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Bank of Scotland balance transfer - beware abysmal customer service
grumpy-customer
Posts: 1 Newbie
in Credit cards
Just a warning to those of you looking to take up the very cheap balance transfer offers from Bank of Scotland to be aware that their customer service is abysmal. The low fees may mean it's still worth it if you have the patience, but prepared for a lot of call centre misery:
- if you apply for a balance transfer during the credit card application process, as they suggest, they will send you an email within about 24 hours saying whether your transfers have been accepted. Apparently they often aren't, and mine weren't. But no reasons are given and at this stage you still don't even know your credit limit.
- if you try to call customer service to find out what's going on (after all, the only reason you want the card is to do balance transfers), they will refuse to speak to you as you won't yet have received your paperwork or card at this point.
- when the letters arrive a week later and you try to inquire about what is going on, it turns out you need a 'telephone banking security number' to discuss such sensitive matters, and that number can only be sent by post. So wait another week.
- two weeks in, I got four letters with various unsolicited internet banking reset codes, activation numbers and application numbers, as well as the promised telephone security number.
- now you can finally get through to telephone banking and try to fix the broken balance transfers. My experience is you will have to speak to three departments (front-line, then credit card accounts, then balance transfers) who will each take you through exactly the same security questions as if you're a new caller.
- if you do manage to get the balance transfer done on the phone 30 mins later, it's still not over yet. Transfers then take two working days for 'approval', which can be confirmed only by letter, so you need to wait another week. If there's an error (happens often e.g. operator put typo in address) you then need to start again with the call centre, as the balance transfer 'approvers' don't speak to customers or give explanations for their decisions.
I previously set up a balance transfer card with Barclaycard in about 5 mins online and spoke directly to one person when there was an error another time. Bank of Scotland treat their customers like a nuisance that needs to adapt to their own stone age internal bureaucracy. So if you have the choice, vote with your feet!
- if you apply for a balance transfer during the credit card application process, as they suggest, they will send you an email within about 24 hours saying whether your transfers have been accepted. Apparently they often aren't, and mine weren't. But no reasons are given and at this stage you still don't even know your credit limit.
- if you try to call customer service to find out what's going on (after all, the only reason you want the card is to do balance transfers), they will refuse to speak to you as you won't yet have received your paperwork or card at this point.
- when the letters arrive a week later and you try to inquire about what is going on, it turns out you need a 'telephone banking security number' to discuss such sensitive matters, and that number can only be sent by post. So wait another week.
- two weeks in, I got four letters with various unsolicited internet banking reset codes, activation numbers and application numbers, as well as the promised telephone security number.
- now you can finally get through to telephone banking and try to fix the broken balance transfers. My experience is you will have to speak to three departments (front-line, then credit card accounts, then balance transfers) who will each take you through exactly the same security questions as if you're a new caller.
- if you do manage to get the balance transfer done on the phone 30 mins later, it's still not over yet. Transfers then take two working days for 'approval', which can be confirmed only by letter, so you need to wait another week. If there's an error (happens often e.g. operator put typo in address) you then need to start again with the call centre, as the balance transfer 'approvers' don't speak to customers or give explanations for their decisions.
I previously set up a balance transfer card with Barclaycard in about 5 mins online and spoke directly to one person when there was an error another time. Bank of Scotland treat their customers like a nuisance that needs to adapt to their own stone age internal bureaucracy. So if you have the choice, vote with your feet!
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Comments
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That may be so but I was told my credit limit at the time of application.
Balance transfer with application failed as you said. Unlike you, I decided to wait until the card was received before proceeding.
Once card was received, phoned up and did balance transfer in 10 mins.0 -
Yeah it seems like you have had a hard time unfortunately.
However I would like to address my experience with them.
I applied online and got my credit limit at the end. Fired in my card numbers I wished to balance transfer from a MBNA card and everything went fine. So their systems can work well and did for me.
Their customer service is generally quite good too any time I have had to call.
However, I will agree about the pass code situation, I changed my phone and had to register my device with them again and forgot my code so the only way was the letter process but it came within 5 days and I wasn't in a hurry for it anyway.0 -
As I understood it, a full 3% BT fee would be applied on the transfer then 2.3% would be rebated to make the effective fee 0.7%.
I can't find anything in the T&Cs or on promotional literature to suggest WHEN this will happen. My 3% was charged on 27 March so coming up to 1 month with no sign of a rebate.
Anyone else apply for this card?0 -
Can't help you with BoS but i know that the recent Halifax offer (3% fee, 2.2% rebate) allowed 90 days for the rebate, but mine took about 60ish0
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jimclark1967 wrote: »As I understood it, a full 3% BT fee would be applied on the transfer then 2.3% would be rebated to make the effective fee 0.7%.
I can't find anything in the T&Cs or on promotional literature to suggest WHEN this will happen. My 3% was charged on 27 March so coming up to 1 month with no sign of a rebate.
Anyone else apply for this card?
UPDATE: The 2.3% refund was credited to my account 8 weeks after the balance transfer.0 -
That may be so but I was told my credit limit at the time of application.
Balance transfer with application failed as you said. Unlike you, I decided to wait until the card was received before proceeding.
Once card was received, phoned up and did balance transfer in 10 mins.
same here - and the BT fee rebate arrived on the 2nd statementI’m a Senior Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Pensions, Annuities & Retirement Planning, Loans
& Credit Cards boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.
All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.0 -
I dont see why they charge 3% then rebate 2.3% of it.
Why not just charge 0.7% to begin with?0
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