Abbey's latest investigation into ISA delaysThree weeks ago I wrote 'Complain to Spain' when Abbey's Customer Complaints department told me it didn't matter which board director I complained to about the administrative delays Abbey's customers were expected to endure, my letter would end up on her desk.
I wondered what would happen if I emailed Emilio Botin, the Chairman of Banco Santander - the Spanish bank that owns Abbey. I discovered a 'contact the Board' email response form on Satander's corporate site and fired off my enquiry - asking why year after year Abbey ran into problems processing customer's new ISA accounts. Last Wednesday I got another letter from Abbey - promising an investigation, followed later that day by a phone call.
Apparently the senior team at Abbey had just become aware of the ISA delays customers were experiencing and now the complaints were mounting (Abbey previously let slip there was a backlog of 700 unprocessed applications, that was 6 weeks ago). A full investigation is under way. The manager phoning last week wanted to know what the outcome had been when I complained about a 50 working day delay to confirm my ISA was open.
My quick search on the web revealed more Abbey ISA complaints on the forums of moneysavingexpert.com from savers who had sent in cheques but now couldn't access their money at all - because their Abbey cash ISA's hadn't been opened yet. These customers are also experiencing delays of months.
Abbey has promised to send me another £50 as a goodwill gesture - for the dissatisfaction I expressed to the Board about the way my original complaint was investigated. That was last Wednesday, no cheque has arrived yet. Instead today's mail brought another letter from Abbey - their investigation is taking longer than expected.
Only Abbey would dare write to tell its customers the investigation into the delay is also delayed!
