glittababe

A warning re Westpac - we've been with them for 2 yrs - no real probs (niggly things like they've forgotten to order cards or sent stuff to old address in brisbane etc). Today I'm going through the accounts and notice 3 payments for airline tickets purchased from Luton, UK (easyjet) they'd even charged me a currency conversion rate - 3 seperate transactions one after the other each for $68.

Call them immediately - get the third degree, accused of not being who I say I am - get put through to disputes, extremely arrogant lady tells me I have to 'prove' I didn't purchase easyjet airline tickets from the UK - duhhh we haven't been to the UK for over 2 yrs! I get arsey - shes gets a customer services manager who finally says ' ah yes your the victim of fraud - we'll start an investigation' - I ask when my money will be refunded and she states that the case will take 21 days. If they can find whose taken my money - it will be refunded! I tell them to cancel my card immediately - however just hours afterwards 2 more purchases are made which i now have to process 2 further claims against Westpac.

So, check your statements - these purchases were for small amounts, but they have built up. We've now gone through the last 6 mths statements and we've had at least 9 unlawful transactions - that I, nor my hubby picked up on. Each of these we have to dispute seperately.

Because of how 'unhelpful' Westpac have been, we've decided to close our accounts with them immediately. I asked the girl if I'd been mugged on the street and $180 taken from my purse, whether she'd be more sympathetic? Her response - 'well it was only for small amounts'! Ummmm yes it was, this time - but next time it could be $1000! :curse:

Their website states, we're fully protected and they use the Falcon alarm system to pick up on suspicious transactions - they missed 9 on my account!

The inconvenience of this is huge; wages, family allowence, medicare etc We have to sort out everything again with another bank!

If this has happened to us, it may well have happened to you, and trust me, Westpac really don't care.

glittababe

Forgot to add - can anyone recommend a bank?

bcworld

My friend has an Earth+ credit card which is run by Westpac. The Falcon picked up fraudulent activity on her account and they got in touch straight away. They won't refund anything though until they have finished their investigations. It was some time ago now and she is still waiting.

In the UK, my Halifax switch card got copied somehow and was being physically presented in 2 places at once, 200 miles apart. They immediately extended my overdraft to ensure that I had enough funds available then very quickly refunded me the bad transactions....they were also very proactive in ensuring that I also had any lost interest credited. You should make sure that you don't have to pay any interest on these transactions while Westpac gets its act together.

Buzzy--Bee

Yes, I can, but whenever I recommend Citibank no-one seems to be interested so I've given up bothering. No charges for anything, can use any ATM in Australia, free online banking etc etc etc.

www.citibank.com.au

Buzzy

glittababe

will do bc! My husband has had an account with Virgin for nee on 10 yrs - its picked up fraudalent activity twice, they've called him and re issued new cards. I put this to the girl this morning and asked why the Falcon hadn't picked up on 9 unlawful transactions and she said that sometimes it just misses stuff - even tho on all the days we'd had other transactions that proved that there was a 12,000 mile difference!

Completely unhelpful and rude; the girl I spoke to was actually quite offensive. Did I get her name??? Of course not! That was theh first thing hubby said - what's her full name and where was she speaking to you from? You forget to ask things like that!

In the UK we had an unlawful purchse on our nationwide card - they refunded the money immediately, no question about it! They conducted an investigation, and sent us a letter explaining what happened and how they intend to prevent it from happening again. They were helpful and understanding. I got off the phone just feeling absoluelty helpless; money is being taken from our account and theres nothing we can do about it.

I've always recommended Westpac to friends, I won't again.

glittababe

thank you buzzy - will definately look into it as we're feeling a tad let down!

bcworld

I used to implement software for call centres......I assume you had to supply account details for identification purposes....if so the dates / times / names of the customer service reps you have dealt with will all be recorded somewhere if you want to pursue it.

glittababe

I hope so as I'm now putting in a complaint - I'm also hoping they recorded it. At the begining of the call it did say calls were monitored for safety and efficiency!

asprilla

Sorry, this might be a silly question...but who is the falcon?!!

is it that falcon on the tv ad?

bcworld

Yup, the one that pecks your eyes out when you're naughty!

NickyC

It's fraud detection software - used by loads of banks worldwide.

http://www.fairisaac.com/fic/en/prod...fraud-manager/

AHamm

I've been with Westpac since I came here four years ago and hate them. Just got around to opening a new account with NAB a few weeks before we decided to give up and come home, but NAB do seem ok.

jad n rich

One of R's building staff, his wife is managerial level with westpac, it happened to them about a month ago, first a small transaction I think it was $60 in London that went through unoticed then a $1200 somewhere in europe.


Probably happens with all banks but I check every statement every month, mind you I even check my grocery bill for overcharges and usually find about 3/4 a month.

I_Will_Freckle

Thanks for the info.

glittababe

I never check anything! Very niaeve (however you spell it)! We've emptied most of the money out of our everyday account (just taken it out in cash until we get sorted with another bank. Where are citibank branches? Can't seem to find anything apart from telephone numbers?