In Which Abbey are Sorry Again

As soon as I'd hung up I took a few deep breaths and dialled the number for the Complaints Department again. I was shaking with anger. I was on hold to them for about ten minutes before the call was answered. "Abbey Complaints, R--- speaking, sorry to keep you waiting"

"That's okay, it's given me chance to calm down..."

This lady was incredibly helpful - as far as she could be. For the first time that day, someone was actually bothering to properly explain the procedure for recovering bank charges. I'm not sure if it's to do with the sudden glut of people reclaiming charges, but it seems that even if you are querying charges that are about to be applied, you have to "fill out a claim form". It seems like procedure for procedure's sake. I cannot believe that nobody in that company has the power to stop the £80 coming out of the account on June 24th.

While she put me on hold to check my file, I thought about the previous call. I had been under the impression that Phonebank had some kind of new power to waive charges. I had been transferred to that department and I had been categorically told that "Phonebank could help me". The man I'd spoken to didn't know that. He didn't have any such power, and looking back, it is obvious that I looked like any other customer bitching about charges. He had a script, and I'm guessing would get into trouble for not adhering to it. Unfortunately, from my viewpoint, he was being unhelpful and obtuse. I should never have been told to ring Phonebank.

Yet again, the apologies flowed like Niagara, but sadly I felt like "sorry" was just a meaningless word. As the saying goes, 'actions speak louder than words', and yet again I was being told that nothing could be done. I was upset, and spewed forth the whole story, saying I was going away at the end of the month, and I may have to cancel if this isn't sorted out. I said that Abbey had received my fraud claim almost six weeks ago, and the way it was being dealt with was ridiculous. The lady said she would "chase it up". Again.

I'd been drafting another complaint letter, and in it I queried the whole "chase it up" thing:

"I am fed up of staff in the Complaints Department telling me they will 'chase up' the fraud claim. I have no idea what that entails, and although staff have been very pleasant, I still feel as though I am being fobbed off. A member of staff faxing or emailing the Card Fraud department does not guarantee that the message will be received and dealt with, nor does it inform the Complaints Department of the current situation so they can in turn relay that to the customer. This is, in my opinion, a very poor way for a bank to conduct its customer service, and given my previous experience of Abbey not doing things as promised, I regret I have very little confidence in what I am being told."

Sums it up, really.