When is a letter box not a letter box?

xylophone

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5289640

I paid my self employed tax bill at my local Halifax branch ......I got a call from the 'manager' who was incredible rude.

Is it part of the training....?:eek:

Spanishomelette

Westie983 wrote: »

Letterbox should be checked at the same time as emptying the ATM of deposits, but I can only assume that as the postman doesnt use the letterbox they dont check, you should be able to get a temporary OD, on your account, by speaking to head office, it may not be an official OD, as you say you have already been down this route, but you can go into a branch and speak to the counter manager and they should be able to authorise a payment over the balance in your account (push a payment through) to allow you to get food, till the cheques clear, you maybe charged for this facility but its a solution that can be offered as they have caused this issue by not checking the postbox...

they is no special clearance procedure now that all cheques clear within four working days, I do suggest to customers that they dont use the letter box and we cant guarantee that is will be opened at the beginning of the day (it does get opened but maybe after 4pm, and that will be a added clearance day to the cheque) so if they are in need of paying in cheques and clearing to use the IDM deposit machine or the counter, or to use the post office facility...

Thanks, Westie 983. That's what I was hoping for, but what Halifax won't do. I have spoken to both the on-line banking team and my branch manager and, as I said, his answer was "What do you want us to do? We can't just give you money". I asked for an overdraft of £100, less than half the amount deposited, and said I only needed it for the number of days it took to clear the cheques. But still no, and no acknowledgement that they may be partly to blame for this situation.

shortcrust

Heng_Leng wrote: »

Ultimately, it's for you to ensure they get the cheque and for them to process it.

The problem here is neither party is right or wrong here.

Putting it through their letter box should be enough to ensure they get the cheque.

Westie983

thats a shame, I would think they would have to compensate you for the fact that you now have to wait that extra clearance day due to them not emptying the letterbox....

maybe worth going back in and speak to someone else.... (*another manager, we have three in our branch)

Spanishomelette

Heng_Leng wrote: »

Ultimately, it's for you to ensure they get the cheque and for them to process it.

The problem here is neither party is right or wrong here.

Yes, I can see your point, but why have a mailbox if you're not going to check it? It just makes (naieve) people like me think it can be used to post things into the branch! I know it is unfortunate that I was ill and couldn't physically get to the branch myself, but equally I would have hoped that Halifax could make some sort of gesture to help me out.

I fail to see the difference between paying Royal Mail to get someone to walk a cheque through the door into the branch (to be processed) and posting a cheque through the letterbox into the branch (to be processed). To my simple mind, both cheques would be physically in the branch and neither is being dealt with through the only two acceptable means (according to the branch manager), being the ATM or over the counter. Yet one request is carried out and the other is not. Would customers who posted a cheque in have a right to feel aggrieved if Halifax didn't bother to open the post for days? Maybe not.

xylophone

Putting it through their letter box should be enough to ensure they get the cheque.

One would certainly hope that they would check it for mail!

His response was - we don't guarantee to empty the letter box.

Can I tell the Halifax that when they send the next credit card bill?

Or perhaps HMRC?:rotfl:

lisa110rry

Spanishomelette, I am totally on your side. Sadly, that's all I can contribute. As far as I'm concerned if a post box isn't checked each day a notice should be posted. I'm responsible for legal service and if I didn't deal with service immediately I'd probably be sidelined, if not sacked. If you were local to me (are you?) I'd personally give you enough money to feed your kids.

Spanishomelette

xylophone wrote: »

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5289640

I paid my self employed tax bill at my local Halifax branch ......I got a call from the 'manager' who was incredible rude.

Is it part of the training....?:eek:

Thanks, xylophone. You made me smile. I was beginning to think it was just me they were rude to!

Charm school was obviously closed the day your Halifax branch manager went, too.

Alter_ego

When it comes to the crunch, the T&Cs of your account will detail the ways to pay in, sorry but I doubt it includes the letterbox.

ICan'tStandIt

Spanishomelette wrote: »

Should I take this further, or is it just my bad luck that I didn't know that something I have done at each of my previous banks (Nat West, Midland and Nationwide) over the years is no longer acceptable?

Register a complaint. Halifax pay what they call 'distress and inconvenience' payments with pretty much every complaint they deal with.


They also always take the word of the customer at face value and probably won't ask the manager for his side as they want to close the complaint within two days so it doesn't go on the official figures.


Crying down the phone also helps