Ulster Bank compensation scheme for IT issues

Conversation online with UB "help" desk (summary):

UB: Did you go overdrawn or incur any charges while system was down.
ME: No but my salary was delayed a week & although I called into the branch to try & lodge cash so D/D's would be paid I was told - after a long waitthat you couldn't guarantee that monies would show up so I didn't bother but I did have to take 500 Eu out of my CU account.
UB:: i am sorry for your inconvenience.But if you would like to discuss this further the best way is to contact telephone banking.
ME:Why should I have to go to that trouble again - am I not entitled to any compensation?
UB:Automatic compensation is on incurred charges & interest unfortunately. If you want to discuss compensation further you can escalate it via a complaint.
ME: A very unsatisfactory service - I will close my account.
UB: I am sorry but I can't advise further on the matter but I do understand your frustration.
===================
So I can bank their apology - not good enough!
 
I lodged three official complaints with the complaints department. Spent a couple of hours on the phone. My letter of apology that I received after I had made my complaint was a standard letter. I was not given a reference number for my complaints. I rang this week with yet another complaint only to find that my previous complaints had not be dealt with. So I was given an apology for the other apology not working out to my satisfaction. €25 would be an insult to me.
 
Grissly
I couldn't agree more.
I know about the "free" banking etc. but to be honest UB don't deserve to have use of my money sitting in my account over the month after the way they have treated us. I'm going to change to my CU, I may have to carry more cash to avail of their free usage policy, but it'll be worth it.
 
I simply used my account in the local credit union to access cash because my Ulster Bank was not available to me. I also phoned various departments to try and clarify matters. There is no record of me using the branch during this time because there was no point. I used Plan B.
I still have not received any bank statements since last May despite being on a monthly system. For me this "incident" is not over yet.
 
I can see this backfiring on UB. €25 is a derisory amount of money for those severely inconvenienced. Many did not get to branches so they get nowt.

I can see their complaints department being even busier than before.
 
Hi Time

What would you think would be fairer? This is what I suggested in an earlier post.

They are paying most people €25 anyway, but they are free to submit a larger claim if they don't like that. I would have thought that it would be better all round to pay €100 instead of €25. This would satisfy most people, but would push the cost up from €7.5m to €30m for this aspect.
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Irish Times

[broken link removed]

Consumer Association of Ireland chief executive Dermott Jewell described it as “a mixed bag”, while Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Michael McGrath called it “fair and reasonable”.

Ulster Bank’s compensation package for customers affected by the meltdown of its IT systems seems to be “fair and reasonable”, Fianna Fáil has said.
...“Overall, the package of measures announced by the bank for its customers affected by the IT debacle seems to be fair and reasonable provided it is implemented efficiently and the bank doesn’t unnecessarily contest claims for out of pocket expenses,” Mr McGrath said.
...
Labour Party Senator Lorraine Higgins said the compensation scheme was “insulting and derisory”.
“The one-off payment of €25 to customers who had to go branch during the crisis does not adequately address the stress, inconvenience and hardship endured by them during this time.”


...
Sinn Féin MLA Phil Flanagan said the compensation announcement was “too little, too late”.
...
 
The problem with their scheme is that those who stayed away from branches during the period are deemed not to have been impacted and thus receive nothing.
 
Of the people who did not/are not receiving any compensation, how many are going to write in & appeal? I think I will just for the hell of it!
 
I am still waiting on a closing statement for a fixed term deposit that was closed at the beginning of August. Still not sorted despite asking at least 5 times now.
My branch is not answering the phone. All calls are being directed to Northern Ireland. They in turn email the branch to contact the customer. Despite the assurances that they will phone within 3 hours this is not happening.
 
I had a Term Deposit that closed in August. I see that I will not qualify for the bonus interest being paid because my account will not be open in November. Apparently your account has to be open in November for some reason to avail of this bonus. Why? My account closed right in the middle of the "incident". I could and still not have received a closing statement of this account. I received two certificates of interest though. One showing that DIRT had been deducted at 28% and one showing that DIRT had been deducted at 30%.
As I am still waiting on my current account statement to be posted out I don't know when my Term Deposit was closed and when it was transferred across to my current account. (I don't have online banking).
If anything it's the accounts that closed during the incident that should be paid the bonus interest for all of the inconvenience that was caused.
 
I got €300 and was only lightly affected.
I think the trick is in how you word your complaint letters and how you get your point accross on the followup call from UB ;)
 
I haven't contacted them to complain about my salary not going in yet, but was very interested in kceire post. I also see that my account statement online now shows that my salary did go in on the correct day - is that allowed when it didn't?
 
I don't want any money from Ulster bank. In any case all those who are going to get paid a miserly 25Euro, well it's me and you who are actually paying this, not the bank. The bank never pays.
 
I got yet another letter of apology yesterday but post marked two weeks ago. It seems that Ulster Bank's post sits in a box for two weeks before being posted.
The insult to me was that the letter inside was dated the 7th August. They have been churning out these "standard" apology letters and it has come to the stage where the person who was put in charge of this task couldn't even be bothered to update the date of the letter.
 
Bronte said:
I don't want any money from Ulster bank. In any case all those who are going to get paid a miserly 25Euro, well it's me and you who are actually paying this, not the bank. The bank never pays.
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I don't want the €25 either, especially as it will be one more thing on the tax return, I'm sure you all know any payment received is subject to taxation, as to Bronte's comment, compensation will come from the parent RBOS, Ulster will mark a provision against the costs of this debacle and RBOS will write a cheque to cover, so it will be the U.K. taxpayers footing the bill as RBOs is majority owned by the U.K Govt and only right as the ' debacle ' started with a collapse in their systems, systems Ulster were whooly dependent upon.
 
Has anyone refused the €25 compensation and what was the result? I was offered the €25 on a joint account and refused as it wasn't enough for both of us as several accounts were messed up. They have ignored my correspondence about the matter and have just credited my account with €25.
 
You need to formally reject their offer in writing. They will then negotiate a settlement with you.
 
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