Problem with virgin money savings account (warning to potential customers)

EachPenny

colsten wrote: »

Tip for the future: google "best interest rates"

And always be in a position to act quickly if you hear of a good offer - two of the four Virgin regular savings accounts I mentioned above have now been withdrawn from sale.

eskbanker

colsten wrote: »

Tip for the future: google "best interest rates"

Alternative tip for the future, head for reputable websites such as this one (other consumer finance comparison sites are available) and read prominent articles such as:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/which-saving-account
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-accounts-best-interest

Googling "best interest rates" brings up (at the top of my search anyway) advertising sites such as 'best savings rate dot co dot uk' which promotes the infamous London Capital & Finance as its top entry, thereby lulling some prospective savers into the belief that it's a capital-protected savings product....

[Deleted User]

SarahD92 wrote: »

I have put all my life savings in my virgin money savings account, I have been banking with for around six months, everything was fine, until I tried to log in to check my balance, only to realise that my account has been restricted. Upon calling them, I was informed that they have sent me some letters to ask for more information, 6 letters to be exact, but I have never received any of them. So they have gone ahead and restricted my account, because I had not responded to the letters that clearly were not sent, it's not possible for 6 letters to get lost in the post.

I have been a customer of Virgin Money for many years and am very surprised to hear your allegations about their service.

You have continued to post on this thread making more and more allegations against Virgin Money. Unfortunately none of us here are in a position to verify any of your allegations. May I suggest that, instead of continuing to post here, you check out Virgin Money's complaints procedure as documented:
https://uk.virginmoney.com/virgin/downloads/icpnew.pdf
Follow the guidelines and give them a chance to respond before posting further allegations on this forum. If you're still not satisfied with their response then consider taking the option of escalating the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service. This is the normal procedure that people follow in this country for dealing with a complaint about a financial institution. No complaints system is perfect but you should at least give it a try. By all means come back here after you have followed the proper complaints procedure.

Good luck.

EachPenny

Deleted_User wrote: »

You have continued to post on this thread making more and more allegations against Virgin Money.
...
May I suggest that, instead of continuing to post here, you check out Virgin Money's complaints procedure...

In defence of the OP, I think they have already worked that one out - as indicated by the change of tack between post #49 and post #58.

Lorian

SarahD92 wrote: »

Could you please pm me some safe alternatives to saving accounts that offer better rates? Thanks

Presumably you want one where the bank doesn't require any proof of address or ID to satisfy money laundering regulations?

Novice_investor101

You probably now have a big, fat fraud marker against your account as you keep refusing to prove who you are. So they'll now want extra, extra checks against you doing to cover their own backs. Both for money laundering and "monies out" fraud checks. Do they keep putting you on hold every time you call, because of "system issues", and ask you loads of questions whilst trying to avoid any you ask?? Then they'll be checking things out with their Fraud peeps before telling you anything.


It is normal to ask for bank statements as proof of the account they will be sending the money too.
I opened a Virgin ISA this year and had to send in no docs at all, so either I sailed through the electronic checks or I will expect that when I ever come to withdraw my money out I will have to prove my ID etc etc. Which for me will be easy as I live in a city with a local branch.
In terms of bank staff being fraudsters, you are being incomprehensibly paranoid. If you want your money back, then follow their procedures instead of exacerbating the problem - you have nothing to complain about.

EachPenny

Novice_investor101 wrote: »

If you want your money back, then follow their procedures instead of exacerbating the problem - you have nothing to complain about.

Again, if you read the whole thread you'll see the OP does seem to be fully aware of that now.

Maybe they could edit the title of the thread, edit the odd post, possibly make a couple of apologies and a few 'thanks', but will that make much of a difference now?

SarahD92

Lorian wrote: »

Presumably you want one where the bank doesn't require any proof of address or ID to satisfy money laundering regulations?

Where did you get that from? Did you even bother to read any of the previous posts?

SarahD92

Deleted_User wrote: »

I have been a customer of Virgin Money for many years and am very surprised to hear your allegations about their service.

Glad to hear that you have had a positive experience with Virgin Money, I really do hope that continues.

However, it doesn't nullify the fact that I have had a really awful experience. I do think that it's important that such problems are pointed out so that banking institutions will try to improve their service.

I'd like to also thank you for pointing out the normal procedure in this country. That was very helpful.

[Deleted User]

SarahD92 wrote: »

However, it doesn't nullify the fact that I have had a really awful experience. I do think that it's important that such problems are pointed out so that banking institutions will try to improve their service..

The correct way to raise such issues is to make a formal complaint to the financial institution rather than just post unverifiable allegations on a forum such as this. For example in post number 18 you said:
All the while, London properties are being bought by Chinese, Russian, and middle eastern hot money, wish Virgin Money could do something to stop those transactions.
This is completely irrelevant to your alleged "really awful experience" with Virgin and may suggest to many readers that you are just ranting on. I feel it would help your cause if you considered deleting posts such as that.
Have you submitted a formal complaint to Virgin, yes or no?