Your consumer champion

Someone stole £6,000 from my daughter after she had a stroke

QLast November my daughter, who is in her 40s, suffered a severe stroke and was in hospital for six months. The entire left side of her body and her speech have been badly affected, and since she returned home she has needed support from carers three times a day.

My daughter has not been able to cope either mentally and physically with technology since her stroke and she did not look at her online bank accounts for some weeks after her return home. When she did finally log in, she discovered that both her accounts, with Barclays and Lloyds, had been completely cleared. There had been about £ 3,000 in each. It emerged that someone had taken her cards to local Asda and Post Office cash machines and withdrawn her money.

Both banks have refused to reimburse her as a PIN was used. They say no fraud has occurred because my daughter must have given her PIN to someone else. However, we are sure she did not tell anyone. We contacted the police and they are investigating who the culprit might be.

My daughter has felt overwhelmed by the situation, so my husband and I have had to take over. However, we have found the banks very difficult to deal with. For example, my husband last wrote to Barclays about a month ago and we have heard nothing.

My daughter’s mental and emotional state has deteriorated as a result of this, and the loss of the money has left her extremely low. The situation isn’t helped by the fact that my daughter lives on her own in Liverpool and we live in Nottingham, so we can’t just “pop in” and check she is all right.

The whole episode makes a complete mockery of Lloyds’ slogan “Always at your side” and Barclays’ catchphrase “We’re here to help”. Quite the opposite – we feel completely abandoned.

– Anon

A

It couldn’t possibly have been your daughter making these withdrawals, which means someone close to her must have been withdrawing cash without her knowledge.

I asked you who might have had access to her bank card. You said there were three carers visiting her three times daily and an ex-partner who had access to the house. However, you say he is well heeled and on good terms with your daughter, and you cannot imagine him stealing.

I asked you how, if your daughter had not given away the PINs for these cards, would someone have managed to obtain them. You told me your husband had set up a key box for the three carers to use to get into the house, for which the four- digit lock code was a memorable family number. He did not realise it when he set this up, but it just so happened to be the same number your daughter had used for her PIN for both bank cards. The withdrawals started within days of this box being used for entry to your daughter’s home.

So it seems that, while your daughter was recovering from her stroke, someone took a chance on the PIN being the same as the door code and was able to bleed her dry.

The police have obtained CCTV evidence of the culprit making withdrawals from Asda and the Post Office.

Of course, it wouldn’t be right of me to interfere with their investigation. But I was more than happy to get involved where the banks were concerned. This rather crucial part of the story about the key code hadn’t been fully taken on board by bank staff, but I was more than happy to explain to Barclays and Lloyds this highly plausible explanation for how someone could have guessed her PIN without her having actually revealed it.

It also occurred to me that the withdrawals were so numerous and frequent that they should have been flagged as potentially suspicious, but it seems neither bank ever contacted your daughter to question them.

Happily, following my involvement both banks have returned the money, totalling £ 6,000, to your daughter. Although you say her health is sadly very poor at the moment, she is extremely relieved to have her money back.

Your story serves as a lesson to others who use key boxes to let other people into their homes: to make sure the fourdigit PIN is different from their bank card’s and other important passcodes. The police investigation is ongoing and I hope the scumbag who robbed your daughter is swiftly brought to justice.

A Barclays spokesman said: “On receiving new information, a review of this case has confirmed that our customer was the victim of debit card fraud and [we] have reimbursed the funds withdrawn from the account. Please ensure, where possible, that your PIN is unique and cannot be guessed by others.” A Lloyds spokesman said: “Given the new information now shared with us, we’ve been able to provide a full refund.”

Energy provider stepped up when my husband was dying

Q

You frequently, and quite rightly, call out appalling customer service by companies, but I would like to make you aware of quite the reverse in my recent experience.

Almost two weeks ago my husband of 47 years returned home from hospital knowing there was no further treatment available to him for the cancer he was diagnosed with in February.

Having noted that every time energy prices are discussed on television, customers are advised to inform their energy supplier of any change in circumstances, I rang our supplier, Octopus Energy. I explained the circumstances we now found ourselves in and how I was worried that we would face increases in our energy use due to increased heating and washing, etc.

The customer service operative to whom I spoke was called Neekesh and could not have been more helpful. He said he would look into our tariff to see if anything more suitable was available and email me.

True to his word, later that day an email came through advising us that we had been moved to a more favour

‘The customer service operative to whom I spoke could not have been more helpful’

able tariff until November 2023. We were already more than £100 in credit but with the new tariff backdated the sum was now more than £400 and as a further goodwill gesture Octopus had credited our account with a further £90. It also said a complimentary electric blanket had been ordered for us, which was now on its way.

To say I was taken aback by all this would be an understatement. However, there was more. Later that same week there was a knock at the door. It was someone from Octopus delivering a lovely box of flowers, wishing me and my husband all the best.

– NB, via email

AThe way you were supported by Octopus Energy here was nothing short of exemplary. You were given a free electric blanket as part of a wider company scheme to help keep its most needy customers warm. It was quite right that you received one, and that you were moved on to a better rate. The flowers were an extra touch that made you feel genuinely cared for.

In addition to having a first- class bereavement process, Octopus Energy appears to have the magic touch when it comes to hiring customer advisers.

I’ve let senior management know about the outstanding care Neekesh provided, and I’ve been assured that as a result of your feedback he will be receiving a special reward.

You are going through the worst time of your entire life – and yet you took the time to write to me with this story. For that, I’d like to thank you from the bottom of my heart and, of course, extend to you my deepest sympathies for your loss, as your husband has now sadly died.

I hope every chief executive in the land reads your letter. It brings home the impact businesses can have on people during the defining moments of their lives. The power of getting it right cannot be overstated.