St George Bank . Warning !!!!

[gtfpv]

A month ago ST George bank upgraded ( stuffed) thier credit card system.
lots and lots of people are having credit card errors , that simply aren't being resolved by the bank.
i am one such customer, my ATM statements have a balance and an available amount left .
so lets just say the available amount is "x" 000 $.
once you draw on this; available amount reduces and your amount owing increases. untill you cannot draw down past your limit.
some how the bank has stuffed this up, and my available balance has become my amount owing .
therefore the info is completely wrong . the bank know the info is wrong and know on thier own systems that an ATM error has occurred, the problem is that they cannot fix it according to them . they are also stating that it isn't their problem , but ATM contractor error problems. !!!!! WTF they charge me for these receipts every time i check the balance ( which is out by thousands of dollars) and denigh it's thier problem . i reported the error ,1 month ago, and today it is still there . i took the receipts into 2 branches and they cant fix it . rang the hotline on several occassions and they cant fix it .
furthermore they tell me that people are closing accounts, and paying them up. only to receive statements with further deductions and bills, after the account has ceased to exist.

this is a disgrace, and all i can do is close all accounts and bank elsewhere , which will be a total nightmare considering all the auto payments and deductions going in and coming out of the accounts .

anyone else having these problems with ST GEORGE bank.????

Does anyone know of a financial ombudsman that i can refer this too, as the bank couldnt give a rats, and denigh all responsability , even though thier own computers and atms conflict each other, producing falsified documentation .

[Sledgehammer]

Yes bank ombusman here http://www.abio.org.au/ABIOWeb/abiowebsite.nsf
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.../itemId/287873

You should also speak with the st george disputes and resolution service first too.

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by Sledgehammer

Yes bank ombusman here http://www.abio.org.au/ABIOWeb/abiowebsite.nsf

ahhhhh ! who needs google. this forum rules . ta

[VIBEBA]

Wow Thanks for the heads up i myself have a St George Vertigo mastercard i havent noticed any discrepancy's yet but ill be keeping a close eye on it now
Cheers

[Feathers]

St George are having many problems currently.

Their security checks on people opening accounts and transferring money are questionable as well.

My 86 year old grand mother has a few accounts with them (personal and business), and for the last year has been going downhill - not looking after herself because she's too tight to spend money on food.
She didn't leave her apartment for a month or so, and Dad had been buying food and taking it in to her, (until she got picked up somewhere by the cops and ended up in hospital - now a nursing home).

So Dad started checking her mail, (now redirected), and found a letter from St George querying some transactions made on her personal account.

An internet transfer for $2000, $1700, $2500, $2000, $5000, $3000... all in one day.

Then more for similar amounts into various accounts the next day.
The total amount queried on that letter was $27,000. And that covered 3 days.

Dad called the bank, faxed through his power of attorney letter, and got some info.

He pointed out that at 86, my grandmother had never owned a computer, much less used the internet, and it wasn't her that had done it.
Someone had stolen her mail from her letterbox, and used it to impersonate her on the phone, to set up internet banking on her account.

They found that the person that had registered her hadn't even got her birthdate, or middle name correct, yet they were still accepted!!

By the time the bank put a stop to it, and checked back through all the transactions, they found that in 5 days between November 28th and early December, a total of $57,000 had been taken from her account.

They know where the money went to, but actually catching the people responsible is apparently too hard.

It was of course all reimbursed by the bank, and the police are involved at the moment.

We also just found that they have used her details to set up a bigpond dial up account, and after much stuffing around with Telstra got told they again gave the wrong details, but were still able to register.

We did get the mobile phone number that they used to register it, and the number they called from to access it, which has all been passed on to police.

A friend that works at the station where it was reported (who had their police car pinched last night while arresting someone...) has said it's always one particular ethnicity, and is a very common crime in the area because of all the units, and the lack of security around their mailboxes.


So yeah, the best advice we were given is that even if you never intend to use internet banking, ring up, or go to a branch and register for it.
Make your password something totally random - and then forget it.

If you never use it, then it's going to be much harder for someone to crack the password than to register as you and create their own password if they steal your mail.

[Geez Louise]

Wow Feathers. That must have been a strain on your Gran. 57k. Bastards!!!

I have my car loan with St George and I haven't had any dramas what so ever. I actually think/thought they were a great bank!

[Kryton]

i have had the run in's with St George as well.
nothing like what is in this thread though.
did you realise that ST George are one of the 3 banks that charge interest on interest for their credit cards?

