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THE ULSTER BANK ‘glitch’ that has seen its customers accounts severely disrupted, and/or, inaccessible is entering its third working week. (Or ‘not working’, as might be more appropriate.)
The Central Bank has called the delay in resolving the operational failure as “unacceptable”. Businesses have been badly hit, as have personal account holders, and ISME went so far last week as to say that the bank should waive fees.
Many of you affected by the ongoing difficulties have been relating your experiences in TheJournal.ie‘s comments section and on social media. The following is a selection from just the past few days.
If you want to update us on progress – or not – or if you have tips to help others in your situation, please leave us a comment with your advice/experience.
Friday, 29 June:
Leon B Cosgrove: I spoke to a person who has arrears yesterday and he received a nasty letter from the Legal Dept of Ulster Bank, even though he has set up an agreement to pay them, so how can they issue these and they can’t tell him what is in his account, and he has been paid a week and no sign in his account, they are a disgrace and and a embarrassment of a Bank…
Katie Does: I’ve been waiting for transfer of a payment made (online) via an Ulster Bank account on June 20th to my account in another bank. Getting pretty sick of it now.
Paul Ryan: RBS and Ulster Bank are full of crap!! My wages should have gone in on 20th June and still no sign.
Henry Shields: My wages from last night didn’t go in. Who are they trying to fool. Had to go into the branch to with draw money for the weekend and there was only 2 working on the desks.
Nicola Monaghan: my landlord doesn’t accept “unreserved apologies” as rent!
Chris Lynch: Now waiting on Two weeks wages, my better halves monthly wage and two checks to appear in my account.
Thelma: I’m waiting on my salary and my husband is waiting in his since last week mortgage to be paid and car insurance ulster bank apology is just not good enough. Maybe we should start put money under mattress again!!!
Steven Leslie: waiting for wages 21st and 28th mortgage and loan due out monday,not to mention my TRS payment to go in on monday,absolutely pathetic at this stage
Saturday, 30 June:
Laura O’Sullivan: Still waiting on last weeks wages and yesterdays wages – going on holidays monday and now have limited money till this is cleared grr!!!!!
Mick Coady: No money again today, rang the 1-800 number, told you have to go to one of the extended hours branch’s (very nice of them to open). What is in place for the people that are working over the weekend also the people who work shift. The media and and people with some influence have been disgraceful. I know they can not solve the problem but some info and help might be calming. Ulster bank are stating that most salaries are up to date, I dont think so, but this is being read by the media and been reported as true. Millions of accounts cleared in the UK in two days, a 150000 in Ireland still not done. Central bank have told them they are “naughty” woo hoo, feel they are trembling on that one. we have the internet to our disposal, e-mail your local goverment rep, keep doing it also what would happen if a 100,000 people marched to UB headquarters???? “Rant over.”
Go to this site and start filling in the forms. http://www.financialombudsman.ie/
Alien8: Just off the phone and they are at the end of the automated transactions from Thursday the 21st – I.e. Thursday before last!. This is incoming payments, it will be another week before they are visible online, but the branches can see them. No hope of salary going in as both employer and I have UB accounts, but if either is non-UB, they are handled faster. Can take cash out of branch, but this is an IOU only (i.e. wont be seen on account either!) Shocking handling of this affair, must have been easier alternative – retry the missed automated transactions, and cancel any repeats? I it wasn’t for the cheap banking and mortgage discount, I’d go back to cash!
Richard Mason: We have never really been told what the real issue is and why it’s taking so long to sort our accounts in Ireland. I’m taking this as an opportunity to move and revamp my finances. I feel sorry for the branch staff who have always been first class. 27 years of loyalty is now over.
Sunday, 01 July:
Shinny K: I was in Ulster bank today and staff told me they think it will be Wednesday at the earliest. They said they had stopped trying to clear the back log as the system was down again. When I tried to lodge cheques the lady told me not to bother as it would be weeks before they were cleared. she then forgot to give me my atm card. So now I have no money n my bank and no ATM card. :(
Monday, 02 July:
Alan Quirke: There was activity over the weekend in small amounts hitting accounts but this morning that has reverted back to normal(or abnormal really). I’m still waiting on 4 wages, 2 wages x 2 weeks worth. I can’t even leave the bank because I cannot access my money. I have to go off now today and check who got paid and who didn’t get paid from my account. I knew we couldn’t trust banks and bankers but never thought to this extent!
Amanda Moore: I am making a formal complaint to the financial regulator today. I still have not been paid and this nonsense is going on 2 weeks. I’m concerned that Ulster bank needs to be held accountable and this will only happen if customers affected make that complaint.
Nejra Mrkonja Mesinovic: This is a disgrace!My upc,my car insurance,esb,gas was meant to go out two weeks ago. I lodged money in but nothing is showing, I am just waiting to be cut off, already got a letter from the insurance and instead of 80 I now have to pay a 100. Went to the bank Fri and they told me all my direct debits were sorted out,so I guess they told me that to get rid of me.
Anna Lark: I have borrowed money off everyone at this point, and I know at some point I am going to need to buy tampons *blushes* I may just head in to Ulster Bank Q for 2 hours then ask the girl behind the counter for a spare lilet.
