ANZ have lost it - don't want loyalty, cancelling card!!

[whoistheg]

Add Sony Playstation Australia Store to this !

Even though you are billed in AU dollars the billing occurs in the UK and you
are slapped with an international fee.

I called Sony they said nothing they can do

I called ANZ they refunded the fee but they can get stuffed if im calling
every time i add $30 into my PSN account.

I guess ill just buy PSN cards from somewhere like EB

 

[Dave Noble]

I called ANZ they refunded the fee but they can get stuffed if im calling
every time i add $30 into my PSN account.

I doubt that they would continue to refund the normal transaction fees anyway

Dave

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Originally Posted by BlueAU
The team leader told me that there would be no point complaining as the complaint would be dealt by him, and "ANZ stand by its decision not to ever comp you on this card". I asked if the call was recorded, he said yes, and I asked for his staff ID, complaint process, but kept insisting I would be wasting my time.

Don't believe a word this tool says. The buck does not stop with him he's not the bloody CEO for heavens sake!

ANZ - Compliments, suggestions and complaints

ANZ - Customer Advocate

ANZ - CEO statement

I would use some of the above contacts to make the complaint but it's important that you highlight that you closed all your accounts including your mortgage and took it elsewhere solely because of this individual's treatment of you.

 

[medhead]

The CSR did not ask if I wanted my account closed, instead they just sent me a notification in SecureMail about it. ANZ branch manager told me that they should always call people to confirm that is what they wanted. He kept apologising so much....

I guess that is what I was driving at, if they thought you were requesting to close the account then they should have verbally confirmed that at least once.

Also I discovered that ANZ have a customer advocate, who is I guess similar to an odbudsman. I found this out after getting the same treatment - some low level functional telling me that there was no where higher to take my complaint.

Edit: well someone mentioned this person. So a fun bit of my discussion with the lower level CSR, when they said there was no one higher than them. I asked to talk to the CEO - "come on what about the CEO". They told me that those people at that level have nothing to do with running the bank. :shock: If it wasn't so serious I would have fallen off my chair laughing

 

[wxxnxs]

I complained about ANZ charging for currency conversion fees on PayPal when PayPal specifically charges in AUD on a frequent flyer platinum card ($300 a year)

ANZ have a policy now to charge you the fee on most merchants even when they do AUD.

The exceptions are:
* Tiger Airways
* Carnival Australia
* Expedia
* Hotel.com.au
* Weight Watchers
* Pacific Dawn

So I wrote them a secure mail asking them to refund my fees as I was not happy about it, they wouldn't do it. I said I was going to cancel my card as a result.

I'm at the shops a few days later, trying to pay for goods. They don't take AMEX. So I bring out my Plat Visa. Declined with PIN. They said my PIN was wrong, so I tried signing. Declined.

After holding up the queue and waiting for someone at ANZ, they said my card was cancelled as requested by me.

The next day I had to go into a branch, and the manager helped me out and understood me, and got it reinstated. He apologised and said someone must have been sleepy or wanted to go home and just canned the card.

Later I got a phone call from the supervisor of card retention in Melbourne.


I was told that

• You specifically asked to cancel the card
• You threatened us by playing a game, and we don't play games
• You have had the fee reversed once before (42c !!! )

As general customer service goes, this guy wouldn't let me say anything. Everytime I spoke, he butted in and said what he wanted. Basically he said ANZ does not want my loyalty and will not be refunding anything further on this card. I said I did not ask for the card to be cancelled, it was in plain english, he said "Well that is your perogative". :evil:

Further to that, he said I was on a promotion for half price annual fee, and that is more than enough. (However this was set on the system way before this dispute happened).

I said I wanted to complain, he gave me the details and assured me that ANZ stands by what he told me and that I would be wasting my time.

I've been with ANZ for 11 years.

Someone has lost it!!!

With all their current changes to frequent flyer and things, I hope ANZ loses lots of business.

I will be taking 3 credit cards, a mortgage and other banking products away from them due to this idiot!

:evil:

Go for it, I absolutely support you.

 

[greenfrog86]

I guess that is what I was driving at, if they thought you were requesting to close the account then they should have verbally confirmed that at least once.

Also I discovered that ANZ have a customer advocate, who is I guess similar to an odbudsman. I found this out after getting the same treatment - some low level functional telling me that there was no where higher to take my complaint.

Edit: well someone mentioned this person. So a fun bit of my discussion with the lower level CSR, when they said there was no one higher than them. I asked to talk to the CEO - "come on what about the CEO". They told me that those people at that level have nothing to do with running the bank. :shock: If it wasn't so serious I would have fallen off my chair laughing

Use the complaint number on the website - this will direct you to the complaints team.

The customer advocate is more of a last resort, and is usually used for complex disputes that require investigation.

