Halifax & Withheld Telephone Numbers.

Traveller11

Yesterday I tried to carry out an online transfer for considerably less than the £25,000 advised on their website, and having clicked on the 'Confirm' icon having previously got the green light for the payments to be transferred this request was BLOCKED pending a 'Review' which according again to the website would happen within 24 hours and I would be advised of the outcome by a message left in my account, frustrating to say the least as this has happened for the third time now.

A couple of hours later I received a call on our Landline from a 'Withheld Number' and then 5 minutes later the same thing on my Mobile, both of which I was unable to answer, then 2 minutes later I get a text message also asking me to call Halifax Bank and quote a reference number.

When I returned home I went online to try and see what had happened only to then find that my account had been suspended and the 'Outside of the UK' telephone number was incorrect!

While I then had no option but to call I went through Customer Service while stating for the second time as this 'problem' has occurred before, that I was not prepared to answer calls from 'Withheld Numbers' which they totally agreed with even though I asked for that to be 'noted' on my account from the previous occurrence which doesn't seem to have happened.

While I also bounced this off a couple of Police Officers in view of the number of SCAM calls coming from 'Withheld Numbers' and they were in complete and total agreement.

I also asked Halifax Bank to open this as a Customer Complaint and was advised that while it has been, it has also been passed to the 'Customer Experience Platform' and will only be acted upon to improve the service when more customers make formal complaints.

So I am hoping that there are a number of Forum Members out there that have been through the same totally frustrating experience and are prepared to call in and complain, as it seems to be the only way to make this organisation sit up and take notice.

Thanks

agrinnall

Plenty of alternative numbers for Halifax on saynoto0870.

mgdavid

Traveller11 wrote: »

........
When I returned home I went online to try and see what had happened only to then find that my account had been suspended and the 'Outside of the UK' telephone number was incorrect!
.........

in case I misunderstood can you confirm that your home is outside the UK?

meer53

Can't see what the issue is really, they sent you a text as well.

I don't answer withheld numbers either, thats what my answerphone is for. If it's important they'll leave a message.

Steve_xx

mgdavid wrote: »

in case I misunderstood can you confirm that your home is outside the UK?

I think that the OP meant that they were trying to call HBOS on HBOS's outside of UK telephone number because it's usually a number starting 01, 02 or 03. whereas the normal number is an 0844 or 0845 number and they're often not included in call packages.

OhReally_2

Traveller11 wrote: »

Yesterday I tried to carry out an online transfer for considerably less than the £25,000 advised on their website, and having clicked on the 'Confirm' icon having previously got the green light for the payments to be transferred this request was BLOCKED pending a 'Review' which according again to the website would happen within 24 hours and I would be advised of the outcome by a message left in my account, frustrating to say the least as this has happened for the third time now.

A couple of hours later I received a call on our Landline from a 'Withheld Number' and then 5 minutes later the same thing on my Mobile, both of which I was unable to answer, then 2 minutes later I get a text message also asking me to call Halifax Bank and quote a reference number.

When I returned home I went online to try and see what had happened only to then find that my account had been suspended and the 'Outside of the UK' telephone number was incorrect!

While I then had no option but to call I went through Customer Service while stating for the second time as this 'problem' has occurred before, that I was not prepared to answer calls from 'Withheld Numbers' which they totally agreed with even though I asked for that to be 'noted' on my account from the previous occurrence which doesn't seem to have happened.

While I also bounced this off a couple of Police Officers in view of the number of SCAM calls coming from 'Withheld Numbers' and they were in complete and total agreement.

I also asked Halifax Bank to open this as a Customer Complaint and was advised that while it has been, it has also been passed to the 'Customer Experience Platform' and will only be acted upon to improve the service when more customers make formal complaints.

So I am hoping that there are a number of Forum Members out there that have been through the same totally frustrating experience and are prepared to call in and complain, as it seems to be the only way to make this organisation sit up and take notice.

Thanks

Perhaps it would be easier if you contacted your telecoms providers and asked them to bar all incoming calls with withheld numbers, if you have no interest in answering them? :cool:

Steve_xx

OhReally wrote: »

Perhaps it would be easier if you contacted your telecoms providers and asked them to bar all incoming calls with withheld numbers, if you have no interest in answering them? :cool:

I wouldn't do that because many NHS type numbers are withheld and that may cause a real problem in the case of an emergency.

Once upon a time there were some clever telephone handsets that used to answer the phone for you and these handsets would do a screening job by requesting the caller to speak their name. Then the device would ring the handset a second time with a slightly altered ring tone and when you picked it up the callers name was repeated to you and you could decide whether or not to accept the call.

callum9999

Unless its changed, Halifax will refund your call costs if you have to contact them due to a problem of their causing (rather handy when I'm using inclusive mobile minutes!). Whether this would count however I'm not too sure.

I also haven't tried it with Halifax (it's always worked for me in the past just typing the UK format of the international number) but when I tried to call Tesco Banks helpline using the foreign number, I had to include the +44 otherwise it wouldn't connect.

Steve_xx

callum9999 wrote: »

Unless its changed, Halifax will refund your call costs if you have to contact them due to a problem of their causing (rather handy when I'm using inclusive mobile minutes!). Whether this would count however I'm not too sure.

I also haven't tried it with Halifax (it's always worked for me in the past just typing the UK format of the international number) but when I tried to call Tesco Banks helpline using the foreign number, I had to include the +44 otherwise it wouldn't connect.

I often use these "outside of UK" numbers to call various companies. However, sometimes their clever systems know that you are dialling from within the UK and so wont connect. I've found that the cure for this is to insert 141 (withold my number code) before dialling the full "outside of UK" number and then their telephone system doesn't know that you're calling from within the UK.

alanq

Steve_xx wrote: »

Once upon a time there were some clever telephone handsets that used to answer the phone for you and these handsets would do a screening job by requesting the caller to speak their name. Then the device would ring the handset a second time with a slightly altered ring tone and when you picked it up the callers name was repeated to you and you could decide whether or not to accept the call.

I don't know about clever telephone handsets but trueCall boxes have this as an option for handling calls. However, at around £100 they are an expensive solution to the problem.

colsten

Juts answer the call and ask who is calling and who they wish to speak to. Depending on the answer, you can then decide whether the person is available or not.