Mou

Post Office Credit Card Customer Services are clueless

I’m sick of being messed around. Seriously. I mean, what the hell did I do to have every company I talk to feed me bullshit lines over and over?

This time, its the Post Office Credit Card and their god awful customer services who, I’m now convinced, don’t know their arse from their elbow.

I decided to get another credit card. My new(ish) job means my income is a lot healthier nowadays, so rather than pay monthly interest I figured a new credit card and a balance transfer would be the way forward. At about the same time, a guy in the Post Office handed me a flyer advertising 9 months 0% interest on purchases, balance transfers, etc on a P.O. credit card. Sounded like a good deal so I applied – I assume I was accepted because they they sent me through the letter requesting all my ID and credit expert alerted me to a credit check on my account.

Now, the one bit of ID I was struggling with was a bank statement – I’m an online banker so I use paper-free billing – save the planet and all that, eh? But thankfully one of my accounts (I have 3) still sends statements every 6 months – its not my main account, but its a current account. And seeing as the letter I received asked for…

Current Account Bank Statements detailing a minimum of 1 months transactions and dated within the last 3 months.

…and the account statement I had was for a current account, I didn’t think it would be a problem.

But no. Or at least not according to the letter I received a week later, telling me that I had sent the wrong bank statement. I called them up and was informed that I need to send through a statement for my main current account – ie, the one my wages went into. OK I admit that in hindsight this makes perfect sense, but then the letter didn’t ask me for that specifically.

This is where it begun to get messy. I pointed out that my application would likely expire before I could get a bank statement ordered and sent in, and was advised I could print one off from my online banking…

Send it to us with a cover letter explaining you don’t get paper statements and it should be fine.

Wow, how cool is that? Except I’m not as naive as I used to be (thank the equally clueless Fitness First for that). So I hung up, waited a while, and called back to ask the same question. The person I spoke to then tells me:

No, you can’t just send it in – its needs to be stamped as verified, which you can do at any of the main Post Office branches.

So I hang up. 2 stories in 24 hours has killed all confidence I had in their ability to stick to a single story, so I ring a third time:

No, we only accept originals. We can’t accept printouts.

Sigh. Just….sigh.

So I decided to opt for the third response, seeing as it was the most strict and so most likely to be accepted, and so I ring and order a bank statement.

Annoyingly, my statement doesn’t arrive with the 10 days max they quoted me and a call to them confirms they have no record of my request. At least they didn’t charge me though, which was nice. I take the opportunity to phone Post Office again to confirm I’m not too late with my application, and I’m told:

No, it should be fine. Just send the documents in, I’ll make a note on your account.

As is now standard, I call them back and ask the same question:

Yes, we’ll still accept your ID. I can see a note on your account to say you’re sending them in.

The same answer twice in a row! Woo-f**king-hoo! So I ring to order another bank statement – and today, 5 days later, it arrived.

And that leads me to the friday just gone. They forgot to include the freepost envelope mentioned in the letter when they wrote to me, so I rung for the address. The girl paused for a second and tells me:

I can see you applied back in September. Its too late, we won’t be able to process your application you’ll have to wait 3 months to reapply.

I fed back to her what I’d been told by the previous customer service agents, and she said fine and that she’d just read through the notes.

Ahh, they will have said that we may still be able to accept your application. Its not definite.

Contradicting herself within a 20 seconds timeframe? That has to be some sort of record.

So now I’m done – I’ve had enough. I get off the phone, call back and ask to make a complaint. Ironically, if I’d spoken to the guy who made a note of my complaint in the first place I could have saved myself £5 on a bank statement and a lot of time. As I was listing the things I’d been told, his response to most of them begun with:

Ah, now I know thats not right, because…

You get the idea. Post Office customer services are f**king useless, blah blah. I know I’m starting to sound like a bit of a broken record but it seems every company I speak to gives me something to moan about. In all seriousness, I’m actually a hard guy to annoy – I mean, I still use Fitness First (!!) even after all the crap I went through with them – which reminds me, I have to write the final blog post in that series… :makes a note:.

So anyway, I’m just waiting on a response from whoever deals with the complaints. I don’t expect they’ll offer to process the application, but thats irrelevant because my line of thinking is: If they mess you around like that before you become a customer, what sort of nasty surprises do they have planned for you after you sign on the dotted line?

</rant>

Disclaimer: Quotes may not be 100% accurate to the letter as I’m recalling them from memory and these conversations span back 2 months, but if they’re not spot on then they’re pretty damn close.