The complaints team would be your first port of call, and as I have mentioned in my previous posts you should lodge a complaint otherwise nobody will know that you have had an issue, and you have not given ANZ an opportunity to respond to your negative experience.

There is of course an internal escalation process, and after your initial experience the next step is a central complaints team.

 

[aschmid]

Same here. I gave them the flick in 2006 after a similar stupid comment.

I had all my banking with them, transaction and several banking accounts and had a pre-approval for a home loan as well.

Around that time they brought out their Visa Debit card and I called up. Asked for it and they said I'd had to open a new account. I asked if they can just change my Access Advantage account over - they answer was no I'd have to open a new account and cancel all my direct debit arrangements and set them up again on the new account with the Visa Debit.

Guess what I did exactly that - just with the minor difference that my new account was not with ANZ but with Westpac! Have been with Westpac ever since and even got my home loan established.

But looks now that Westpac also needs a wake up call given their recent interest raise stupidity! Well there two more I haven't been with so far ...

 

[ozbeachbabe]

But looks now that Westpac also needs a wake up call given their recent interest raise stupidity! Well there two more I haven't been with so far ...

It's not just the 'big 4' who have banking solutions - there are plenty of credit unions and other banks that will meet your needs more than adequately.

 

[greenfrog86]

Same here. I gave them the flick in 2006 after a similar stupid comment.

I had all my banking with them, transaction and several banking accounts and had a pre-approval for a home loan as well.

Around that time they brought out their Visa Debit card and I called up. Asked for it and they said I'd had to open a new account. I asked if they can just change my Access Advantage account over - they answer was no I'd have to open a new account and cancel all my direct debit arrangements and set them up again on the new account with the Visa Debit.

Guess what I did exactly that - just with the minor difference that my new account was not with ANZ but with Westpac! Have been with Westpac ever since and even got my home loan established.

But looks now that Westpac also needs a wake up call given their recent interest raise stupidity! Well there two more I haven't been with so far ...

Ok, so there is something that I can clear up for you here that the operator you spoke to should have explained...

Until just recently (end of Jan I think) ANZ had an Everyday Visa Debit product that unlike other banks products was not linked to a transaction account.

The ANZ Visa Debit product was in effect a 'card' that you could put funds on which you would then spend using your Visa Debit card. You could think of it much like an Online savings account - often they do not let you access them directly, you have to transfer funds from another account

This is why you were not able to 'add' the Visa Debit card to a transaction account...

I believe this was the only product in the market that was set up like this - most banks have transaction accounts with a Visa Debit card as just another means of accessing your funds.

ANZ now also has this product, and you will find that transaction accounts can now have a Visa Debit card much like your product at Westpac and elsewhere...

So in effect, your beef wasn't a complaint per se but more that the product on offer wasn't what you were looking for

 

[drewbles]

What would deal with the problem is if pay pal actually processed in Australia

Dave

Considering PayPal are actually registered in Australia as well:

PayPal Australia Pty Limited ABN 93 111 195 389 (AFSL 304962). Any general financial product advice provided in this site has not taken into account your objectives, financial situations or needs.

and the fact they deposit direct to Australian Bank Accounts using nothing more than BSB and Account number (not an international transfer - it's definitely local), I'd be very surprised if they weren't clearing their CC transactions locally to.

PayPal do, however, offer the option to convert from one currency to another when a purchase is made. If you purchase something in USD and it offers to 'charge you in your local currency' it's quite possible that it is indeed charged from outside AU, but in AUD (so incurring the ANZ fee, but not the currency conversion charge). This would sound in line with ANZ trying to re-coup lost currency conversion fees it would have made.

It's highway robbery, but so is the conversion fee. They're within their rights to charge it, no matter how coughpy it may be.

And i'm also in the process of giving ANZ the ARS(e). Their "privacy" policy is, at best, questionable. It may be borderline within the law (not having read the relevant legislation and not being a lawyer I cannot say), but it's definitely not good. I've had a rant about them in a few other places, and after them saying that "If you say you are who you say you are when we call you to discuss a banking matter, we will freely tell you your card number, balance and discuss any issue with you", I don't feel comfortable having business with an institution who works like that. If you call someone and they say "Yes i'm them", that's not enough verification in my books, for effective privacy management.

 

[markis10]

Considering PayPal are actually registered in Australia as well:

PayPal Australia Pty Limited ABN 93 111 195 389 (AFSL 304962). Any general financial product advice provided in this site has not taken into account your objectives, financial situations or needs.

and the fact they deposit direct to Australian Bank Accounts using nothing more than BSB and Account number (not an international transfer - it's definitely local), I'd be very surprised if they weren't clearing their CC transactions locally to.
.

