Lloyds TSB Debit card replacement - anyone else having problems?

Quaint1

If this isn't the right place, my apologies - please move it to whereever IS the right place, but as I'm venting I thought it best to post here!
Is anyone else having a problem getting their replacement Debit/Cashpoint/cheque card from Lloyds TSB?
My debit card expired at the end of July - I didn't notice, and had a slightly embarrasing moment in Asda when I tried to use it to pay for my shopping (luckily a friend was with me and had enough cash to cover the bill (I've since paid him back!) - I don't use Credit Cards when I can possibly help it!)
I called Lloyds TSB customer service to find out why I hadn't been sent a replacement card in good time, only to be told it had been referred to my branch; they said my branch would call me on the following Monday.
This they did, and I was told that I was the third person this had happened to and that a replacement card would be sent to the nearest branch on 9th August ("but allow a day for it to get there") - I did ask if they could post it, but they sait that would take longer as it would be sent by 2nd class post (not, I would have thought, the most secure method of sending a debit card!)
I went in on Friday 10th to be told no, no card, don't know why you were told it would be here that quickly.
Another call to Customer Services and I got a really friendly, sympathetic and helpful chap who tried his best to track down the card, but to no avail.
Monday 13th I get a letter (dated 8th August) from Lloyds TSB telling me that my card was now available for collection - i.e. the letter was sent two days before I was told the card wasn't actually available. I won't now be able to go into the branch to collect the card until Saturday 18th - so I will have been without a convenient means of paying for shopping and withdrawing cash for over half the month. (I can go into a branch with the old card and a form of ID and take out cash over the counter of course, but I work on an industrial estate miles from the nearest branch, and cannot get there quickly!)
I was wondering - has anyone else had the same or similar problem with their replacement debit card from Lloyds - is this a bigger problem than the three people my branch told me about? No-one at Lloyds TSB has yet given me an explanation for why the card was 'referred to branch', nor why I was not advised that this was the case, or that I would not be getting a card. I should state that the account is in good financial health - my salary is paid into it and it is in credit enough to cover bills due.
Secondly, once I have the card in my wallet and can use it, I'll be sending a strongly worded letter to Lloyds TSB about the whole thing; I'm looking for an explanation from them and a reassurance that it won't happen again, but can I try to claim back the expenses I've incurred travelling to and from the branch on failed card collection expeditions, calls to Customer Service, inconvenience, etc.? We're talking pennies, of course, but it's the principle - I pay a monthly fee to the bank for the services it provides, and I don't expect to have to chase them for something that should arrive in a timely fashion (and which, in the nearly 20 years I've had an account with them, hasn't been a problem!)
Any thoughts?
Au Res.,
Paul

nealallen

Hi Paul. I can't say what's going on with TSB, but if you have a look at this thread http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=515980 you will see it's Abbey Debit Cards too.

This is a much bigger problem that what people think.

Quaint1

Thanks for the link - the post about the manufacturer being in Tewkesbury suggests a reason, though it's odd that Lloyds TSB haven't used that as a reason for my card not turning up!
Au Res.,
Paul

djtonyb

DH card expired earlier this year and had an embarassing problem in Adsa too.

We called customer services to find out where his card was to be told he hadn't been sent a replacment on because we had asked then to stop sending their reams of junk mail :eek:

Managed to contact branch and get one sent there to be collected.

Quaint1

In case anyone is interested, I finally got my card on 22nd August and sent Lloyds TSB a letter of complaint detailing the various things that had gone wrong (would you believe I was actually told at one point that my replacement card had been sent to a branch in Suffolk - I live in Essex for my sins - because there is a one digit difference in the branch sort codes!)
They responded this week, offering apologies for the 'technical issues' and 'human errors' that led to me having an unsatisfactory experience - and they are crediting my bank account with £40 for my additional expense and inconvenience (which is more than covered by £40!)
I'm not unhappy about it - it's more than I was hoping for (I half expected a £10 M&S voucher!)
Just goes to show, sometimes a detailed and, mostly, polite letter of complaint CAN have an effect!
Au Res.,
Paul