Virgin Money, struggle getting money out

Diggle123

Had put sizable sum in Virgin Saver as offering 2%.
As they are now falling down the 'interest' table, went to move some of the cash into Cynergy Bank (MSE recommended), but got initial transfer 'paused' even though it was going back through my basic Virgin account and then back to my main bank, both transfers have been OK in the past!.
Eventually got through on phone, PLEASE NOTE; recorded message on opening times is WRONG, it's 09:00 weekdays, NOT 08:00 ("sorry we need to get that changed"), then  had a grilling on why I wanted to move the money, was I being coerced and I think six further "You're not..." Questions.
So they're happy to have your money, not so happy to part with it so be warned.
Also I've had to chase rewards on 2 of their CASHBACK offers (out of 3) so lacking there as well.

daeargwr

I had a similar problem, the transfer kept failing bu not error message or explanation. I assumed it was a glitch in the app given it glitches all the time.

Had to go in branch in the end to make the transfer. Then my account wouldn't open, error message on online and mobile bank.  After a total of 6 hrs on hold (across various days) I finally speak to somebody who tells me they froze everything as a fraud prevention measure.  Fine, but nobody actually called me to try and clarify the transactions and I had no way of knowing that the reason I couldn't access my accounts was this (as opposed to another glitch).  They finally managed to unlock the account but as soon as my cashback offer for the supermarket is full I'm off.

etienneg

I wonder if part of the problem here is expectations. No financial institution guarantees instant, or even same day, transfer of money. The fact that, in practice, for many institutions, most transfers are instant only goes to increase expectations that it should always be like this.

How did you find that the transfer was 'paused'? I ask because I was recently transferring from Virgin for the same reason and one of my transfers was held. There was a message on the transfer screen (online banking) telling me, and advising that the quickest way of releasing was often just to wait for their checks as often they didn't need to ring once these were completed. So I did just that - waited.

Now admittedly it was the following day when they did ring, but all then went very smoothly. There were a few (what you call) "You're not..." questions, easily answered. There was also the question about why I was moving the money, accompanied by an apology for having to ask this. I answered perfectly honestly (of course) that I was moving it to another account paying more interest, which was accepted by them, and the transfer was released. So, in the end the transfer happened well within the FP normal timescale (by close of business on the next working day), without any hassle to or by me.

I wonder if your experience could have been similar, except that you chose to get impatient and spend time ringing them. This sort of thing will happen to you again, at some point, whichever institution you choose to use. Maybe try being a bit more laid back about it?

kaMelo

Get used to it as it will only get worse. As banks are now essentially on the hook to refund all scam victims, bar a few exceptions, they are unsurprisingly blocking more payments and grilling customers before they let it go through. This is what the regulator wants and expects banks to do.

eDicky

This has happened to me a couple of times recently, when making payments from Starling Bank and Metro Bank. Both times I was called by their fraud team within an hour or two, and the payments released after I satisfied them that there was nothing untoward. When they apologized for any inconvenience I told them no problem and I appreciate very much their diligence, taking care of my money. But if I had been left hanging like OP and others with Virgin, having to chase them to find out what was going on, that would really p*ss me off.

Zaul22

Yeh they do that. Apparently they do it to every new customer. At first it seems like bad service but when all is finished it is actually just good fraud protection, just a bit excessive. 

[Deleted User]

Diggle123 said:

Had put sizable sum in Virgin Saver as offering 2%.
As they are now falling down the 'interest' table, went to move some of the cash into Cynergy Bank (MSE recommended), but got initial transfer 'paused' even though it was going back through my basic Virgin account and then back to my main bank, both transfers have been OK in the past!.
Eventually got through on phone, PLEASE NOTE; recorded message on opening times is WRONG, it's 09:00 weekdays, NOT 08:00 ("sorry we need to get that changed"), then  had a grilling on why I wanted to move the money, was I being coerced and I think six further "You're not..." Questions.
So they're happy to have your money, not so happy to part with it so be warned.
Also I've had to chase rewards on 2 of their CASHBACK offers (out of 3) so lacking there as well.

I gather if a scammer got access to your 'sizable sum', you'd want VM to reimburse you from their funds?
Also, If it hadn't been a 'sizable sum' it would have likely gone through with only routine checks.