When Bad Customer Service Goes Good

I just had one of those extremely frustrating yet eventually satisfying experiences with British customer service.

We're off to 'the Continent' for a holiday soon.  So, today was the day I planned to tick "Get Euros" off my list.

My last experience buying "Travel Money", as it's called, taught me that online is better than in bank.   That time, I'd checked the rate online at my bank's website and then toddled off to my local branch to buy my Euros.  On my way home, after doing some calculations in my head - never been good at maths - it hit me I'd paid a lot more than the online rate.  After some investigation, I learned that using the person at the bank costs a lot, and I stress A LOT more than ordering online where the bank incurs the added cost of home delivery.  Hard to believe, I know, but there you go.

Being an old dog that can learn new tricks, this morning, I went back to the website.  I filled in the order form, which takes some time.  Then went through the confirmations only to have the site tell me the order could not be processed.  I tried again.  Same response.  The computer said, "No."

I called the helpline offered.  After entering my birthday, sort code and account number, I couldn't remember the telephone banking PIN we chose 5 months ago and never used.  After a few wrong guesses, the pressure was really on because the computerised voice told me if I hung up I'd be locked out and then went back to demanding the correct numbers.  Eventually, I got it right and reached a human.

He was not surprised by my report.  Turns out the bank's automatic address identification using postal codes, presumably supplied by the post office, has to match the address as recorded in the electoral roll system.  Seems that when the two don't match, the computer says, "No".  The man told me that something like 95% of the problems people have ordering Travel Money are due to this reason, although I think he was reading that on his computer.  He apologised and assured me that the bank was working on it and it would be fixed by October.

That was nice I said, but since we would be back in London by October, I wondered if he could take the order.  And, indeed, he could, but he couldn't give me the better rate offered by the website.  I asked if his rate would be the same rate used at a branch.  He said it was.  I pointed out that it was the bank's systems that were at fault and asked if under the circumstances I could get the lower rate.  He said there was nothing he could do.  Seems the computer said, "No" - again.  I figured, I might as well go to the bank then.

This afternoon, while on my travels about town, I stopped into a branch.  Maybe a face to face discussion might help them click that since they were at fault, good customer service practice would dictate that they should give me the better rate.  Using my calculator, not my brain, I had calculated that using the teller would cost £37 more than the computer that said, "No".  So, it was worth a try.

I entered the bank and explained my problem to one of the staff.  Unlike the guy on the phone, this guy was not aware that there was a problem with the online 'service'.  I almost explained the address matching problem, but caught myself.  It would not have gained any sympathy.  After some discussion, again there was no way to give me the better rate.  Once again, the computer said, "NO".   It was the bank's policy apparently.

But then it happened, as it does sometimes in the UK when you are talking to someone who is not born here.  The customer service suddenly kicked in.  The young African man told me that if I don't want to pay the extra, I should go to Thomas's down the street.  I had always thought that banks were cheaper, but he assured me they weren't.  He said Thomas's offered the best rate in London.

I wasn't sure where Thomas's was, but this helpful young man told me it was two traffic lights down the street on the left.  I was skeptical, but off I went.

I couldn't find a Thomas's at the second traffic light, but found Change Link Ltd.  I walked past, but then went back.  Maybe the name had change?  The rate in their window was better than the rate my bank offered online and the sign said "no commission" and "no service charge".  Still skeptical I went in and a few minutes later left very happy.  The young man at the bank's recommendation to leave his bank and go elsewhere had saved me £50!

As I walked on to the supermarket, I eventually found the "Thomas's", actually Thomas Exchange.  It had a very long queue in front of it.  Clearly, most of London knew what I didn't.  I checked the rate in their window thinking it would be better than Change Link.  It wasn't.  So, the young man's helpful, yet slightly poor directions had saved me time too.

My bank's online Travel Money facility might be fixed in October, but I'll never know.  Thanks to my bank's faulty systems and poor customer service policies and that one exceptional employee who had a much better customer service ethic than his employer, I'll be using their Travel Money competitors from now on.