[Mongoose]

Not surprised, they wont even allow there own company cars to have brake pads changed!

[Geez Louise]

Originally Posted by Mongoose

Not surprised, they wont even allow there own company cars to have brake pads changed!

What???

[Feathers]

Originally Posted by Geez Louise

Wow Feathers. That must have been a strain on your Gran. 57k. Bastards!!!

I have my car loan with St George and I haven't had any dramas what so ever. I actually think/thought they were a great bank!

She has absolutely no idea about it.
But it's a drop in the ocean of what was in there... I saw the adjusted bank statement last week.

Though it's explained by the fact she spent $10 a week on food, turned the power off at the mains every night, and never gave anyone anything, except the old stuff she no longer wanted.

I got an old coathanger out of her wardrobe for xmas 2 years ago, plastic beads she tried to brag to everyone were real pearls for my 18th, (though she wanted the black velvet box back) and a matchbox car when she found out that I wanted to buy the XR.

Not to mention the years of nasty, snide and downright rude comments she's made about me, my mum, and my friends.

She thinks it's all a joke, but I didn't find it funny. :


I could rant all night about what a b*tch she is. :jab:

[Geez Louise]

Sorry Feathers...Didn't mean to touch a nerve. All old people are kranky!! The meaner you are it seems the longer you live! I know all about stingy old people! I married one!!!

[Duffman]

I have a margin loan with them are they are quite good and leave me alone. The only downside I find is they might remove a security from lending completely (e.g. bnb recently) yet take days/weeks to update their online pdf and simulator. You then buy only to hear them say 'oh well you should have called us first'

[the_scotsman]

I guess I'm lucky, I've been with them for years and haven't had any problems.

On a side note, St George are upgrading their security system for online banking...they will use the SMS option as security, where if you are transferring money online from your account, an SMS will be sent to your mobile with a confirmation code that you need to enter. I believe a lot of banks already have this, wounds like a good system to me.

[Feathers]

That won't stop them in cases like my grandmothers...

[Kryton]

Originally Posted by the_scotsman

I guess I'm lucky, I've been with them for years and haven't had any problems.

On a side note, St George are upgrading their security system for online banking...they will use the SMS option as security, where if you are transferring money online from your account, an SMS will be sent to your mobile with a confirmation code that you need to enter. I believe a lot of banks already have this, wounds like a good system to me.

thats great unless you dont have a mobile phone.

[Mongoose]

Originally Posted by Geez Louise

What???

At work, we always get St george compay cars (Mitsu 380's) and they wont let us change the brake pads until there less than 1mm think, and by that stage, there probably scraping and damaging the discs and actually costing them MORE money than just changing the pads when there about 2.5 mm thick

[the_scotsman]

Originally Posted by davway

thats great unless you dont have a mobile phone.

More than 80% of Australians own a mobile phone...if you don't have one, you wont need to set it up...it's still something to help security.

[Lightning Strike GT]

Originally Posted by Sledgehammer

Yes bank ombusman here http://www.abio.org.au/ABIOWeb/abiowebsite.nsf
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.../itemId/287873

You should also speak with the st george disputes and resolution service first too.

You actually have to give the banks disputed section a letter and if that is not actioned then call in the ombudsman , the ombudsman actually bills the bank for the time and effort and if affects their own internal insurance policies as well - just a mention of the ombudsman will get action with out going to them as it always ends in a please explain from the bank execs

[gtfpv]

after a month of no rectification , and after multiple phone calls , and branch visits, who all assured me the problem would be fixed by somebody , from the ATM side of things.
today i rang dispute resolutions with the intention of putting a complaint in writing and getting the ombudsman involved, after being on hold for 1 hour while they researched the case and rang the branch managers etc .
i was then informed that no history of this has been recorded, nor action taken, ( in other words , nothing has beeen done , and they have no histry that anything is wrong with my accounts.
the dispute department, are even dissapointed that i have been treated this way.
they then told me that they would take action against those who have passed the buck on this one , and gave me an address to send a letter of complaint to , i also informed them that a copy of the letter will be going to the ombudsman , and that it was ashame that i trusted that someone / or others would look into this as part of their job, in good faith.
it's a real shame these days as you have to force people to do what they are paid for.
anyhow . i'm dissapointed that i have to take disputed action over this. it's a bit like nobody has a heart anymore , and you have to take people on to do the right thing by you.

