Let's get this sorted then!

itsthelittlethings

Comforting to hear someone else feeling rough too! Enjoy your holiday. Is it a resort holiday or something more adventurous? I have a good friend who is half Sr-Lankan. I hope it’s amazing!

jwil

What a tough day.  Sorry about the chicken 

doingitanyway

Sorry about chicken.
But, both the chicken and your teeth are essential expenditure...on the plus side you were able to do both

rachmac3

Little mini update, I'm on holiday, the disasters and minor annoyances continued. The holiday was almost cancelled and probably should have been. The two biggies being a c*ck up with my bank meaning my spendable credit card was cancelled while I was at the airport, and I caught covid on the way. I think I'm finally coming out the other side of it today. It does mean I've spent very little though! 
I do hope everyone has had a better week.

PennysIntoPounds

Oh no Rach! Hope you feel much better tomorrow and get to enjoy some holibobs.

LzzyIsGod

Oh no! That was not on the holiday wish list! Hope.you feel better soon x

FootyFanDan

Hope you feel better soon and you get to enjoy some of your holiday @rachmac3

jwil

Hope you feel better soon x

rachmac3

Thanks everyone, I'm back home now, wfh today, and planning on taking it easy and recovering as much as possible. I would like some opinions on the bank issue though as I'm really in two minds. It boils down to whether I accept the accept the £50 compensation they've already put in my bank or contact the ombudsman. 

On Tuesday 16th I got a text saying it was my bank and there had been suspicious activity on my credit card and . had I made a transaction to a london borough. As I was flying the next evening and really needed my credit card I contacted the bank through my app. The person said the message was not from them, that it was probably spam/phishing. I asked him to check and explained I was about to leave the country for a holiday and really needed to be sure my credit card would work. He again said he had checked, there was nothing wrong with my card. I clarified that I did not need to do anything and that my card would work overseas. He said yes, all was fine, ignore the text. That evening I tested my card in the local shop and it worked fine. 
On Wednesday morning (17th) I tried to use my debit card at the airport to pay for the ULEZ charge. It didn't go through for some reason so I tried the credit card. It was declined and I was told to contact my bank. I called them and was told there had been suspicious activity, they had contacted me about it, and as I hadn't replied they had blocked my card. Did I mention I was at the airport at this point, about to fly to a country with a closed currency so reliant on my cards? 
I had to be put through to the fraud team, the guy there was very apologetic and went through the purchases of the last few days toc check they were from me. They all were except the London Borough one that had flagged on Monday. I explained I was about to board a plane so needed to get it sorted very quickly. He told me there was nothing that could be done, my credit card could not be used, it had to be cancelled and I would receive a new one in the post in 3-5 days. He said the new card would show on my app also and could be used from that point through my phone (I've never used my phone to pay for things before), he also suggested I make a complaint. 
I went back to a complaints person (literally at my gate at this point) and they said they could investigate. I explained again that I felt I had done all I could to check my card before leaving, and could have made alternative arrangements if I had been given the correct information. I was now about to go to a foreign country, where my accommodation had been purchased using my now defunct credit card to hold my booking. Which now couldn't be used to pay for the rooms. He also told me I could use my wallet on my phone in a few days time (but was much more flippant about my problem). 
By the end of that day I had an email and message in my banking app to say they were sorry, they hoped I would accept £50 for my inconvenience, and that if I still wasn't happy I could contact the ombudsman. They didn't wait for a reply, just transferred the £50 into my bank account. 
After a few days the new card did show in my app, but you can't see the full details of the card, only the last 4 numbers. I tried to add it to the google pay wallet thingy but it wouldn't work. I tried again a few days later and still wouldn't work, so I was credit card less the whole time. Luckily (because I am cynical) I had taken a card with me from a different bank (which has my bills money in) so was able to withdraw cash from that and transfer the money in through banking apps. 
I had to borrow cash from the friend I travelled with to put fuel in my car to get home from the airport (that credit card is used for food and fuel and cleared every payday). Although my debit card for that bank does seem to work again now. 

So now I am home. I am obviously grateful that they have systems in place that flag fraudulent activity and act on it. I also don't want to seem ungrateful for the £50 they put in my account. But .... I'm still really angry and upset about the situation I was in. It could have been so much worse if I hadn't taken my bills account debit card. But I guess it's not their problem that I was about to fly overseas? Processes are processes, it was just unfortunate that I was given the wrong information when I contacted them and I've been compensated for that? Just bad timing maybe? I feel like I did all I could to avoid the situation - I contacted my bank directly and I tested the card worked before I left home. Accept the crappy situation and move on? Or is it worth contacting the ombudsman and just seeing what they say?

Thoughts are welcomed but please be gentle with me I am tired and unwell and generally deflated. 

jwil

Sorry you had all that nightmare, it must have been so stressful, and I would have been in a state!

I think if you have a complaint for the ombudsman it would be based on that first conversation that you had where they told you everything was fine and it wasn't them that sent the text, so you being proactive about contacting them didn't make a difference and you didn't get the opportunity to make alternative arrangements.

Aside of that though, it does seem that they acted quickly and prevented your account potentially being drained which would have been equally problematic if you were away.  It's spectacularly bad timing for you that this happened when it did.

There's no harm in going to the ombudsman if you feel up to it.  They will either fall on your side or tell you the bank did enough.  At least you will have tried.  If you haven't got the energy, and just decide to write it off as a bad experience, then at least you do have the compensation that they gave you.

I hope you feel better soon xx