Revolut At It Again

BenjaminClarke

So I have posted before about Revolut and the way they treat incoming payments and before I know that I said I was going to leave them, however, I decided to give them one last chance after last time. It was a mistake. 

To be fair to Revolut they were fine since the last time, everything seemed to be running fine. But this is them in a nutshell; when everything is going well it's fine, no problems, however, as soon as you run into a problem they become an absolute nightmare to deal with. I made a simple bank transfer on Monday 3rd May 2021 for £600.00. This was actually a charitable donation, it wasn't even for stock. I made the payment and left it thinking it would just go through. The next day I had a phone call from the person I was paying to say they hadn't received my donation yet. So I check my account and see that the payment is still pending. Nobody from Revolut had contacted me about it, no email, nothing. So I messaged them via the chat function and was told that due to compliance this payment had been subjected to extra checks and will take longer to process. I told them it really needed to go through soon as it is a charitable donation and they are expecting the money. The agent told me that my case had been raised to the highest level of importance and should go through soon. I requested the payment be cancelled as I said I would send it via my other bank but they told me it wasn't possible to cancel! I spoke to the person receiving payment and they told me if I wanted to pay another way they would return the slow payment once it finally turns up. So on Wednesday 5th May 2021 I replicated the transfer via HSBC and it went through instantly. 

So, now it the 12th May 2021, the payment is still showing as pending and I have still not been given any reason as to why this is going on, other than compliance, and I have no idea how long it might take. Revolut customer services just keep telling me it will go through and to be patient. From what I can tell Revolut are ran by people who have no clue about structure or good business practice. I worked for many corporations during my 20's and 30's and I was able to pick up the phone and speak to anyone in any department at any time. From what I can see Revolut have no chain of command, no inter-department communications beyond email, no legitimate complaints procedure and a customer services team that are unable to help you at all. I have copied and pasted the conversation I had today with them, nine days after making the transfer. It is typical of what they say to me every day. 

Today

Anyone bothered to respond about what is happening to the £600 payment I made 9 days ago now?

I still have no idea what is going on.

12:38

I guess no agents working there today. Doesn't surprise me. You are by far the worst company I have ever had to deal with.

12:43

Krasi is here to help you

12:48

Hi there! My name is Krasi. Thanks for reaching out to us. I'll check this right now and get back to you in a few minutes!

12:48

Dear Benjamin, I checked the situation and the relevant team has informed me that they are working on the situation, however, they are sadly not able to provide an exact timeframe. They are asking for a bit more patience and as soon as there is an update on the pending transfer, it will reflect on your account. Please, accept my sincere apologies on the delay and thank you for your understanding.

12:53

I've been told that since Wednesday last week, that's eight days ago. Why is the transfer taking so long? I paid the man last Wednesday via HSBC and it went through instantly. Is it a random check or what? I literally have been given no information, just being told to wait and it could take "some time."

How shoddy is that? It is just not a good enough response.

How can a business be expected to operate under these conditions?

I cannot trust Revolut with my accounts anymore. I am only leaving a small amount in the account from now on. All of this makes me wonder if you are going bust. It doesn't look good for you.

The fact that nobody there can even tell me why this delay is happening makes me think you simply do not know.

12:57

It is a standard check we are obliged to perform every once in a while, unfortunately, at the moment the relevant team is a bit overwhelmed with requests and though they may take a bit longer to process the transfer, I can assure you they are working hard and the situation should be resolved soon. I know this is far from ideal, but please know I have requested the prioritization of your case.

They tell me my case is being prioritised every day and then nothing ever happens. No information, just nothing.

How long can this go on for? How long can they legally keep a payment pending? Is there anything at all that I can do? I have already contacted the Ombudsman but they informed me that they require a final response letter from Revolut before they can do anything... I have written to request a final response letter last week but have heard nothing back. I feel totally helpless to be honest and any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

colsten

BenjaminClarke said:

 But this is them in a nutshell; when everything is going well it's fine, no problems, however, as soon as you run into a problem they become an absolute nightmare to deal with. 

This is exactly my experience with them, and more than good enough reason for me to not touch them with a barge pole.

born_again

The sign of a good company is how they deal with problems.

Next time you say you are leaving (and in my experience of hearing that phrase, it's about 1 in 1000 that actually do it) DO IT.... 

jbrassy

I have also posted a few times about how poor Revolut have become in recent years. It's a shame because when they first started out, they were really good. However, as they've become more and more popular, I feel like they're constantly trying to push people towards their paid accounts and the customer service is atrocious - especially the chatbot Rita which is absolutely infuriating. 

The question I have is why are you still using them? I used to use them for overseas spending, but last year I ditched them and now use a combination of the Barclaycard Rewards credit card and Starling Bank. I've not regretted it at all.

In terms of your specific complaint, just keep persisting and if you don't get the outcome you want, go to the Ombudsman. Like I said though, I would steer clear of Revolut in future. 

[Deleted User]

Another one to watch out for is Crypto.com. Another app service, as soon as something goes wrong you might as well kiss goodbye to your money. I have been waiting over three weeks for a response from them.

Thrugelmir

Seems as if the account (person) you are remitting the money to has been flagged for some reason. Banks don't just stop transfers on a whim. 

colsten

Thrugelmir said:

Seems as if the account (person) you are remitting the money to has been flagged for some reason. Banks don't just stop transfers on a whim. 

As of now, Revolut does not have a UK banking licence and are therefore not a bank. Obviously they still have to comply with AML legislation unless they want to risk their existing authorisations.