Trying to Close A Perm TSB Current Account!

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paulgreen

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Trying to close a current account, although i will still have 3 other active accounts with them but as i can get a free account with kbc due to being over 60 i thought why not given there change on 1st April .
Anyway talking to them on twitter yesterday I was told if i don't go down in person well both of us as its a joint then i have to provide certified id and proof of address i can understand that opening an account but closing one what earthly difference does it make???

The fact that we will still have 3 open accounts seems to defeat the object why would i want to close an account if i were not the account holder you might ask?

Anyone heard of this rubbish? i have opened and closed loads of accounts in the last 40 years and a simple letter request was all that was needed.
Pretty ticked off about it so much so i might close the other accounts there loss as there are substantial funds in them
 
So you would be happy then if your bank closed accounts on phone call from anyone who knows your account number would you? Better still close your account and transfer the balance to themselves with just a standard letter in the mail...

This is not rubbish. Do you have any real concept of how easy identity theft can be??????
 
I had the same issue trying to close a TSB account. The account has a nil balance and hasn't had a transaction in over a year.

Twitter was the only way I could contact them.

I told them that as far as I was concerned I had requested (via Twitter) that the account be closed, if they did not act on that request that was their concern.

Taking a half day off work to go into a branch just to close a dormant account is not realistic.
 
Jim2007 said:
So you would be happy then if your bank closed accounts on phone call from anyone who knows your account number would you? Better still close your account and transfer the balance to themselves with just a standard letter in the mail...

This is not rubbish. Do you have any real concept of how easy identity theft can be??????
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Jim you misunderstood I wanted to send them a signed letter but when faced with having to get certified copies of passports and utility bills just to close an account i thought it a bit much why should i have today do this or present myself in branch when a signed letter should do? I am not even wanting them to transfer the balance anywhere its only small and can easily be brought to zero
 
cremeegg said:
....Taking a half day off work to go into a branch just to close a dormant account is not realistic.
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I suppose you could get them to confirm that they'll reimburse you for any costs incurred by taking the half day etc :)

Jokes aside, they have some daft policies ....
 
If you were cynical about it, you'd think that they're making things difficult on purpose... but I'm sure the banks would never do anything like that.

I recently closed an account and decided to take a look at the CPCC website to see what the process was... well it covered opening an account, it covered switching an account, but it didn't cover closing an account. Seemed like an oversight, so I called them up. I was specifically interested to understand what obligations banks have in this situation, but it appears this is an area not subject to any particular standard / regulation.

The only silver lining for me, was that as I was switching, once I completed the necessary form, the bank I was switching to closed my old account, without further ado.
 
The person can transfer funds out of the account without having to show certified copies of passports and utility bills.
Absolutely zero reason logical or regulatory reason to look for them to close an account.
This isn't efficient from PTSB perspective as it is creating work for staff and means they are 'carrying' more accounts.
Nonsense.
 
Sounds to me as if PTSB are looking at this from an AML perspective. Bank of Ireland allow you to close a current account online without all this fuss. I do wonder if you got the new kid when talking to them on Twitter
 
mojoask said:
If you were cynical about it, you'd think that they're making things difficult on purpose....
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In this case, I put it down more to incompetence, rather than a strategic or tactical decision to be honest.
 
The best way to ensure it's neither scenario is to introduce rules for closing accounts, as was done for switching. I imagine that's with the CB.

They should further stipulate that the options available (Eg electronic, paper based) by which an individual can close or switch an account must be the same as for opening an account. Banks generally make it easy for you to open account. Applying the same standard for other operations, should benefit the customer. It certainly would be an improvement on the myriad of procedures different banks have for doing the same thing today.
 
Had the exact same issue today. Very annoying when their branch opening hours are Mon-Fri 10am-5pm
 
mojoask said:
The best way to ensure it's neither scenario is to introduce rules for closing accounts, as was done for switching. I imagine that's with the CB.

They should further stipulate that the options available (Eg electronic, paper based) by which an individual can close or switch an account must be the same as for opening an account. Banks generally make it easy for you to open account. Applying the same standard for other operations, should benefit the customer. It certainly would be an improvement on the myriad of procedures different banks have for doing the same thing today.
Click to expand...

I do wonder why you can't close your account via open 24 - this should be possible imo
 
I saw somewhere they said that extended opening hours are for appointments only.
 
Absolutely disgraceful conduct from the PTSB

- provided a letter signed by both parties, one party delivered by hand, asking to close the account ... they refused to act on it as both parties didn't come in to the branch. All instructions on this joint account have been on either party, since the date it was opened. Letter also called out a formal complaint was also declined on the same basis.

- they refused to close an individual's account today until €18 was paid in respect of a quarterly charge. The individual has since come home and double checked the PTSB correspondence, to confirm that the free banking accounts are being changed with effect from 1st April and new charges are for period from 1st April.

I'm pretty sure they have just got themselves into a pickle on this one for a few reasons, including refusing to take their customers written instructions, imposing wrong charges and refusing to accept a written complaint at a branch.
 
This almost sounds like they are doing it deliberately, which wouldn't really surprise me in light of all the other recent scams and the fact that they don't have much of a reputation left to lose.
 
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Hello,

Just a brief update to say that PTSB backed down immediately, once complaints were registered. They conveniently ignored many parts of the complaint, tried to brush the matter off by offering to refund fees for the period that they had tried to charge for (in the wrong), but are still trying to drag me into their branch to close the account and bring ID too - despite them having been provided with my ID on at least three prior occasions, including once over the counter this year.

PTSB are wrong, from start to finish... I wonder how many people they've got away with this bad behavior with ?

If anyone else here has been through this nonsense, I'd strongly urge them to complain, and demand a refund, apology and depending on the circumstances, perhaps compensation too.



mojoask said:
A few of their branches do open on Saturdays, it doesn't need to be your specific branch.
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That is not what their correspondence says, or what the staff at my branch are saying, or even what their response to the complaint I submitted said. All are insisting I go to a specified branch, with no regard to cost or personal time etc.


.
 
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Read somewhere that if you just stop using your current account, rather than the hassle of closing it, that it won't incurr any charges or maintenance fees in the future. Is that true.
 
As far as I know a current account shouldn't go into negative balance because of fees. So once you empty it it should be OK. But since this is a bank with allegedly pathological tendencies (which allegedly includes knowingly defrauding their mortgage holders until some of them become homeless and commit suicide), it's probably best to be on the safe side and close the account.
 
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