On Tuesday 15th May my husband took time off work again to go to the bank. It's worth pointing out the rigmarole of simple transactions when you don't have your debit card.
Firstly, you can only do this during branch opening hours. Unless you can pre-empt all your banking needs on a Saturday morning, you have to take time off work to do this.
Second, you need to bring a statement, something with your address on, and something like a passport or drivers licence.
Third, you need to wait in the queue, get an odd look off the staff member behind the counter, and wearily explain to them why you don't have your debit card.
That particular day marked the 7th working day since our cards had been ordered. As such, while at the counter, I mentioned it. The girl looked at the computer screen for a little while, then said, "excuse me a moment, I just need to check on another computer..."
When she returned, she said "I don't know how to tell you this - your cards weren't ordered on the 5th..."
I felt sorry for her more than anything. During the course of the conversation I'd already told her what had happened before, and asked about where to send a complaint letter. To her credit, she was incredibly embarrassed. There wasn't a lot we could say - I knew it wasn't her fault, and shouting wouldn't help. Aside from anything, I was just about speechless.
She told us the cards had been ordered now, that her "administrator" (I assume some kind of supervisor) had checked it, and they were definitely ordered. I wasn't being entirely ironic when I said, "are you sure?"
Afterwards, we tried to dissect what had happened. Maybe they'd forgotten, or gone off sick or something. I did not know. However, one thing struck me - the guy I'd spoken to on Friday 11th May told me categorically that the cards had been ordered on May 5th. He told me this after I'd explained about going into the branch on the 4th, and what had been said there. So he lied.
Tuesday, 15 May 2007
Wot, no Card?
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2 comments:
It's not necessarily the call centre gentleman who lied; it could have been the girl in the branch. When cards are cancelled (as opposed to stopped), reissuing them is actually at the discretion of the underwriters, who can refuse to issue the same level of card previously issued. I suspect that this is what happened, and even though the card was ordered one was not sent as it was not approved by the underwriters. This theory is backed up by the high level of charges you say you had on the account.
Thanks for commenting.
I don't understand in that case why the girl in the branch would lie. Knowing that the card had not been re-ordered once already, and knowing we already were considering a complaint, it makes no sense at all to lie and say that the card was never ordered.
Still, hopefully Abbey's "full investigation" will provide some answers.
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