TSB didn’t pay the interest on my £40,000 for three years

ON MAY 26, 2016, I opened two accounts with TSB. I put £40,000 in a two-year fixed-rate bond at 1.25 pc, and £30,000 in an Easy Saver at 1 pc.

Later, I discovered that, although TSB had given me an account number for the fixed-rate bond, no money had been put into it. The local manager accepted the error and said it would be rectified, with the interest paid on May 26, 2018. But this didn’t happen.

I have complained several times to TSB head office and have received only stock replies informing me they are looking into it. Mrs M. H., Kinross-shire. TSB used to call itself: ‘The bank that likes to say yes.’ Since its Spanish takeover, it ought to change that to: ‘The bank that likes to say mañana.’

But even ‘tomorrow’ would have been far better than the service you received.

It seems that, due to human error, your initial investment was not made and all of the money went into the Easy Saver. Then, when the bond was supposed to mature, the planned rectification was not made.

Next, your complaint got caught up in the backlog from TSB’s computer meltdown last year and was not addressed separately, so that’s a third error.

Incidentally, the bank is wading through 200,000 complaints. Isn’t it amazing that, with complaints unresolved, executives have found time to cut the interest rate on its current account from 5 pc to 3 pc from July? The 5 pc rate was part of its apology and promises were made on the radio that the deal was ‘there for good’.

The good news is that, after three years, TSB has finally sorted out your issue, paying £514.53 in lost interest, plus another £37.45 to cover further interest from May last year. It has offered £200 compensation. A TSB spokesman says: ‘We’re really sorry for the experience our customer has faced and the inconven÷ ience this has undoubtedly caused her. We should have dealt with this complaint far sooner.’ MY WIFE, who died in November, had a Sainsbury’s credit card with a 0 pc offer until July 2020. We used the full £8,000 limit to fund our last exotic holiday together and we were paying off £250 a month by direct debit.

I was promised a call from the bereavement team, which never arrived. Then, on December 7, I received a statement in my wife’s name which said the interest-free deal had expired.

I called, but was told to write to the bereavement team. Two weeks later, I was told the issue had been referred to the deceased account management firm Phillips & Cohen Associates, from whom I heard nothing until March 1.

Our sensible approach to borrowing money has now been scuppered. I am not expecting the debt to be written off, I just wanted to continue making regular payments to clear the balance by July 2020. I. C., by email. SAINSBury’S BANk has dealt with your case very poorly.

There are a couple of things that spring to mind immediately: first, this was your wife’s credit card, so any money owing need only be paid out of her estate; second, this is also an unsecured debt, making it low priority.

Sainsbury’s apologises that you did not receive a call from the bereavement team, and for sending a statement in your wife’s name, causing further upset.

It says that once it received a death certificate, the statements were stopped and the promotion on the card was removed. however, an interest and fee waiver was automatically applied.

Sainsbury’s uses specialists Phillips & Cohen to deal with accounts involving bereaved people. I feel this is an abnegation of its duty to its customers.

having said that, it will allow you to continue paying off £250 per month. The bank accepts that its service was not up to scratch and has offered you £100. MY SON lost his phone, which I pay for, on a night out. The next day, he told EE, but it said it couldn’t sign off a deal for a new phone without me present. I couldn’t be there, so my son took on a new, more expensive contract himself.

As EE was aware the old phone was stolen, I assumed it would cancel the existing contract and put the phone beyond use.

Two months later, I received a letter from EE about an unpaid balance of £97.99. I rang and was asked for £215 for outstanding monthly fees and an earlyexit charge. Only at this stage did it say it would make the old phone beyond use. P.S., Glasgow. ok, I’M of an age where I have limited sympathy with the need to have a phone permanently attached to an ear, hip or whatever appendage is in vogue, but I find it hard to apportion any blame to EE for this sequence of events.

had your son shown some patience, you could have arranged a new phone for him, which would have superseded the old contract. But as soon as he took the new phone, it was up to you to cancel the old contract.

EE can’t see that it did anything wrong: it has cancelled the contract and cleared the balance.

It says that when phones are lost or stolen, customers should contact EE as soon as possible so it can suspend or block the Sim to prevent unauthorised use.

EE must speak with the account holder, who should be able to answer security questions.