Moving from LloydsTSB

darich

ejones999 wrote: »

Please tell us more how did they charge you £155?

They charged me £20 to transfer the money.
That money went to an intermediate bank who charged £15 - total £35.

There was a problem with the paperwork so the money came back to my account (approx £2200 - $4400)
Because of the amount of money and a change in the exchange rate, when the money was returned to me it was £85 less.

TSB then charged me another £20 for a 2nd transfer and the intermediate bank charged another £15.

So the total was £35 + £85 + £35.

i wrote to TSB asking why i wasn't refunded my money in full since i had made no transaction. I reasoned that what i paid out is what i should have received in return. They basically said that it wasn't their fault and point blank refused to help. They didn't even offer to reduce or waive the fee for the second transfer.

I realise the £85 reduction due to the exchange rate wasn't a charge by them but somewhere along the line, someone got my £85 for doing nothing as a result of that moving exchange rate.

When i want in to close the account the teller asked if i wanted to speak to the manager or customer services. I told her the story and that i'd already tried both.

The indian call centres were almost enough to put me off in the first place but that extorrtionate charge was a last straw.

jonesMUFCforever

darich wrote: »

They charged me £20 to transfer the money.
That money went to an intermediate bank who charged £15 - total £35.

There was a problem with the paperwork so the money came back to my account (approx £2200 - $4400)
Because of the amount of money and a change in the exchange rate, when the money was returned to me it was £85 less.

TSB then charged me another £20 for a 2nd transfer and the intermediate bank charged another £15.

So the total was £35 + £85 + £35.

i wrote to TSB asking why i wasn't refunded my money in full since i had made no transaction. I reasoned that what i paid out is what i should have received in return. They basically said that it wasn't their fault and point blank refused to help. They didn't even offer to reduce or waive the fee for the second transfer.

I realise the £85 reduction due to the exchange rate wasn't a charge by them but somewhere along the line, someone got my £85 for doing nothing as a result of that moving exchange rate.

When i want in to close the account the teller asked if i wanted to speak to the manager or customer services. I told her the story and that i'd already tried both.

The indian call centres were almost enough to put me off in the first place but that extorrtionate charge was a last straw.

The ''truth'' now outs - you made a mistake in not reading the terms and conditions of any foreign transaction by any bank and then its the bank's fault. The fault in the paperwork would also have been an error by you as whatever was written on the application form would have to be signed and checked by you.
Thirdly you must have ticked the box to pay 'All' charges rather then 'Split' which is where the extra £15 came from.

But it's ok - you have had it off your chest and the bad old bank got it wrong!

darich

ejones999 wrote: »

The ''truth'' now outs - you made a mistake in not reading the terms and conditions of any foreign transaction by any bank and then its the bank's fault. The fault in the paperwork would also have been an error by you as whatever was written on the application form would have to be signed and checked by you.
Thirdly you must have ticked the box to pay 'All' charges rather then 'Split' which is where the extra £15 came from.

But it's ok - you have had it off your chest and the bad old bank got it wrong!

I didn't say it was the bank's fault. I said they charged me £155 to transfer the money. They did.

I also should have been refunded the full amount that i originally sent. I wasn't.

I was advised to sign the form as paying all the charges rather than split as it would make it easier to go through and less problematic.

The bank made no attempt to recover the difference in money paid out and received.

It wasn't the fact that i was charged the £155, it's the attitude they had to the questions i had when asking about the £85 reduction.

I changed bank because of that but maybe next time if it happens to someone else the bank will be more sympathetic because they know they could lose another customer. I suppose you, on the other hand, take it like a man and accept that it's entirely your own fault and the bank are entitled to your £155??

People change banks regularly so there's no need to be so sarcastic and patronising. The bottom line is, the bank (and the intermediates) took almost 5times the normal charge for transferring the money but made no attempt to help me out when i asked politely in a letter to their customer services.

jonesMUFCforever

Fact 1 - they only charged you £35 for the transfer.
Fact 2 - you sent a currency amount and received the same currency amount back - you lost out because of the difference in buying and selling rates - read the back of your copy of the T&C for the exact details.
Fact 3 - it makes no difference who pays the charges - as long as the beneficiary details were correct - in your case they must not have been.
Fact 5 - any bank would have done exactly the same thing - it is your risk if you send a currency amount and something goes wrong. Had you sent say £1000 you would have had £1000 back.
Fact 6 - the bank did not get all of your £155. They kept the £20 charge twice,(quite correctly in my view) the £15 would have gone to the correspondent bank, the £85 would have been their cost in buying back the currency that they had sold to you to do the transfer.

As I say if you did the exact same transfer in exactly the same way as before the result would have been exactly the same.
Why should the bank give you a free transfer and compensate you when it looks like it was not their fault?

If the truth is patronising and sarcastic so be it.

darich

1. Wrong. The bank charged me £70. 20+15 and then 20+15. They had to pass the 15 to an intermediate bank but i was charged that amount by the TSB.
2. Partly wrong. I did not receive back the same currency amount i sent hence the drop of £85. i know i lost out because of the buying and selling rates though.
3. i realise it makes no difference who pays the charges except that i was advised by the TSB to pay the full amount for a more problem free transfer.
4. You missed Fact 4.
5. You say if i had sent 1000 i'd have received that back. But i didn't. I sent approx 2200 and received approx 2045 back.
6. I know the bank didn't keep it all - someone did, and it wasn't me.

And i never once asked for compensation or a free transfer - just my own money back - the £85 that was swallowed up by the exchange rate.

So i changed banks. Big deal. The TSB lost out and the Nationwide gained.

Trying_to_be_good

darich wrote: »

You missed Fact 4.

jonesMUFCforever

Sorry about fact 4!

Let's experiment here - go into the Nationwide tomorrow and do exactly what you did with your LTSB transfer - I bet the result would be exactly the same.

darich

ejones999 wrote: »

Sorry about fact 4!

Let's experiment here - go into the Nationwide tomorrow and do exactly what you did with your LTSB transfer - I bet the result would be exactly the same.

Possibly. And I've never disputed that. I was annoyed with the attitude of the bank when i asked a few polite questions. I never asked for any compensation or for a free transfer - simply all of my own money back.