TSB: three months on, still failing customers

Mishandled complaints, lost debit cards and online banking problems continue to blight the bank, writes Adam Williams

Three months on from TSB’s disastrous computer meltdown, many of its customers are still without access to full banking services, while complaints have been left unresolved for weeks. Telegraph Money has uncovered cases of debit cards and Pins being repeatedly sent to the wrong address, complaints being mishandled, ineffective branch service and continued problems with TSB’s digital banking services. Many of these are still ongoing, months after the initial problems were discovered.

Data released this week showed that 78,000 current account customers switched banks in May 2018, the month following TSB’s IT crash. While this figure is not broken down by provider, many of the switchers will have been disgruntled TSB customers.

Kirsty Larmour, a project manager from Wakefield, plans to move her account to a new provider. She encountered repeated problems with TSB after losing her debit card in the week of the meltdown.

Miss Larmour complained to the bank about its poor service on April 29 but, despite acknowledging receipt of her message, TSB then lost her complaint and told her that her case would go to the back of the queue.

In perhaps the most serious incident, Miss Larmour was told at one point that four active bank cards had been issued in her name. None was in her possession.

“TSB sent new debit cards and new Pins to the wrong address, an address I haven’t lived at for a while,”

After encountering waits of 90 minutes on the phone, Miss Larmour turned to TSB’s branch network but was frustrated by the experience.

“They are supposed to be able to give £50 a day even if you don’t have a card, but on one occasion they weren’t able to provide that for me.

“I did sympathise with them, but I don’t feel like they care.”

After being contacted by Telegraph Money, TSB apologised to Miss Larmour and agreed to pay her £350 for distress and inconvenience plus £233 to cover the costs of phone calls and travel to branches.

Mike Nolan, a recruiter from Widnes, Cheshire, said he was still regularly unable to log into his online banking services. He likened the bank’s technical support team to the hapless characters from the Channel 4 sitcom The IT Crowd.

“The answer is always to try turning it off and back on again,” he said. “The problems happen on random occasions. It says I have put in the wrong password when I haven’t.”

At one point after the IT crash, Mr Nolan visited the bank’s Warrington branch and was able to use his card and Pin at the counter, only for the same Pin to fail when he attempted to use a cash machine outside minutes later.

The City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, requires banks to issue a final response to every customer complaint within eight weeks of receipt. If a bank is not in a position to do this, it must inform the