West Brom rejection.

emma396

Has this happened to anyone? I attempted to open the star account with west brom and sent the forms in by the deadline. Received a letter back on the 13th saying that they couldn't verify my identity with equifax. If i still wished to open the account I needed to resolve the issue by the 18th.

so obviously the 18th has come and gone now. but what i don't understand is how they couldn;t ID me. I have numerous bank accounts and credit cards
(abbey, a&l, lloyds, BOS, nationwide, HSBC, marks to name a few) so how could they not ID me?

Meltdown_2

You have to remember that this is normally done by machines with not a brain-cell between them.
Computers work with data-files or data-bases looking for particular items, or particular matches.
It might even boil down to something simple like how you entered your address on the form (or how it was entered/scanned at the West Brom end).
If that didn't match the way the electoral roll lists you, there might be problems.

emma396

do you think theres anything i can do to get this account opened now? the deadline has passed and i won't be able to get hold of them, until probably tuesday.

bristolleedsfan

emma396 wrote: »

do you think theres anything i can do to get this account opened now? the deadline has passed and i won't be able to get hold of them, until probably tuesday.

Assuming that u sent your application in well before the deadline then if I was u I would put it to Westbromwich BS that its not your fault that they took so long to inform u that they couldnt verify your ID electronically and give u the opportunity to send in paper documents if they remain adamant that they cant verify your ID electonically.

Put it to them that being as they gave xtra time for applications that were in the post to be opened, ( something they said they werent going to allow) then u feel that they should allow u xtra time to send in paper documents.

[EMAIL="enquiries@westbrom.co.uk"]enquiries@westbrom.co.uk[/EMAIL]

Cheshire BS once informed me that they tried three times to verify my ID electronically. ( I was an existing customer as well) After a fuss blew up following them telling me that paper driving licence ( without photo card) + various utility bills wasnt good enough without photo card they then managed to successfully verify my ID electronically.

dunstonh

I use the experian money laundering system (which is virtually the same as equifax). It works on around 9 out of 10 people. Sometimes you do get a failure that you know is just plain wrong and it can take a bit of chasing with experian to get them to look into it but it does get resolved after a week or two.

The system uses electoral roll, telephone number (landline), bank account and sort code records, credit records etc to ascertain a match on data. If you are ex directory and not on the electoral roll then you are losing two easy identifiers straight away.

Inconsistent data is another one that can cause failure and even give a potential id fraud warning.

emma396

I have signed up for the free trial, and everything on my credit report seems fine. Been told by equifax to call West Brom and ask them what the problem is.
After 25 mins on hold to West Brom have been told them don;t know what the problem is, just that there is a problem, and that star account is now closed anyway!! Feeling sooo angry! Back on phone to equifax now.
Shall i quit now or keep going and see whats wrong?

bristolleedsfan

emma396 wrote: »

I have signed up for the free trial, and everything on my credit report seems fine. Been told by equifax to call West Brom and ask them what the problem is.
After 25 mins on hold to West Brom have been told them don;t know what the problem is, just that there is a problem, and that star account is now closed anyway!! Feeling sooo angry! Back on phone to equifax now.
Shall i quit now or keep going and see whats wrong?

IMO : Westbromwich should have given u the opportunity to have sent in paper ID being as its not your fault that you cant be electronically verified.

I always send in paper ID with postal applications rather than leave electronic verification to chance.

I never phone, always use email as its free and history of communications are saved.

Id quit ringing and put a written complaint in.

steady__eddie

Well that is strange, an administrative error by the West Brom ? I am surprised ! (I've got to be on my best behaviour 'cos the last time that I ranted on this topic, I managed to get myself Googled).
Previous experience (certainly not mine) would suggest that it is expediant to voice concerns in writing (snail mail variety)

Customer Care Department
Principal Office
West Bromwich Building Society
374 High Street
West Bromwich
B70 8LR
Email: email me

Email is O.K. if you only wish to receive notification of future mind blowing offers so I am informed.

Good luck.

dunstonh

When I have had issues with Experian giving obviously too low scores, I have told the client to get a full credit check and contact Experian. Experian without fail have always blamed me and said its our scoring system not theirs. Which is complete bull. After complaining back to them, they usually reinput the data as it was put in by me (from their record) and as if by magic it suddenly gets a higher score.

Dont rely on experian/equifax to be telling the truth when they blame the lender. My belief is that when something goes wrong and someone complains Experian correct whatever is wrong on the quiet. Remember that we only input very basic information. Then we are given an output and its based on that output that decisions are made. There is no control over their systems by the bank. They can only interpret the data that they are given by the credit agency.

neilp

To be honest West Brom's customer service has been so awful - at least in my experience - that if I were you I would use an alternative account (maybe Kaupthing or ICICI). It took them well over a month to open my account, which is completely unacceptable, and means I haven't deposited any more money with them (thankfully my initial deposit was only £1). Even if the interest rate is slightly lower, customer service elsewhere is likely to be much better (though having said that, ICICI gets bad reports; for what it's worth I have had an account with them for a year or so, which has been trouble free.

emma396

it was their star account which offered great interest, i was going to put £100 in there and leave it indefinitely. each time i've called them, i've got the non 0845 number from the internet so the cost isn't too bad, but i am on hold for 20 mins each time :mad:

im annoyed that equifax and west brom keep blaming each other for the problem as well. i've now raised an online dispute with equifax, which should have a result within 21 days. :j

wait and see i guess :rolleyes: