TSB Complaints

Nick_C

I made a complaint to TSB back in April about being unable to access my accounts on-line. I got a letter through the post shortly afterwards, and another one a couple of months ago apologising for the delay. I didn't keep the letters and didn't make a note of the complaint reference number.

This morning, I got the following SMS message:-

"Hello, ***removed by Forum Team*** at TSB here. I'm going to give you a call about your complaint {nnnnnn} between 11:50 and 12:00 today. I will call you from 0800 025 3077. If you're not available I will try you tomorrow again."

I got a call at 12 o'clock. I answered with my full name. The caller introduced himself, and asked me for my date of birth. I refused to give him my date of birth as I didn't know if this was a genuine call from TSB, but I offered to give him the last four digits of my account number. He said this was insufficient to verify that he was talking to the right person, and he couldn't continue the call.

I checked on the TSB website. The number - 0800 025 3077 - is not listed.

I checked the fraud advice that TSB publish. It says

"Our spelling and grammar is pretty good. If there are spelling mistakes or grammatical errors it's probably not a genuine message.

We'll always address you by your name and include the last four digits of one of the accounts that you hold with us, or your postcode."

Well the grammar wasn't great, and the SMS didn't include my name or postcode or part of my account number.

I looked at the Financial Ombudsman's web site. This says:-

"We’ve heard that some people have reported fraud on their accounts as a direct result of the IT problems. In addition, fraudsters may pose as the bank, offering help to sort things out, but in reality trying to gain access to customers’ accounts."

I called TSB's fraud team and told them about the SMS and the call. They assured me this call would not have come from TSB. They transferred me to the Complaints Team as I wanted to check the progress of the complaint anyway. Five months is a long time to wait, when they are meant to resolve complaints in 8 weeks.

The Complaints Team told me that this was a genuine call from TSB! He said they have set up a special team in London to deal with these complaints, but the Fraud Team probably didn;t know about it or know the number they were using!!!

I went back to the Fraud Team to update them of the situation. I want to make sure they know about this new (London) Complaints Team and the Freephone Number they are using - 0800 025 3077

I also wanted to make them aware that this complaints team is not including the customer's name and address or partial account number in the SMS they send out, and are therefore not complying with TSB's standards.

Finally, I called the London Complaints Team back, and I've arranged a further call back from them. Phew. The London Complaints Team is an agency, I didn't catch their name.

Hopefully, these two teams will now talk to each, and communicate with customers in a way that doesn't ring alarm bells.

laingn

Thanks for your message. I logged a complaint for my dad back in April/May and just had another sorry letter. I'm just about to log it to the ombudsmen.

Katiehound

Sorry, but I would be logging another complaint to TSB about the SMS.
If they are not following their very own proceedures then you could be very well falling into the fraudster's clutches, for one thing how can you verify that the call is genuine? You simply can't.

I am still waiting for their (third?) letter! The others are safely filed.

cjv

I got fed up with waiting for my complaints to be dealt with by TSB, so I took it to the FOS.

I was awarded £155 total, which TSB paid into my account within a week. If you are still having problems with TSB, my advice is to gather all your evidence and take your complaint to the FOS.

They currently have a dedicated team dealing with only TSB complaints.

Nick_C

CJV - did you suffer any actual loss or just worry and inconvenience?

Yorkshire_Pud

The SMS TSB send before the call contains the reference number for the complaint which the previous confirmation letters also contain.
That should give some reassurance, well it did me:)

Nick_C

Yorkshire_Pud wrote: »

The SMS TSB send before the call contains the reference number for the complaint which the previous confirmation letters also contain.
That should give some reassurance, well it did me:)

On this occasion, I hadn't kept the letters or made a note of the reference number, so it didn't help me.

I can understand TSB wanting to be sure they were speaking to the account holder, but I think my offer to give them part of my account number should have been sufficient. Fraudsters have been cashing in on the mess created by TSB. There is a story on MSE about it.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2018/05/fraud-alert-as-tsb-customers-see-thousands-taken-from-accounts/

I think it is unreasonable for TSB to expect you to give personal data out to a stranger on the phone.

There have been so many data hacks from different companies lately, I cannot be sure that criminals haven't got hold of my complaint reference number.

cjv

Nick_C wrote: »

CJV - did you suffer any actual loss or just worry and inconvenience?

Hi Nick, was just a tiny amount of actual loss (the cost of travelling to a TSB branch), the rest was for inconvenience.