Citibank? Yep, still sucking...

When last we left our heroine (?) it had been 24 hours, several phone calls & still no access to her account.

Well friends, it's now been 48 hours and -- surprise, surprise -- still no account.

But yesterday did bring a few more twists & turns in the grand Citibank Adventure.

Just to remind you, when I called yesterday morning, I was promised a call 'by the end of the day'. Of course, I foolishly took 'call' to mean 'account open with money in it'.

Unable to wait, I checked my account around 2 pm... silly me -- 2 pm is NOT end of day. Of course my account wasn't open! With a little time on my hands (work's been a bit slow for a change), I did a little digging and found the names of the heads of the UK retail banking operation, Messrs. Kerr and van der Meer. And a little more digging gave me a good steer towards their likely e-mail addresses. SO, e-mail them I did. (hmm - am I straying into grumpy old woman territory here? I think I have the right to be in this case!)

I was quite measured in my letter, and didn't make crazy demands or accusations -- but simply (and more briefly than in this blog!) detailed the poor service I'd received, and my hope that by providing feedback, at least perhaps they might change some processes and perhaps others wouldn't have such an absolutely horrid time...

And then I got back to checking for my still non-existent account.

Hmm - what exactly constitutes 'end of day'? Surely 5 pm is end-of-day-ish? And yet -- no call. And of course, still no account showing online, and still no money.

So back on the phone, back on hold, and back to the promises. 'Yes, your account has been activated, and I can see your account has been credited the £800+-- however it's not yet accessible. A supervisor will call you later.' Really? A supervisor will call me later?? That makes me feel so much better!

And then, shock of shocks, 15 minutes later my phone did indeed ring!! And I was speaking not with Call Centre Supervisor # 6, but in fact Mr van der Meer. Yes, the same head of UK retail banking I'd sent my complaining e-mail to 3 hours earlier. He apologised profusely, and said he'd reviewed my file, and it sounded like I'd had an incredibly poor experience, and he would be calling the head of that call centre, and they'd look at their processes, and he definitely appreciated my feedback, and assured me that they care about my customers, and did I feel confident that my account was being taken care of. Um, well, I'm not sure. It looks like progress is being made -- but I STILL DON'T HAVE MY MONEY.

And yet, it worked. I was quite impressed he took the time to call, and actually a bit charmed and my rant softened slightly. And this was followed about an hour later by another phonecall, this time from yet another call centre supervisor, who promised me my account would be open this morning. Oh, and of course, a promise of a call on said morning to let me know that my account was indeed open.

And so, gentle reader, I told my slightly mollified self that if indeed my account was open this morning, I'd stick by Citibank for at least a little longer. Thank you Mr van der Meer for restoring my faith in Citibank's customer service.

Er - wait - I take that back. Because it's 10:30 (that's morning, right? Or do I need to wait until noon to be truly hacked off?) and STILL NO MONEY. So, Mr van der Meer, good try, thanks for the call, but not quite good enough.

Now the big question (after 'when do I get my money back') has to be 'which bank do I switch to?' I think First Direct just got another customer!