When Banks don't Act on FOS Findings

Cotta

A formal response below:

Dear Cotta,

As we approach the four months since I made my decision, it is deeply regrettable that the issue is ongoing. I wanted to give an update of sorts following our discussion this morning and about your ongoing concerns which I will address individually below:

• You have stated this should be referred to an Ombudsman, however this is not a pragmatic approach at this stage as you accepted my initial ruling back in August and as I have reserved judgment on my final ruling until all issues are resolved. Additionally it will take up to six weeks to reach a Ombudsman which will further delay this case and they won’t be able to do anything more than I am.
• As advised this morning, TSB have said you did the troubleshooting on a phone rather than a desktop, however as you advised TSB called your mobile and you made preparations to leave work early so that you would have your laptop available. Unfortunately I do not believe external IT calls are monitored with TSB so it would be you word against theirs and at present they want further troubleshooting carried out.
• The referral bonus has been paid after a seven month delay and under the extreme instructions of FOS.
• The address issue was also corrected after many delays and again from the direction of FOS, however further mailing breaches may have occurred.
• The £500 compensation was paid in full after a delay eight weeks, TSB are currently reluctant to pay further amounts and are refusing to pay any missed interest that would have accumulated on this award.
• TSB have advised that they have posted your new debit card and PIN to the correct address twice now which you have still not received – we are unable to take any action here or penalise TSB in anyway.
• The online issues with your account have been worked on by TSB and whilst you have worked with TSB and provided several snapshots of the error, TSB are unable to resolve this issue. I understand that since the last issue your settings are now different which has caused issues to your ability to carry out telephone banking.
• TSB are unable to locate calls you made to them when you were put on hold or told they could not talk to you due to FOS handling your case, in this instance we unfortunately cannot act.
• As of today TSB have indicated that the two direct debits on your account (approximately £15 each) have always worked throughout the process so it is incorrect to say you have no bank service. Furthermore they have advised that your funds peaked at a level of £2600 and they do not believe the loss of this funding is causing significant issues to you as this is in the “bottom quartile,” I am not fully satisfied with this feedback.
  
  I recently advised you that this case cannot go on indefinitely and you need to think about an appropriate conclusion and I have put forward some thoughts on this to you. On Friday you indicated you were willing to waive your additional levels of compensation and interest just to get your account back within the next “few working days”. I have ran this past my Manager who has advised that next Friday the 14th is likely to be the last full working day for most until early January, therefore it is unlikely your funds will be returned before then. My Manager has stated that you should make alternative provisions for spending including Christmas, as access to your funds with TSB is unlikely. My Manager has further suggested my recommendation for compensation was “quite low” and whilst we will be instructing TSB to award additional levels of compensation, my Manager has stated that for a full resolution in January 2019 you need to come up with some figures and our office will act as a mediator to get this issue closed off.
  
  
  Please give this email some serious consideration
  
  
  Regards
  
  FOS
  

JuicyJesus

It's not for them to say you can't or shouldn't escalate to an Ombudsman. "Pragmatic" or not.

masonic

...so if you stick with this Adjudicator your funds won't be returned until January at the earliest. Whereas, referring to an Ombudsman will introduce a 6 week delay, taking you to... early January.

The Adjudicator's manager has stated that the compensation offered was “quite low”. That's reason enough to want an Ombudsman to review the case, as is your legal right.

This Adjudicator seems inexperienced and ineffectual, not to mention unprofessional.

Cotta

I think it's reasonable to assume that I'm not going to have access to my money until January. What I am thinking of sending off is that I want the issue of access to my funds fully resolved by Friday January 11th, whether that be by deleting my account and manually transferring my funds to a different account or via TSB actually fixing the problem.

That then leads on to what I should be asking for in compensation. I take on-board TSB's point that my balance is low, however what should I be asking for?

masonic

Cotta wrote: »

That then leads on to what I should be asking for in compensation. I take on-board TSB's point that my balance is low, however what should I be asking for?

I cannot understand TSB's point. They pay interest on balances up to £1,500. If your balance is in the "bottom quartile" then the majority of TSB account holders are missing the opportunity to earn interest on a significant amount of cash.

The issue is the lack of a working debit card and inability to transfer funds.

Have you suggested that you are willing to use the Current Account Switching Service to regain access to your money at another bank, in the process closing the defective account, and then apply for a new TSB Plus account? This could fix your problem before the end of this month.

Cotta

masonic wrote: »

Have you suggested that you are willing to use the Current Account Switching Service to regain access to your money at another bank, in the process closing the defective account, and then apply for a new TSB Plus account? This could fix your problem before the end of this month.

My account has been locked down and is not eligible for the switch due to it being "FOS sensitive".

masonic

Cotta wrote: »

My account has been locked down and is not eligible for the switch due to it being "FOS sensitive".

Frankly that's ridiculous and should be added to your complaint, filed under unfair discrimination. You have just as much right to switch your current account as anyone else and TSB blocking you from doing so because you are engaged in a complaint about their service is wrong on so many levels.

The Adjudicator should have had none of this. Yet another reason why this needs to be escalated to an Ombudsman.

Cotta

Outside of forcing the Ombudsman issue have I any other options?

masonic

Cotta wrote: »

Outside of forcing the Ombudsman issue have I any other options?

I don't really see any. The Adjudicator's manager has suggested that the £500 compensation offered is "quite low", so you could name a figure that covers the full balance in the frozen account and then you can close off the complaint and take the risk you never regain access to the funds in the account. However, this will just lead to the same end result as TSB would no doubt refuse to pay out anything close to this in compensation.

Whatever happens, I don't see the matter being resolved at this level, in January or perhaps ever. It will take someone at the FOS who isn't a pushover.

Cotta

masonic wrote: »

I don't really see any. The Adjudicator's manager has suggested that the £500 compensation offered is "quite low", so you could name a figure that covers the full balance in the frozen account and then you can close off the complaint and take the risk you never regain access to the funds in the account. However, this will just lead to the same end result as TSB would no doubt refuse to pay out anything close to this in compensation.

Whatever happens, I don't see the matter being resolved at this level, in January or perhaps ever. It will take someone at the FOS who isn't a pushover.

I'm going to request it again tomorrow, what can I realistically expect as an Ombudsman's outcome.