Bank of Scotland (a.k.a. Bank of S@#%!) (Bank of Scotland)

Member Name: dbarcl10

Product:	Bank of Scotland
Date:	14/12/08 (334 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Branches in most high streets

Disadvantages: Poor customer service, take money without authorisation

The Bank of Scotland (BoS) is one of the oldest banks in the United Kingdom, its beginnings being traceable back to the 17th century. The bank was created by an Act of the Scottish Parliament and was the first bank in Europe to issue banknotes, and still does to this day.

In 2001 BoS merged with Halifax to create HBOS, one of the largest banks in the UK.

I have had accounts with BoS for many years, including current accounts, savings, mortgages, loans and a credit card. Over recent years I have had problems with most of these accounts, however the hassle of finding a new bank and switching all the accounts to them has kept me using HBOS. However I have now taken the first steps necessary to leave HBOS for good.

The most recent problem that made me decide to leave was when we received a letter from HBOS telling us that we had missed two loan repayments and a penalty had been applied to our loan account. Knowing that our loan account had been cleared about 6 months previously, we were straight onto the phone to them, quoting the loan agreement number on the letter, assuming that someone had stolen our identity.

You can probably imagine our surprise when we were told that the loan agreement number didn't exist, and despite searching on their system using our names, address and other personal information, they could neither find a loan in our name nor offer any explanation for this letter. On speaking to a manager, we were told that they had no record of such a letter being issued and that we must have been making it up!

As far as HBOS was concerned, there was no issue. Satisfied that no-one had taken a loan in our name we were glad not to have been the victim of identity fraud, although still concerned that HBOS couldn't find a letter that they had sent.

Two days letter another letter arrived from HBOS - this time telling us that as we had defaulted on our loan they had referred the account to their debt managers! Again we were straight onto the phone, again to be told that our loan agreement number didn't exist and that we didn't have a loan agreement with HBOS. Again, they were unable to offer any explanation.

The next day we took both letters into our local branch and asked the staff to check for any loans in our name and to check that the letters were from HBOS and not fraudulent letters. Eventually, after 3 hours in branch, we were told that a batch of letters had been sent in error to an unknown number of people, and that as we had no loan account with them they considered the matter closed. We however wanted to know how our details had been able to get onto a letter with a false loan agreement number and be printed.

Later that day my partner received a call from the manager who had signed the second letter, apologising for the error and stating that she had no knowledge of the letters that had been sent in her name. She said she had assigned one of her assistant managers to investigate and get back to us, with both an explanation and compensation.

A few days later we received a call to say that they had found the problem and that it was now fixed and we wouldn't be receiving any further letters re our fake loan and an offer of compensation. The next day that compensation offer arrived in writing stating that we had to sign to confirm that we would not be taking the matter any further and saying that once we had returned the signed form they would issue a cheque.

The following week we were still awaiting our cheque, but noticed a strange transaction in our current account. Nearly £200 had been taken from our current account, the amount being exactly the same as that quoted in the two letters from the bank. Yes, the bank had confirmed that we didn't have a loan with them, yet here they were starting to take money from our account, without any form of explanation.

*On a side note, why can the bank take money from our account unauthorised, yet they cannot pay the compensation directly into our account with our authorisation??*

Another call to the bank. This time we were informed that our fake loan had been linked to our account so that their staff knew what we were talking about if we phoned back in. Unfortunately the way it was linked, their systems thought that the money was due. The bank transferred money back into our account plus a few extra pence for lost interest.

A bankers draft eventually turned up, with no compliments slip or letter and we expected that that would be the end to the matter. So, just under a month later we received another phone call from the assistant manager who investigated our complaint - they had realised that future payments hadn't been stopped and that a further payment was due the next day and it was too late to stop the direct debit (which hadn't been set up). They transferred money in that night to cover the direct debit which was taken the following day without authorisation.

Since then we have been very careful in checking our bank statements on a daily basis to ensure that this bank haven't been taking any other unauthorised payments.

Other problems we've had with the bank are:
* Every account had been set up with a different address format so they weren't linking automatically, which resulting in us having a number of logins for internet banking
* Rude service on the phones
* Payments to our credit card not being recognised
* Constant changes to our credit limit on the credit card (£500 one month, £3500 the next then down to £200) even when fully paid off

Overall, I have been very disappointed in the bank in recent years, so much so that I think they deserve no stars, however I have been forced to give them one star.

Will I be sad to see the HBOS name disappear from the high street? Honestly, no I won't be sad, however I do feel sorry for any staff that will lose their jobs after the merger with Lloyds.

Thanks for reading my rant.

P.s. If you're a HBOS customer, check your bank statements very carefully!

Summary: No longer a great institution