite?c=Page&canal=CABBEYCOM&cid=1210607136939&empr=Abbeycom&leng=en_GB&pagename=Abbeycom%2FPage%2FWC_ACOM_TemplateA2#3

Even easier, and not hidden: use the "Outside UK" number printed on the back of your debit card - 01908-237963