Banking problems

I have a little-used debit card with an international bank. I got it years ago for use when travelling because it allows international transactions at a good rate (or it did back then).  Be that as it may, it reached its expiry date and the replacement card arrived.  I carefully followed the on-line procedure to “activate” it, or so I thought. I then did a trial withdrawal – only to have the card swallowed by the ATM and I got an SMS on my phone  to the effect that the problem was the card hadn’t been activated.  News to me, but there you go………

I came home, and found the bank’s 24-hour hot-line.  That’s when the fun really started.  The phone menu was totally inappropriate and when I finally found (not easy) the default option, so as to speak to an operator (in the Philippines, I believe) she asserted she couldn’t hear me.

I tried again to negotiate the complex phone menu but eventually gave up, and used the webpage message function to send a message via the option on the website.

The outcome, via the messaging option, boiled down to, “tough luck”.   The Bank’s system hadn’t recognised that I’d activated the card, the card was irretrievable,  and they were going to deactivate both the old and the new cards while they sent me a new one.    I have no idea how long that will take, and in the meantime I don’t have  card access to the account.

Just as well I wasn’t travelling and in need of access to the funds.

Needless to say, when the inevitable email survey arrived the next day, I was not at all complimentary.  I suspect, looking at a “product review” website,  that this won’t be the first such response that they have received.     It certainly seems that my experience trying to resolve an issue with a bank (this one, and others) was by no means unique!   So this bank is in good company with most other banks.  Perhaps one more unfavourable review is just going to be lost in the crowd.