11 Responses to “Post Office Credit Card Customer Services are clueless”

  1. Judith Goodman

    I paid by my P.O. credit card for an item from U.S.A. and have’nt receivd it, What do I do now please? Everyone I speak to on the phone says ‘get a tracking no’ but they don’nt have one, just a customs tag no. I don’nt want to pay for somethng not received. Help.

  2. mou

    lol no idea buddy. Call the company you bought it from maybe?

  3. micheal wilcox

    hi i want to order a post office card account statement but i cnt find the proper website to submit my details for the post office to send me a post office card account statement cud u help me to get one thnx

    • mou

      So I take it you didn’t actually read any of what I wrote?

      I have no idea. I want nothing to do with Post Office credit card services, they’re inept. Try ringing their customer services.

  4. justine

    Oh just wait until you had a card you had forgotten about with a nil balance on it and TRY and close the account. Yes – clueless….

  5. Bill

    No wonder the post office is in a mess.
    Cannot get a responce by telephone or email re – my credit card.
    total disgrace.
    consider emigrating grrrrr

  6. Eillin

    Please avoid them. I received a statement with a payment due date on it. I ensured that the payment would be received by the Post Office (Bank of Ireland) the day before it was due. They received payment. Three days later I tried to use the debit card for the account from which I had paid the balance and I couldn’t: the account was overdrawn. I rang to ask why they had taken the amount by direct debit when I had paid it by the due date. Apparently the due date on Post Office credit card statements is wrong – it is actually three days earlier than the date specified. They should not have taken payment by direct debit at any rate since my bank has no record of there being a direct debit mandate for Post Office Mastercard! I then tried calling to request a user ID and 6 digit security number since I had never received them in the post. The first time I called using the number on the website (which is incorrect, it is for a savings account) I could not hear the person on the telephone. The second time I rang from a different landline and the person could not hear me (these calls are routed overseas so will always be prone to problems). And I received a letter stating ‘Thank you for your recent letter requesting cancellation of the direct debit on your account’. I hadn’t sent a letter, I had requested cancellation of the non-existent direct debit by telephone. I give up! The account will be closed next month.

  7. Jon

    Mind numbingly frustrating is what I’d call Post Office Credit Card (Bank Of Ireland) Services. I am in the process of getting a mortgage and the mortgage company needs to see a physical credit card statement. I ordered one 3 weeks ago from Post Office Credit Card (Bank Of Ireland) Services, nothing turned up. Called again 5 days ago (they couldnt find any record of my initial request) and ordered the statement again, I pleaded with them to send it first class, nope they cant do this, how ironic is that?? This is The Post Office Credit Card and they can’t send something First Class?!! Still waiting for it to arrive Second Class and mortgage on hold because of it. Frustrated!!

  8. I agree the Post office credit card customer care team have messed up again. I instructed a direct debit to be set up and take 100% of all I owe each month from my current account as I was going away on holiday and wanted them to get the money from my account automatically. I returned to find an overdue statement, which accrued interest and late payment fee. i phoned them and there is no record of on the computer with my instruction for a direct debit set up. Luckily I had written down the date and time of the call I had made. I was told that the late payment fee would be returned to me and that I’d have to ask the team manager for a refund of the interest charged. I wrote an email and since then another statement has arrived with more late payment and accrued interest charges now amounting to nearly £111 as you can imagine how frustrating is this due to the failure in their customer service to follow my instruction. My complaint is still ongoing and waiting for a response. I’m thinking of getting the legal cover (taken out with my house insurance) to sort this matter out if the post office don’t refund me.

  9. PO Credit card are a complete nightmare……….. YOU have to write to them to complain and cannot speak to anyone about a claim against a fraudulant company…….. raging… all I wanted to do was cancel my card and get a new one………… avoid them with the plaque… lesson learnt never ever use them….

  10. Suzanne

    The post office credit card seemed a very good deal. I have used several 0% interest cards over the last few years and have never had any problems until the post office card!!! Direct debit was set up and all good to go…. well actually they tell you it is, even put it down in writing to confirm, after initially sending a manual first payment (something I’ve never had to do before). They reassured me tgat tge next payment would come out by direct debit, then… no payment was taken. Post office contacted and a further manual payment was taken and again direct debit details passed across. Received a further direct debit confirmation letter next thing to receive in the post… A £12 charge for a late payment!!! So angry at this as I have never had any sort of late payment fee. Contacted post office again, to only be informed that the direct debit again was not set up. Resubmitted direct debit details for a third time and need to make a third manual payment next month. Only one word for the post office customer service staff/credit card… useless!!!!!

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