Ulster Bank - Nightmare!

bizpioneer

Hi,

So I recently relocated to Dublin and since I created a current account with Ulster I've been having a serious of unfortunate events. I am starting to think they are intentionally doing this?

1) My debit card got cancelled, I called the bank to see why? they said someone called and passed all security questions and asked to cancel the card!

2) The new Card never arrived after 7 business days now!

3) My Date of birth CHANGED! Somehow it did. I went to the bank to withdraw cash since my card is still in the post. and I give them the date of birth and they say its not the one on the system? What freaks me out is that I verified my date of birth tons of times before when ever I call the bank over the phone they verify that and its valid!!

It Gets worse! my date of birth for security reason is the first 6 digits of my customer number! and its the one I am supplying and they still say its invalid? How is it invalid if they have it on my customer number for security reasons?

Is their anything I can do? take legal actions? I am an employee not sure what other banks I can open an account with without paying initial deposit and without Irish nationality?

Thanks

Grandpa Hassan

This is the route you have to go down. You should formally complain to the financial institution first though, and clearly note everything that has happened. The ombudsman won't handle any complaints where this hasnt been done

http://financialombudsman.ie/

murphaph

And open an account with PTSB and get away from Ulster.

Jim2007

bizpioneer wrote: »

Is their anything I can do? take legal actions? I am an employee not sure what other banks I can open an account with without paying initial deposit and without Irish nationality?

When you say you are an employee... of the bank

Well joking aside, if someone phoned the bank, provided the required security details and cancelled the card then that suggests someone has access to your details and it is not the bank....

I would suggest that you go to the bank and get this sorted out and locked down. Then do a check of all you private affairs to make sure that nothing else has been tampered with.

You can never be to safe!

bizpioneer

Jim2007 wrote: »

When you say you are an employee... of the bank

Well joking aside, if someone phoned the bank, provided the required security details and cancelled the card then that suggests someone has access to your details and it is not the bank....

I would suggest that you go to the bank and get this sorted out and locked down. Then do a check of all you private affairs to make sure that nothing else has been tampered with.

You can never be to safe!

What about the date of birth? how can that ever be changed? even if it is possible how can it be changed without photo ID? I mean I wasnt able to change it back without my passport!

pow wow

They do have a formal complaints process which does have a compensation element if they are found to be at fault. Next time you are talking to them say you want to make a formal complaint and they will forward you through to the correct department. They have various compensation figures for different things, inconvenience charge per day for example, so they can combine to a nice sum altogether (which they did in my case, right before I closed my account with them based on their total incompetence :cool:)

unclebill98

Call your branch, ask for the SQA, service quality advisor. Explain yourself as you have done above and ask for a complaint to be started. You don't need to stick anything in writing just in case they say you have to. Let them investigate and close of the complaint to your satisfaction, if you are not happy with the final response or un happy with the compensation then refer their final response to the ombudsman.

Not sure if you work for UB, but non the less staff can make complaints and have the official procedure followed.

Jim2007

bizpioneer wrote: »

What about the date of birth? how can that ever be changed? even if it is possible how can it be changed without photo ID? I mean I wasnt able to change it back without my passport!

I don't know, but if I was told that someone called up the bank, provided correct credentials and cancelled a card, I'd be far more concerned in making sure that everything was locked down, than worrying about making a complaint, that can be done later.....

bizpioneer

I am not an UB employee, They are now doing investigations. The new card was issued and was stolen from my mail box and that person withdrew all the cash! The bank is investigating the whole thing and they refunded my money.

Let's see how this will end.

Grandpa Hassan

So not actually Ulster Bank's fault at all then? Just an instance of identity theft.

bizpioneer

Grandpa Hassan wrote: »

So not actually Ulster Bank's fault at all then? Just an instance of identity theft.

Not true, the bank changed my date of birth for no reason and without any verification.
and it seems that the phone verification system is flawed they basically ask questions like address, phone#, date of birth which are very generic and could be easily obtained. There should be secret questions and answers.

whomitconcerns

bizpioneer wrote: »

I am not an UB employee, They are now doing investigations. The new card was issued and was stolen from my mail box and that person withdrew all the cash! The bank is investigating the whole thing and they refunded my money.

Let's see how this will end.

Sorry, but clearly there is bigger issues here and not the fault of Ulster Bank...

bizpioneer

whomitconcerns wrote: »

Sorry, but clearly there is bigger issues here and not the fault of Ulster Bank...

If the caller verified with the bank the wrong date of birth then this is a breach on their side.
could it be a bad coincidence ID theft + Bank Error + Weak security checks by bank?

whomitconcerns

bizpioneer wrote: »

If the caller verified with the bank the wrong date of birth then this is a breach on their side.
could it be a bad coincidence ID theft + Bank Error + Weak security checks by bank?

If ive got a copy of your passport and birth cert and driving licence and a bank statement...or some combination of same, there are very few banks that I wont somehow get around...sorry..

Anyway..you need to get the police involved if not already and get the recording of the call changing the details. As for the DOB change thats a weird one for sure...would get that investigated.

Grandpa Hassan

bizpioneer wrote: »

Not true, the bank changed my date of birth for no reason and without any verification.
and it seems that the phone verification system is flawed they basically ask questions like address, phone#, date of birth which are very generic and could be easily obtained. There should be secret questions and answers.

They have the same process as every bank. It is not their fault that your identity was stolen. As I understand it they have refunded you the money

(assuming of course that the caller gave all the correct details)

unclebill98

If someone had your card and pin then simple trip to a branch can allow them to change basic details like your address etc by inserting the card and following it up with a pin number. This is clearly a case of identity theft as stated.

Jim2007

bizpioneer wrote: »

I am not an UB employee, They are now doing investigations. The new card was issued and was stolen from my mail box and that person withdrew all the cash!

Well in that case I would assume that they had access to all your mail, so I would say you definitely should assume that other data was obtained as well and start checking that you have everything under control.