I'm furious with West Brom BS!

Argyll_2

This month I've had to spend quite a lot of money with bills and car maintenance. So I contacted the West Bromwich Building Society by email last Monday and asked them to transfer £2000 from my Easy Access Star Savings account in to my Alliance & Leicester Current Account.

A few days later I telephoned the West Brom and asked them how long this would take as I had my young son living with me and I wanted to do something special for the weekend. I was told it would be in my account by Friday last.

On Friday I went to my local A&L and I found out that no money had been transferred in to my account! By this time I was quite annoyed because my weekend plans with my son was now in jeopardy. I telephoned the West Brom again and asked them what the problem was with a simple transfer. I was told that I hadn't given them details of my current account to transfer my money to so there was nothing they could do!

By this time I was livid! I explained in the first instance if this was the case then why wasn't I contacted for my bank details? Secondly this wasn't the case as this money had originated from my A&L account anyway and I had to give details of my A&L current account when I opened up my West Brom account.

I had to explain this to the woman at the West Brom about 4-5 times before she realised I wasn't being fobbed off and then after she looked in to it she finally realised it was their mistake. Apparently someone hadn't bothered to enter my current account details when I opened the savings account. Again I asked why wasn't contacted but she couldn't give me an answer.

She then told me the earliest this money could be paid in to my account would be the Wednesday (tomorrow). I told her that this was totally unacceptable and I demanded this money be paid in to my account immediately and at no cost to me. She put me on hold and then came back and told me it would be paid by telegraphic transfer on Monday (yesterday) and this was the earliest they could transfer it. I had no option but to accept.

About an hour ago I went shopping to my local supermarket (you know whats coming don't you?). I got to the checkout, tried to pay by card and the card was declined! I was totally embarrassed and had to return all the items to the shelves. I couldn't get out the shop quick enough.

I've just checked my A&L account and no money has been transferred from the West Brom BS!

So the West Brom has:

1. Ruined the weekend I planned with my son.
2. Failed to transfer this money three times.
3. Caused me utter humiliation at my local supermarket.
4. Caused me extra expense as I've run in to my overdraft.

I have about £7 in my pocket to last me until I get this money.

I'm going to get ripped in to West Brom first thing in the morning. I want a written apology and compensated for the above. Is there anyone on the forums involved in banking and am I entitled to compensation and what is their scale?

This is my first withdrawal from my Star Easy Access Account and I can assure you there's nothing easy about it!

Froglet

Not sure i can be of any help,no wonder you are livid,what a dreadfuil way to treat customers.There are others unhappy with West Brom too.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=776853

Is there any thing on their website ref terms and conditions that might help your argument? Also ,though i doubt you will be keeping this account now!! would it be better in future to set up transfers via the internet,i have never had any trouble transferring money and it generally takes no more than 3 days.

Let us know how you get on tomorrow.

CLAPTON

I know its no help now but for the future.... whenever you open a new a/c its always worth doing a small transaction both ways to test out the system and so you know exactly how long it will take.

turbobob

I get the impression that they are just not very efficient and cannot cope with the volumes of new accounts they've been receiving. My father has been having problems with them, although different from your issue.

As for compensation, if an error by them has directly caused you a financial loss (eg bank charges) then you can reasonably claim for this. "Distress and inconvenience" is a lot more difficult to quantify. Here is some example case studies from FOS for D&I payments - http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/guidance/bn-awards-case-studies.htm

caveat_emptor

You are not alone. I've had several recent transactions with banks and a building society that have all been fouled up by incompetent customer service. The impression I get is that they don't give a damn, after all you are only the customer and a bit of an inconvenience to the real business of the day. When I wrote to one Chief Executive to complain he passed my letter to guess who, yes customer service, to reply.

emma396

i tried to open the star account with them at the start of march, got a reply saying they couldn't verify my identity and to get in touch with equifax. got my credit report and asked equifax what the problem was and they told me to get in touch with west brom and vice versa. have now sent a formal letter :mad:

turbobob

emma396 wrote: »

i tried to open the star account with them at the start of march, got a reply saying they couldn't verify my identity and to get in touch with equifax. got my credit report and asked equifax what the problem was and they told me to get in touch with west brom and vice versa. have now sent a formal letter :mad:

You are not alone in having this happen :rolleyes: I don't know what they are playing at.