BOI Charges: Yes/No?

mars411

Last week I opened a bank account in BOI in Northern Ireland.
I go to college in Wales and before moving into my house I had to pay a deposit and first months rent which came to a total of £570. The £570 had to be transferred into my Landlords Barclays Bank Account.
So before even setting up my account and paying the money I rang the BOI N.I to see was there any charge to transfer the £570 into the Barclays account over the counter. The woman (didn’t get her name) on the phone told me that there was a £25 if it was a telegraphic transfer or that if the transfer was urgent and needed to be done that day before 4pm there would also be a £25 charge. BUT she also said that if it wasn’t urgent and it was a standard transfer which can take 3-5 days then it was free of any charges. So obviously I was willing to wait them extra few days and was going to go with the standard transfer to avoid the £25 charge.
Two days later again just before I actually went to BOI I rang again to definitely make sure that there would be no charge and the man (Pat) I was on the phone to told me the exact same information as the woman did two days earlier.
So when I got to BOI I opened my account which was all good and the woman set it up on the computer there and then. I then explained to her that I wanted to do a Standard Transfer of £570 into a Barclays Bank Account for which I give her the details. She then went on to tell me that in order for her to do this that there is a £25 charge which could NOT be wavered.
I then told her that I had rang this bank two days ago and today before I came in and the woman and man (Pat) told me that a Standard Transfer was free of charge. The woman behind the desk went on to say that, “No there has always been a charge of £25 etc, etc.” I told her again that I rang this bank twice and a woman two days ago and today Pat told me there was definitely no charge for a standard transfer which can take 3-5days and so on. She began to argue with me and said, “No you are wrong! I have to charge you the £25 if you want me to do this. This charge has always been there and cannot be wavered!” I said right I will ring here again and you can listen. I went to take out my phone and she asked me, “Who told you that there was no charge?” AGAIN I told her a woman which I got through to two days ago, and Pat which I got through to today before I came in here told me the exact same information that a Standard Transfer was completely free of charge. She then told me to hold on a few minutes and she went to her desk and rang someone.
20 minutes later she came back and told me that I have been fed the wrong information. And I said so TWO people from this bank have given me the wrong information on a Standard Transfer?! She said, “Yes you have been fed the completely wrong information, that the two people you were talking to on the phone were wrong.” She continued to say, “because I was told the wrong information that there was no charge on a Standard Transfer that the £25 charge CAN be wavered this time and I definitely will NOT be charged that £25.” She went on to say that if I was to do this transfer again that I would have to be charged the £25. That was fine, I handed her over the £570 which she put into my account and she said that it should be in that Barclays Bank Account in a few days.
Now I think she just didn’t want to admit that she was wrong and told me that I was fed the wrong information just because I had caught her out in lying. I felt that she wanted to get me away as quick as she could, that she didn’t want a bit of me and filled me with complete and utter SH1T about the £25 charge to get rid of me (I heard that they get commission on that charge. If that is true or not I don’t know). But regardless if they get commission or not TWO people in that BOI according to her told me the wrong information.
I also had another £420 in my purse which I wanted to lodge into my account for when I go back to college in a few weeks. She did that for me too. I thanked her and off I went smiling.
Today in the post I got details of the payment which said:
The £570 was transferred into the Barclays account and that BOI charged me £25. And the total debit was £595. After her telling me that I was definitely not going to be charged because I was told the wrong information, but anyways they decide to take out the £25 from the £420 I put in. I am furious!!! :mad:
So I am going back to the bank tomorrow first thing to her and if she does not put the £25 back into my account there and then, then I am going to ask for the bank manager.
Like what the hell!! Were the people on the phone telling me the truth or was the woman behind the desk telling me the truth?? Surly the people on the phone are higher up than the woman at the counter and they should know and be up to date with all the correct information to be giving customers over the phone.
Has anybody ever done a standard transfer like this before and has been/ not been charged??
Does anyone know if I was actually fed the wrong information or was she just lying to me about the £25 which could not be wavered??
If the manager tells me tomorrow that the £25 cannot be put back into my account and there is nothing that they can do what will I do as I will not let them get away with this??
Any advice guys?? Thanks

Toots

http://www.bankofireland.co.uk/fs/doc/rates-and-fees/schedule-of-service-charges-for-personal-customers-northern-ireland.pdf

The above is a link to their online brochure of fees and charges, you were fed incorrect information on the phone, there is a £25 charge for this transfer.

Telegraphic transfers (CHAPS) between banks
From your account
To your account
£25
£5

International payments
Receiving payments from abroad:
If you have a Bank of Ireland UK account £6
If you do not have a Bank of Ireland UK account £15
Transferring payments abroad:
If you ask us to send a payment to another country £25
If you ask us to send a payment to
Bank of Ireland in the Republic of Ireland £10
(If the details of the bank that the payment is going to are
quoted incorrectly, we will charge an extra £10.