I believe Paypal and its parent Ebay are classed as offshore so that they dont participate in our GSt system, while they do have local operations their transactions and fees are GST free, and that is a whole new discussion best saved for another time!

 

[drewbles]

i beleive Paypakl and its parent Ebay are classed as offshore so that they dont participate in our GSt system, while they do have local operations their transactions and fees are GST free, and that is a whole new discussion best saved for another time!

I won't voice my personal opinion on PayPal, but needless to say, it's not a pretty one. I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if what you say is true. They're borderline thieves in my book (long story with a bad eBay buyer trying to rip me off for $500 claiming they never received the goods, and PayPal were not willing to acknowledge that the email correspondence between the buyer and myself, where the buyer said 'thanks for the item it's great', was conclusive enough to count as a delivery notification, and refused to contact the bank for a chargeback the buyer initiated with their financial institution).

 

[BlueAU]

I have drafted a complaint letter and will send it off tomorrow. Need to make sure I include staff details and call details so that it clearly indicates the timeline.

Needless to say, it is like writing an IT PIR !! :shock:

I certainly hope that ANZ will be doing something, otherwise their advocate will be getting a copy ...

 

[greenfrog86]

I have drafted a complaint letter and will send it off tomorrow. Need to make sure I include staff details and call details so that it clearly indicates the timeline.

Needless to say, it is like writing an IT PIR !! :shock:

I certainly hope that ANZ will be doing something, otherwise their advocate will be getting a copy ...

Remember that the Complaints Team has access to your account so they will be able to see your communication that was in writing and the records (ie notes of when and which team you spoke to) of your calls also.

You will get a reply to this - you can also respond to the complaints team and discuss with them (the recommended solution - a phone call is a quick way of both parties understanding each other).

Remember that the Customer Advocate is the last internal resort, and you will need to have gone through the internal dispute resolution process first...

 

[medhead]

And i'm also in the process of giving ANZ the ARS(e). Their "privacy" policy is, at best, questionable. It may be borderline within the law (not having read the relevant legislation and not being a lawyer I cannot say), but it's definitely not good. I've had a rant about them in a few other places, and after them saying that "If you say you are who you say you are when we call you to discuss a banking matter, we will freely tell you your card number, balance and discuss any issue with you", I don't feel comfortable having business with an institution who works like that. If you call someone and they say "Yes i'm them", that's not enough verification in my books, for effective privacy management.

I gotta say I only half agree with you on the privacy point. Really there is no solution to this problem. But when "telstra" calls me and offers to tell me about the deals they have, if I agree to hear the deals, the first thing they want to do is verify my details. I'm sorry but I'm not telling them a thing in that situation. I have no way to tell if it is telstra or the kids down the street who are calling. Asking me to verify my details is a much greater risk to my privacy. I'll also mention that most of the bank communications I get explicitly state that they will not ask for personal details if they call you.

Of course, they also should not be disclosing your information in those circumstances.

 

[BlueAU]

Remember that the Complaints Team has access to your account so they will be able to see your communication that was in writing and the records (ie notes of when and which team you spoke to) of your calls also.

You will get a reply to this - you can also respond to the complaints team and discuss with them (the recommended solution - a phone call is a quick way of both parties understanding each other).

Remember that the Customer Advocate is the last internal resort, and you will need to have gone through the internal dispute resolution process first...

That's fine, from what I understand all phone calls are recorded, so I asked them to ensure they listen to the conversations.

Do you work for ANZ?

 

[BlueAU]

Interestingly enough, ANZ stopped charging me PayPal fees from the end of January through to now. Maybe enough people complained, or they realised PayPal has an Australian presence :shock:

 

[oz_mark]

PayPal do, however, offer the option to convert from one currency to another when a purchase is made. If you purchase something in USD and it offers to 'charge you in your local currency' it's quite possible that it is indeed charged from outside AU, but in AUD (so incurring the ANZ fee, but not the currency conversion charge). This would sound in line with ANZ trying to re-coup lost currency conversion fees it would have made.

Is it an ANZ fee, or simply an on-charged scheme fee. In the DCC scenario, it is actually Visa or M/C that charge the fee (cross border assessment fee etc), and the banks are merely passing it on, or are they adding something on top?

 

[Dave Noble]

Is it an ANZ fee, or simply an on-charged scheme fee. In the DCC scenario, it is actually Visa or M/C that charge the fee (cross border assessment fee etc), and the banks are merely passing it on, or are they adding something on top?

There is a , iirc, 1% visa fee for international transactions that ANZ will have to cough up. That the transaction is taking place in AUD doesn't affect that

Dave

 

[Dave Noble]

Interestingly enough, ANZ stopped charging me PayPal fees from the end of January through to now. Maybe enough people complained, or they realised PayPal has an Australian presence :shock:

or more likely, paypal started charging in australia rather than from overseas

Dave