Appropriate Level of Compensation?

TBagpuss

I'm curious as to whether anyone knows of any guidance, or has had personal experience, of how much it is reasonable for a bank to offer as compensation for poor service and the consequent distress and inconvenience?

I was locked out of my online access to a credit card account I have for just under 4 months. During that time I made numerous calls to the bank to try to resolve the issue, which included several occasions when they promised call-backs which they then didn't make, and two separate incidents when I told them I wanted to escalate and make a formal complaint, and they did nothing.

I wrote them a letter of complaint which did get a response, and they finally gave me back access (it turns out this this was a really, really simple fix which ought to have been done the first time I called!)

there wasn't any financial loss, but a lot of stress and time wasted.

I'm wondering whether anyone has had a similar experience and what you would expect a bank to offer in this kind of situation. (I have looked at the financial ombudsman's site and clearly it would come in the lower band of up to £500, but there doesn't seem to be much guidance about where in that band it should fall.

Any thoughts?

YorkshireBoy

£25. £50 if you stamp your feet!


EDIT:

two separate incidents when I told them I wanted to escalate and make a formal complaint, and they did nothing.

They will most definitely not want this referring to the FOS, so maybe you can use this to your advantage.

I wrote them a letter of complaint which did get a response, and they finally gave me back access (it turns out this this was a really, really simple fix which ought to have been done the first time I called!)

So when you finally wrote a letter of complaint you didn't tell them what resolution you were looking for? Or maybe you just wanted your online access back and nothing else? They will use this to their advantage. If you ONLY asked for online access back then they've resolved your complaint.

paragon909

TBagpuss wrote: »

I'm curious as to whether anyone knows of any guidance, or has had personal experience, of how much it is reasonable for a bank to offer as compensation for poor service and the consequent distress and inconvenience?

I was locked out of my online access to a credit card account I have for just under 4 months. During that time I made numerous calls to the bank to try to resolve the issue, which included several occasions when they promised call-backs which they then didn't make, and two separate incidents when I told them I wanted to escalate and make a formal complaint, and they did nothing.

I wrote them a letter of complaint which did get a response, and they finally gave me back access (it turns out this this was a really, really simple fix which ought to have been done the first time I called!)

there wasn't any financial loss, but a lot of stress and time wasted.

I'm wondering whether anyone has had a similar experience and what you would expect a bank to offer in this kind of situation. (I have looked at the financial ombudsman's site and clearly it would come in the lower band of up to £500, but there doesn't seem to be much guidance about where in that band it should fall.

Any thoughts?

One would ask what is your time and stress actually worth in monetary terms... Could be anything from 0.01p to whatever they decide, That's if they even give you anything.

Am not sure you would get anything near the £500 you quoted, If that was the case then the likes of Natwest wouldn't be in business because of IT errors.

TBagpuss

No, I'm not expecting £500 as that is clearly at the top end of the 'moderate' range, but £0-£500 is a fairly large range!

When I wrote I said that I felt that compensation was appropriate in light of the length of time and number of attempts I'd made to resolve it, but didn't give a figure.

yoshiyella

I got £40 compensation when my bank failed to cancel a SO (it was done over the phone). They then gave me another £200 when the same SO went out the following month as well.

jonesMUFCforever

Your online access was blocked just for the credit card or your bank accounts as well?
If credit card only there were other means of getting the information you required such as telephone banking or old fashioned thing called walking into a branch.
If it was up to me I would say £50 tops!

GingerFurball_2

£25.

Being locked out of internet bankin really isn't a big deal.

JuicyJesus

£14million and you get to have dinner with the Queen.

Katiehound

£25 if you are lucky!

jamie_02

How much did it actually cost you to sort out? How much are you paid per hour and how many hours (truthfully) did you spend on this problem? I can't believe being locked out of online banking is the most stressful thing in the world, though, so add on £20 for 'inconvenience/apology' and you've got a figure.
Surely the point of compensation is to put you back in the position you'd be in if the problem had never arisen, not simply as a financial gain in itself.

Giddypip

I recently received £30.00 from my bank after getting locked out of online banking through no fault of my own, didn't even ask for it as the problem was solved within 24 hrs.

On the other hand, I had major problems with an internet provider that cost me time and money in phone calls and a lot of stress. I sent them an invoice covering the cost of all the phone calls and costs of dongles I had to use, I then added on £200.00 for 'inconvenience'. I received all the costs of the calls & dongles and £150.00 as an apology. Be cheeky