However, it sounds like the woman you dealt with called and confirmed that you'd been told the wrong thing and agreed with someone (possibly a manager) that they'd waive the charge because of this. Often when you phone the 'branch' the calls are answered in a call centre, so the people who you spoke to might never have worked in a branch. That's no excuse for them not to know the charges etc, or to be able to look them up, but it wouldn't be the first time the call centre has given customers incorrect info.

Basically when they waive the charge, it's not a case that you're not charged, the charge is applied to your account, but then the branch refunds it and they take the hit. The international transfer department gets the fee, and then the branch loses out. Usually the FX official in the branch keeps an eye on the transfer going out of the account and when it leaves, they arrange for the fee to be refunded, so it might be on it's way back to your account already. Go into the branch and query when it will be refunded. Don't go in with all guns blazing, be polite. Remember that it wasn't the branch that gave you the wrong information, and they said they'd refund the fee as a goodwill gesture, so if you go in and eat the head off whoever is on the counter they'll certainly be less likely to help you out. Also, I'm not sure what way it's done in NI, but in the republic BOI has a system where they can log complaints to different areas of the bank, so ask do they have this system, and ask that they record your complaint and send it up to the team leaders in the call centre so they can talk to the staff that dealt with you and ensure they don't do it again.

mars411

Thanks for the quick reply Toots

The two times I rang I actually got through to the BOI branch that I am dealing with. Even though the number I rang was a helpline number that I found on the website. But they said the name of the branch on the phone when I got through. So obviously two people in that bank are wrong and did not bother to look up the correct information.

I am not the type to go in all guns blazing, I will just explain and hopefully they will put the money back into my account if its not already on its way like you said.

I will make sure to ask whoever I am dealing with tomorrow do they have a log complaints system because thats not on if those two people in that same branch are telling customers incorrect information.

BuffyBot

The two times I rang I actually got through to the BOI branch that I am dealing with. Even though the number I rang was a helpline number that I found on the website

That doesn't mean anything Call centre phones will display the name of the branch you rang so the agent can awnser "Bank of Ireland X Branch.."

Smcgie

I've had a similar problem. Can any of you tell me this? If I have a UK bank account (say BOI) and I want to transfer money to my sister who lives in Wales (uk bank account say natwest) is there a fee for this same country transaction?

Sure UK - UK should not come with a charge?

NI - Wales as the poser above states should be a simple uk-uk transaction with no fees. Am I right?

Richard

Smcgie wrote: »

I've had a similar problem. Can any of you tell me this? If I have a UK bank account (say BOI) and I want to transfer money to my sister who lives in Wales (uk bank account say natwest) is there a fee for this same country transaction?

Sure UK - UK should not come with a charge?

NI - Wales as the poser above states should be a simple uk-uk transaction with no fees. Am I right?

Yes, it's not International at all.

OP, can you set up a monthly standing order to pay the charge? This should have no charge. You should be able to set this up online if you have Internet banking.

By the way, it might be better to switch to a main UK bank, as although BOI NI and BOI GB are both part of the "Bank of Ireland UK" company, the GB branches deal mostly with business and not normal customers afaik.

mars411

Richard wrote: »

Yes, it's not International at all.

OP, can you set up a monthly standing order to pay the charge? This should have no charge. You should be able to set this up online if you have Internet banking.

By the way, it might be better to switch to a main UK bank, as although BOI NI and BOI GB are both part of the "Bank of Ireland UK" company, the GB branches deal mostly with business and not normal customers afaik.

If its not an international transaction at all as NI- Wales is UK-UK then that £25 charge should not apply to me at all then if i was to do such a transaction again?!

Yes I have set up a standing order already for which my rent can be paid every month and this is completely free of charge.

The reason I set up BOI NI is so that my Mam can get sterling every month in the Post Office and put it into my BOI account.

Whereas if she was to pay whatever £260 is in € that day online into my landlords Barclays account or even into my GB account (if I had one) using the IBAN number it would charge her €15 each month. So we figured BOI NI standing order was the easiest and the only way that we were free of any charges.

Richard

mars411 wrote: »

If its not an international transaction at all as NI- Wales is UK-UK then that £25 charge should not apply to me at all then if i was to do such a transaction again?!

Yes I have set up a standing order already for which my rent can be paid every month and this is completely free of charge.

The reason I set up BOI NI is so that my Mam can get sterling every month in the Post Office and put it into my BOI account.

Whereas if she was to pay whatever £260 is in € that day online into my landlords Barclays account or even into my GB account (if I had one) using the IBAN number it would charge her €15 each month. So we figured BOI NI standing order was the easiest and the only way that we were free of any charges.

I don't fully understand this, but I think that a CHAPS transaction will cost £25, but there are other ways to transfer money which won't incur a £25 charge.

I am not with BOI, but using my Internet banking I can transfer money to any UK bank or building society, as long as I have the account number and sort code. There is no charge for this. If you haven't done so, sign up for Banking 365 at http://www.bankofireland.co.uk/personal-banking/ and you should be able to do the same.