MSE News: TSB cancels direct debits of customers who've switched away - and claims they've DIED

EachPenny

masonic wrote: »

Ah, so you think there was actually wrongly processed data on the new system after it opened for business? I haven't really got a good understanding of the nature of the problems, but it seemed to me to be more of a denial of service and deadlocks due to high volume use of the service - that's certainly what I've experienced. But if mistakes have been made in recording transactions (rather than them just failing), then I see your point.

I don't know that as a fact, but based on what some customers are claiming to have experienced it sounds like those people responsibile for the project might have had concerns over the robustness of the data on the new system after it went live. The problem they would have faced was having to make decisions very quickly based on a possibly incomplete picture of what was happening.

There does appear to be evidence that TSB credit card holders who pay their statement by DD from a TSB current account are seeing a discrepancy between the two.... IIRC the credit card bill has been paid without the money coming out of the current account. So someone is going to have to figure out a way of identifying whether or not the payments have actually been made, and in doing so, ensure nobody gets a second lot of money deducted from their current account. I don't envy them that task.

TheShape

Mchambers wrote: »

TSB are total rubbish !! I am still refusing to attempt to login to online banking until they sort out the garbage and confirm everything is fixed and working.

I feed really sorry for the staff taking phone calls from customers. It must be an awful situation for them hearing people complaining.

The good thing is that they have still to respond with a final response to my complaints. If the offer is not sufficient, I will be going to the FOS.

Oh the Irony!

boo_star

masonic wrote: »

Is there a reason code for "we've lost our banking licence and are no longer authorised to process payments"? Could come in handy in the future.

The bank I worked for didn't lose their licence because I accidentally used the "they're dead" reason code instead of the "they're skint" one so I don't think TSB will either.

masonic

boo_star wrote: »

The bank I worked for didn't lose their licence because I accidentally used the "they're dead" reason code instead of the "they're skint" one so I don't think TSB will either.

My comment was mostly in jest, but if this mistake was the only one TSB has made recently then they wouldn't be facing tens of millions in fines for their recent performance.

Emily_Joy

I don't work for TSB or any bank in fact, but I can try to explain things.

I understand that OS systems used by TSB and Sabadel are fundamentally different. The migration would be a bit like moving from a 4 years old Mac to new Windows machine preserving all your data. By *all data* I mean everything - bookmarks in 3 different browsers, all stored passwords, games and their settings, Skype and all other programs with their accounts, and finding programs that will handle all your daily tasks without any troubles. (While "your daily tasks" include more than watching movies.)

Frankly, this is going to be hard as virtually nothing matches... so a cohort of programmers was involved. I presume it was tested on a back-up system; but by accident - something as little as a couple semicolons ';' missing in the code during the actual migration a few things were written not where they are intended to be written. e.g. space reserved to keep specific part of transaction data used by TSB and Sabadel are of different size. This would affect a small number of accounts and is likely wasn't caught during the test process.

Roll-back in this situation is impossible.

boo_star

masonic wrote: »

My comment was mostly in jest, but if this mistake was the only one TSB has made recently then they wouldn't be facing tens of millions in fines for their recent performance.

It's not the only one, no.

But it's a pretty trivial mistake, there's no indication of it being widespread and people are being very generously compensated for a very minor inconvenience (I actually wish they'd told my DD recipients I was dead, totally worth it for £250)

It's a minor issue compared to, you know, people not being able to access their money (easily) for several days and having their personal information shared with third parties, which are the issues that are going to have the regulators considering fines, not this.

masonic

boo_star wrote: »

It's a minor issue compared to, you know, people not being able to access their money (easily) for several days and having their personal information shared with third parties, which are the issues that are going to have the regulators considering fines, not this.

Not just considering, they've already been fined over £50m and in all likelihood that isn't the end of it. Edit: looks like I misread an article comparing the TSB debacle with an earlier incident where a £56m fine was issued.

Mchambers

TSB are finished. There is no way that they will survive this debacle and damage to their reputation.

I have less than £85k in the bank so I am covered.

pmduk

According to the IT press, Lloyds offered to step in and assist (with facilities and systems) shortly after the problems became known. TSB refused the offer, despite not knowing how to solve the issue themselves.

veryintrigued

Mchambers wrote: »

TSB are finished. There is no way that they will survive this debacle and damage to their reputation.

I have less than £85k in the bank so I am covered.

Put your money where your mouth is.

Let's have a bet - the stake of your choice.