Banks refusing/ignoring/sidestepping clear requests to register complaints via chat

friolento

I don't often ask for a formal complaint to be raised but when I do, it is generally during a conversation with a real person, and more often than not at Santander as most of my banking goes through them. Sometimes I then have to ask half a dozen times before they raise the complaint, and I always find it a bit of a drag to actually get a complaint reference number. I am guessing but the call handlers might have performance targets linked to number of complaints, which would explain their reluctance to co-operate with complaint requests.

 

paul_c123

born_again said:

WillPS said:

Olinda99 said:

can't speak for the other banks but if you want to open a complaint via the app for Barclays then you need to send them a secure message, not chat

This is clearly spelled out in their 'how to make a complaint' web page

'Secure message' is what Barclays call their live chat. There is no non live-chat version.

As a general comment though - they can say what they like on their 'how to make a complaint' web page - they must register a complaint when I make one, however I announce myself, or at the very least signpost me to how to get the complaint registered.

If they responded with 'I can't take a complaint via this channel, go here instead', that'd be frustrating but understandable; but that isn't what happened. They did eventually accept the complaint (via "secure message"), so clearly they are able to

Can I ask, as do not use Barclays. Are you logged into your account at this point, so they know you are a customer?

As we can only log a complaint when it is a customer that has been fully verified.

A non-customer CAN complain to a bank. If you are unable to log the complaint, then (I am assuming you are a call handler in a bank) your bank's system is poorly set up. Or that you don't work in customer services and are unaware of how to do it. It is rare but it is part of the complaint structure.

paul_c123

boingy said:

I've also had the opposite experience. Both Halifax and Nationwide have registered formal complaints for me when I have not made a complaint. In one case I was making a suggestion for how they could improve and in the other I was just having a bit of a whinge at them. Next thing I have emails, voicemails and real snail-mail letters confirming my complaint had been registered and that they would be in touch again when they had investigated. A week or two later my "complaints" were not upheld. I was amused and bemused in equal parts. Maybe I should have complained about the experience.

The banking staff should be taught how to recognise a complaint. For example if the customer is distressed or inconvenienced, or has suffered a monetary loss, or loss of banking facility, it can be  classed as a complaint. It is not necessary for the customer to themselves recognise it as a complaint to trigger the "formal complaint" process.

born_again

paul_c123 said:

A non-customer CAN complain to a bank. If you are unable to log the complaint, then (I am assuming you are a call handler in a bank) your bank's system is poorly set up. Or that you don't work in customer services and are unaware of how to do it. It is rare but it is part of the complaint structure.

Complaints are logged on customers accounts FCA regs.
Therefor a non customer can not log a complaint. It can be taken as feedback though.

WillPS

paul_c123 said:

boingy said:

I've also had the opposite experience. Both Halifax and Nationwide have registered formal complaints for me when I have not made a complaint. In one case I was making a suggestion for how they could improve and in the other I was just having a bit of a whinge at them. Next thing I have emails, voicemails and real snail-mail letters confirming my complaint had been registered and that they would be in touch again when they had investigated. A week or two later my "complaints" were not upheld. I was amused and bemused in equal parts. Maybe I should have complained about the experience.

The banking staff should be taught how to recognise a complaint. For example if the customer is distressed or inconvenienced, or has suffered a monetary loss, or loss of banking facility, it can be  classed as a complaint. It is not necessary for the customer to themselves recognise it as a complaint to trigger the "formal complaint" process.

I totally agree with this, and you're right that should be how it's done. For the avoidance of doubt though these are all cases where myself or my wife have stated "I would like to open/register a complaint about this" (and we are properly logged in/identified to the person we're speaking with) - so there's no ambiguity there about what should happen.

Hoenir

WillPS said:

Hoenir said:

Is it actually widespread though ? 

4 different banking groups. 5 different agents at Barclays. Just my personal experience,

What's the nature of these formal complaints? Might help to explain your poor personal experience of so many banks. Personal banking being a straightforward activity. 

WillPS

Hoenir said:

WillPS said:

Hoenir said:

Is it actually widespread though ? 

4 different banking groups. 5 different agents at Barclays. Just my personal experience,

What's the nature of these formal complaints? Might help to explain your poor personal experience of so many banks. Personal banking being a straightforward activity. 

That's a rather invasive and impertinent question don't you think?

Suffice to say every complaint was upheld after it was (eventually) opened, so each was entirely legitimate. I don't require or desire any help with the complaints themselves, ta, nor do I wish to enter in to a dialogue about the merits of some complaints over others. That is for the banks, ombudsmen and other authorities; not for this thread.

The issue is not that my complaints are being declined because they are meritless, nor the relative ambiguity of the requests; the issue is that bank agents are refusing to acknowledge that the customer has clearly and directly asked them to raise one. 

I am trying to ascertain whether this is a widespread thing or not. If you've an experience you'd like to share, go right ahead, but if not I'd respectfully request that you either leave the thread alone or contribute in good faith and not attempt to seek reasons for blaming complainants for suffering the poor experiences they may or may not chose to share.

masonic

I've not raised a formal complaint in the last couple of years, but I've found that in the past banks have erred on the side of caution and treated a remark of mere disappointment as a complaint.

It's worth remembering that while the FOS has to give a firm time to resolve a customer's complaint before it will take it on for adjudication, it will intervene if the customer is facing difficulties raising a complaint. That would usually result in the complaint being passed directly to the firm's compliance team who will make sure it is investigated properly. The FOS also reports patterns in complaint data to the FCA, so if it sees a lot of instances of a particular firm evading customer complaints, that may ultimately trigger some enforcement action.

HillStreetBlues

born_again said:

Complaints are logged on customers accounts FCA regs.

Can a CS op see any previous complaints on the system?

WillPS

masonic said:

I've not raised a formal complaint in the last couple of years, but I've found that in the past banks have erred on the side of caution and treated a remark of mere disappointment as a complaint.

It's worth remembering that while the FOS has to give a firm time to resolve a customer's complaint before it will take it on for adjudication, it will intervene if the customer is facing difficulties raising a complaint. That would usually result in the complaint being passed directly to the firm's compliance team who will make sure it is investigated properly. The FOS also reports patterns in complaint data to the FCA, so if it sees a lot of instances of a particular firm evading customer complaints, that may ultimately trigger some enforcement action.

That's interesting, thank you.

I have so far only referred my recent complaint with Barclays to the FOS, but I still have at least one other within the 6 month window for referral (with TSB) so I'll get that referred too.