Complaining to Bank and possible Compensation

90Ninety

To set the tone to this post , my bank have honored me payments when ( for no fault of my own ) my card had stopped working . For example there has been two times I can remember when the bank stopped my card ( with no prior warning/ notification ) , as a result of suspected fraud ( I was importing Tech goods from Far east ) . This was not a problem in itself , if they had contacted me beforehand , before setting off for daily grind . So I complained because I was stuck at a petrol garage and could not pay for the car service or the petrol I had filled up with, which made me late for work and so on . For the record the bank issued me with around £200 which I thought was fair , considering I got deducted pay and had added stress . This could have all been avoided if they simply called or left a voicemail , so I could have made other arrangements . Now I will digress into something that was more serious

Long story short , my debit card to my bank mysteriously and suddenly stopped working ( intermittently ) while in Thailand

I literally got stuck homeless for around two days and one night without money away from my apartment . This severely affected my trip , plans and expenses , due to the loss of time and rearrangements .


The bank said the card was 'damaged' even though I am able to use the card now just fine on my return to England .

. All of my savings were in this account and while away from my apartment I took just the one card . There was a spare credit card in my apartment but, I was carrying only one with me (when the card stopped ) , with some cash .

I still want a lot of answers from the bank , as to why my card stopped working ( its working now , so not damaged ) The stores and retail outlets were telling me the card was 'Maxed out' ( Even though I was well under the £500 max daily payments/ outgoing ). I feel the bank should compensate for this , as I had lost at least two days holiday , and a large deposit for a package holiday which I could not pay .

The strange thing is , the card magically ( just once on the off chance ) started working after two days of traipsing around without sleep/food/drink - based on the hope of the bank saying "The bank said the magnetic strip would still work "

Yes if I had a crystal ball I could have planned on taking and carrying more than two cards . Though now I wonder who I should complain or raise this with , as I did have insurance but I feel the bank is responsible

eskbanker

There's no harm in raising a complaint with your bank if they claim the card was damaged when there's clear evidence that it wasn't, but I wouldn't expect them to accept any liability for all the consequential stuff which, as you accept, you could have avoided with better planning.

BoGoF

You don't need a crystal ball to know you should take multiple payment methods abroad. I believe Thailand is pretty notorious for cards not being accepted?

90Ninety

While I agree better planning could have avoided the issue , the issue I feel is not caused by me . This is a failure of their card they had issued me, and/ or their systems they provide to their customer ( me ) for my money which I trusted with them .

90Ninety

BoGoF wrote: »

You don't need a crystal ball to know you should take multiple payment methods abroad. I believe Thailand is pretty notorious for cards not being accepted?

I did take multiple cards , I left the spares in the apartment because I did not want to loose multiple cards if I lost my wallet - get my drift ?

I did not have a crystal ball for making an exception for this malfunction of banking system

BoGoF wrote: »

. I believe Thailand is pretty notorious for cards not being accepted?

Not what I heard and furthermore , as mentioned the card worked intermittently, just not when I was out for those two days

[Deleted User]

You're not entitled to any compensation.

If you're going away (or even just out to do a local shop) you should take more than one card with you.

What if the VISA payment system was down (as has happened in the past)?

90Ninety

!!! wrote: »

You're not entitled to any compensation.

Is this rhetorical ? . I have received compensation for less damaging service hiccups .

!!! wrote: »

If you're going away (or even just out to do a local shop) you should take more than one card with you.

Yes I had realised that and noted for you already above

!!! wrote: »

What if the VISA payment system was down (as has happened in the past)?

Then as a customer of Barclays I should have been informed . If not then I would argue that it's poor customer service not to relay such information .

BoGoF

If it worked intermittently then does that not suggest a problem at the other end, i.e. Thailand. When I said notorious for cards not working I meant hit and miss, which is what you seem to have found.

What's the point of taking multiple cards then leaving one in your room?

90Ninety

BoGoF wrote: »

What's the point of taking multiple cards then leaving one in your room?

Because I figured if I lost wallet , got mugged/robbed . I would be able to get a spare from the apartment ( with luggage )

I realised this in hindsight ( such a wonderful thing eh) is flawed logic , though I did not loose my card and it should work as provided .

I m struggling to understand why we keep going back to this point, given that my card previously worked in numerous shops ( boots , 7/11, pharmacy, restaurants) so I did not foresee such an issue for a simple 15 mile trip to a travel agent

Lets imagine the flip-side , I took four cards , then got mugged , that quadruples the problem

BoGoF

So you weren't really looking for comments on your 'complaint'. It's clear your mind is made up so shall leave you to it.

[Deleted User]

Ah,
So it's one of those "I feel hard done by and deserve more" posts.

Right-o - will leave it there then