In early December I opened an Executors bank account at Lloyds TSB. To date I have not received a bank statement so I called their contact telephone number to ask when I am expected to receive bank statements.
I waited a few minutes for someone to answer and after another few minutes of giving them various information I was told there was a technical fault on the phone line and asked to call back.
I called back and got put through to an Indian call centre. They said they couldnt find my account details - this was after repeating every detail at least three times. I was told that they would usually put me through to the branch but because it was after 5 pm they couldnt so they asked if I could call back tomorrow.
I asked if they could send me a fax explaining how they couldnt find my details. This would be invaluable to me when following up the problem and trying to ensure it wont happen to me again. They said that they couldnt send a fax. I asked why not. Their answer was that they couldnt send a fax. I tried to explain the difference between the two questions. I progressed to asking if they had a fax at their premises. The most I could get from them was that they couldnt send a fax because they are a contact centre! The conversation as explained was frustrating enough but it was padded out by all my questions leading to a long silence eventually broken by me having to ask a couple of times if there was anyone there. Eventually they would acknowledge they were still there but when I would repeat the question they would provide me with an answer to an earlier question that would have been answered five or more minutes previously. They asked me what type of account I have and when I told them it was an Executors account they said "Executive" account. I told them it was not an "Executive" account. I said it was an "Executors" account. They said "Executive" account! This was repeated several times. I asked the operator how long they had worked at a bank. They said they'd transfer me to another department! I was cut off! 31 minutes of talking to someone who should never be employed in any job requiring a brain.
Lloyds TSB have transfered jobs to India to save money despite the customers receiving a worse service. I am certain that Lloyds TSB accept that the customers get a worse service. I am also certain they will lie when they deny this.
I phoned again and I talked to someone English and they explained that Executors accounts are not available for viewing on the computer system. I had previously been told that I could not have internet banking facilities for this account but nobody mentioned that I couldnt call and ask questions! I was told that I could have been put through to the branch if they had been open. My wife had been in the branch the previous day and the details of the account werent available on their screens. Maybe they keep the information in bound ledgers still! I asked why the account wasnt available like other accounts and I was told they didnt know. They said they can send a request to Customer Care in Glasgow and they'd need to complete a form to fax it to them. I was surprised this operation wasnt computerised!
The first question for the form was my date of birth! Why? They didnt know why. I cant believe why in the middle of this chaos they are asking for my date of birth - it seems totally irrelevant.
A few weeks ago I had called Lloyds TSB about an unrelated query on another bank account and I was told I'd be called with the answer when I returned from holiday. I wasnt! I eventually got an apologetic letter explaining that my query had not been passed on. I feel that Lloyds TSB's priority is to apologise rather than address the problems. I didnt want the same thing to happen again so I asked for a reference number for my query. I was told that a reference number was not given until it reached Customer Care. I felt that this was bad control. Customer Care do not know that they are receiving all the queries if sequential numbers are not generated at the source. It's obvious to me that management at Lloyds TSB cannot be bothered to institute the most basic controls. They must be incompetent or completely uninterested in providing a good service.
Does anyone know why any of the following is happening:
- Three and a half months without a bank statement. By the nature of this type of account I would expect it to be quite busy.
- The account is not available to call centres or indeed on the computer system in the branch.
- Why they would need my date of birth on the query form.
- Why they don't generate a control system at the source of the query.