In the middle of November I went to Tsb Lloyds bank with my mother. We
were trying to increase the overdraft on a debit card and were told it
is not possible due to a negative credit history which was not true as
we never experienced or caused any problems with credit. We were told
it must be a system mistake as such thing does happen often with
customers. We were advised to change my mothers account to Premier
account in order to check what could have caused the negative credit
history and to sort the issue out. With this account my mother was
charged less for looking into to the credit history. Form to fill and
send to people who deal with credit histories was supposed to arrive
within a week or two. New debit card was supposed to arrive within 30
days and the old one would then be blocked. We did mention that timing
is really important for us as my parents were going on a holiday at the
start of December. Whilst in Tenerife my mothers debit and credit card
were blocked. She could not get access to receipt with the amount she
had. She was very embarrassed when it came to paying at the shop as she
could not use her card. Everyone looked at my parents as if they were
thief's. As they did not have access to their money they did not buy
Christmas presents to their grandchildren. Whole holiday become a one
big stressor for them.
We went to bank last Friday to sort the issue and find out what have
happened. It turned out that the computer system has changed my mothers
address and sent new debit card to a completely different address.
Debit card was blocked after 3 days not 30, because the computer system
has decided to do so. Documents about negative credit history that were
to be filled and send were also sent under a wrong address. Manager
have told us that he can recompense us with 50 or maximum of 100
pounds. To be honest we were not even thinking about recompense when we
went there. The manager tried to get the whole situation quiet and the
fact that the other day Scottish person came and made a big affair
about having his bank documents send under the wrong address made the
manager give him more than one thousand pounds of recompense. Just
because someone is from another country does not mean they are not
familiar with law nor are to be treated worse than others.
We managed to get my mothers new debit card blocked and unblocked the
credit card. Thank God no one used new debit card. It is easy to use
card online without a pin. Credit card was blocked because of the wrong
address which was in the system and because the negative history was
not explained. Since my parents did not have access to my mothers
account she did go over the limit few times as there was no control
over the card. The whole situation in which we are in is not common for
the bank.
As there was so much to take in we decided to meet again next Friday
with the bank and try to sort the issue. Manager said that he will have
to call his friend in order to get some more advice. Lady who was
talking with us said that whenever he says it means that the situation
is beyond his authority.
To summarise it all :
- Debit card blocked after 3 days not 30
- Credit card blocked
- Change of address - debit card send under the wrong address
- Change of address - credit history documents send under the wrong address
- Unable to use money on holiday
- Over the limit - no control over the card
I went to Citizen Advice Bureau and was told to see what bank has to say tomorrow and if I am not happy I should put a complain which can take up to few months before it will be solved.
I have never been in such situation and according to Scottish legislations I do not know how much should I want from bank to recompense us. I would be grateful for any advice.
Thank you for your time.