[Duke]

Originally Posted by Feathers

She has absolutely no idea about it.
But it's a drop in the ocean of what was in there... I saw the adjusted bank statement last week.

Though it's explained by the fact she spent $10 a week on food, turned the power off at the mains every night, and never gave anyone anything, except the old stuff she no longer wanted.

I got an old coathanger out of her wardrobe for xmas 2 years ago, plastic beads she tried to brag to everyone were real pearls for my 18th, (though she wanted the black velvet box back) and a matchbox car when she found out that I wanted to buy the XR.

Not to mention the years of nasty, snide and downright rude comments she's made about me, my mum, and my friends.

She thinks it's all a joke, but I didn't find it funny. :


I could rant all night about what a b*tch she is. :jab:

My partners father is similar to this - I feel your pain!

Quoting the Duke " I like grumpy old men, hope to live long enough to be one someday"

[DA68ZA]

Originally Posted by davway

thats great unless you dont have a mobile phone.

if that is the case a land line is used , if no land line u must come in and discuss further arrangements :togo:

i have dragon online account allways do all trans and pay bills with phone never internet .

[DA68ZA]

Originally Posted by gtfpv

after a month of no rectification , and after multiple phone calls , and branch visits, who all assured me the problem would be fixed by somebody , from the ATM side of things.
today i rang dispute resolutions with the intention of putting a complaint in writing and getting the ombudsman involved, after being on hold for 1 hour while they researched the case and rang the branch managers etc .
i was then informed that no history of this has been recorded, nor action taken, ( in other words , nothing has beeen done , and they have no histry that anything is wrong with my accounts.
the dispute department, are even dissapointed that i have been treated this way.
they then told me that they would take action against those who have passed the buck on this one , and gave me an address to send a letter of complaint to , i also informed them that a copy of the letter will be going to the ombudsman , and that it was ashame that i trusted that someone / or others would look into this as part of their job, in good faith.
it's a real shame these days as you have to force people to do what they are paid for.
anyhow . i'm dissapointed that i have to take disputed action over this. it's a bit like nobody has a heart anymore , and you have to take people on to do the right thing by you.

now i know where all the new aapt service centre people came from
:

[theunfairadvant]

I was with Advance Bank before,
but now St George Bank took over.

[J_Tank]

Have had numerous problems with St George from a Customer service point of view but as of yet no technical issues.

[opto]

Close your account , Problem solved

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by opto

Close your account , Problem solved

not really; one of the customer service people have informed me that numerous people are closing thier accounts with ST GEORGE. only to have auto debits still accessing thier accounts after they have been closed, and still receiving statements from the bank, even though otherbanks/cards have been orginised to pay such billing accounts, apparantely errors are rife at the moment.

[FTe342]

Originally Posted by opto

Close your account , Problem solved

Not a wise move if the bank says he owes more than he really owes (refer post #1). To close the account he would have to pay money into the a/c to bring the balance to Nil.

St George have a lot of things going for them but one thing that really horrifies me is that they post debits before credits on normal accounts which goes against the most basic rules of bookeeping.

The fact that they have this basic problem with their computer system doesn't surprise me that you have the issues you have.

Is it only the balance slips you get from an ATM that show incorrect info or are the statements wrong also?

To arrive at a closing balance on a statement the total of the opening balance and subsequent transactions must arrive at the closing balance if the maths are correct. If they are incorrect just show the bank where the error is. The only other possible answer to an incorrect balance is a transaction that isn't yours.

[gtfpv]

WOULD YOU BELIEVE THEY STILL HAVENT FIXED THIS PROBLEM . THEY HAVE ASSURED ME THERE IS A big investigation going on about it , and that it truly isnt going to be a quick fix , as they need to reprogram an error in a vast system

i still haven 't brought the ombudsman in . wish i did now , rather than listen to all thier promises and sympathy.

[nb_351]

i had problems with st george aswell...
where i used to work there was an atm in the sevo next door, id go there regularly to get money out... after a month or so, they started making transactions appear that i didnt do... id probably take out 50 dollars two or 3 times a week, being a first year apprentice back then, i wouldnt have a lot of money at one time...
then they started taking money out at ims i wasnt even there, or at work that day at all... they didnt want a bar of it, so i closed my account...

[The G6ET Spot]

I also had a problem once with St George ( seems to be common occurrence )

They were the same with me, that they couldn't fix it and it wasn't their fault.

I solved the problem by closing the account. Then they start asking why you are wanting to close it. D*ckheads