Wolfgang Schmitt: In addition to making a formal complaint, I am also ending my banking relationship with Ulster Bank this week, Sorry, but almost two weeks to sort out a technical glitch is unacceptable. In addition to this, other than the continued “hope to”‘s and “sorry for the inconvenience”‘s, we have yet to hear how they will make sure a “glitch” like this doesn’t happen again in the future. Plus, I’ve been in a branch on Saturday… I know one employee is not representative for the entire organization- but I was treated with absolute disgraceful contempt. Sorry, but if your employer causes a massive mess up like this, you need to dial down the attitude dear behind-the- counter staff.
Sarah May Hamilton: This is just absolute madness. My accounts showed bizarre and totally random amounts over the weekend which are not at all representative of what should be there. They should contacting each affected customer by email or text to keep us updated, why is the onus on us to go looking for information, like we’re begging for scraps off the table.
Aoife Quinn: I too haven’t received my wages in two weeks, I went to the UB in Galway on Saturday and withdrew the whole lot, she asked if I was covering my direct debits, they are due out on Friday after I’ve been paid so I wasn’t going to leave money to cover them, it SHOULD be sorted by then. I have to say I was in and out in 10 minutes on Saturday and the staff were great. We cant take our anger out on them. Will be leaving UB once this is sorted. Complete madness.
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I lost my job last month. Was owed 10 days wages that should have gone in to my Ulster Bank Account 2 Fridays ago. So far nothing. I am waiting JSA kicking in and all I have is €5 to my name. Community Welfare officer laughed in my face when I asked for help. How can I find a new job if I can’t even afford the bus in to town?
I’ll give ya the money if you get an interview! Best of luck.
the best thing is remove ur account and change banks and let the bank go the way it should,talk with your feet
I cancelled my boi mortgage standing order – my mortgage is with Ulster Bank. I’all reinstate it when Ulster Bank gets its mess sorted.
can i ask why?? thats the way i am, but my mortgage has not been taken yet. i tried to ring but was on hold for 20 mins and gave up.
I’m on holiday with a big wad of cash!!! Courtesy of UB, staff were most helpful, frankly it’s not their fault. I’m back to the days of hiding it under the mattress !! Not saying where I am though!!
This has gone way beyond unacceptable and into the realms of utterly ridiculous. For a large (now) international company to show such incompetence in handling clients money and offer such weak and ineffective excuses is NOT acceptable. I have been an Ulster Bank customer since i started working at 17 years of age and although I find their frontline staff wonderful I will no longer be an Ulster Bank customer once this is sorted out. I think 2 weeks was enough time for me to wait for them to rectify their issues and I think I have been more than patient. The powers that be, in the bank, are blatantly lying when they say that the majority of accounts have been fixed if the comments here and on the street are anything to go by.
The frontline counter staff and those I have spoken to in the customer care department can only tell us what they are being told and I cannot and will not fault them. The knock on effect from this affects more than just the bank customer, it affects everyone that customer has to deal with in regard to paying bills via electronic banking. This whole thing has also had a detrimental affect on my health and general wellbeing in the recent weeks and I am sure I am not the only one!! How long more are UB and RBS banking chiefs going to offer cheap platitudes and erroneous promises that this will be fixed by a certain date? How are they going to maintain their customer base when the level of confidence in this bank is now at zero? I was a loyal customer of this bank but feel I cannot remain so when it affects my family, my sanity and my health.
I think that what has frustrated me most is the inconsistent and incorrect information, and their most recent statements have caused me to examine earlier statements with a more critical eye. We have had confirmation now that Ulster Bank was at the back of the metaphorical queue in terms of prioritising the issues, and we have been told that this is the way that it had to be due to the way the systems are integrated. If this was the case, and all in the RBS group were aware of it, why did Ulster Bank give expected resolution dates, knowing that the NatWest issues were ongoing, and that the Ulster Bank issues could not even begin to be resolved until after NatWest issues?
They should have been honest with customers from the start, and instead of saying they were working on the issues, told us that Ulster Bank issues would not be resolved concurrently with the NatWest issues. These white lies and omissions have lead to more confusion and stress for customers who have done nothing other than trust Ulster Bank with their money. Perhaps if Ulster Bank customers had known where we lay in the overall list of priorities we could have prepared better. Instead, we’ve been fed a line about the resolution of the issues, and have only had clarification on the priority after the story was leaked and they were forced to confirm it.
This kind of behaviour is not the way to keep customers. I recognise that problems happen, and that sometimes they are difficult to fix, but I have done nothing wrong here, and deserve better than to be lied to.
Its an absolute disgrace… if we are late with any payment they are the first to send threatening letters… Ennis branch was closed on sunday, I had to drive to Dooradoyle in Limerick, and go through the toll just to get money to get to work on Monday morning… instead of walking to the ATM in work… this is the 2nd time I’ve had to do this… Am I going to be able to claim these costs back off the bank??
I haven’t been paid in 2 weeks… I have DD’s that haven’t been paid because of this and I really don’t know where I stand as I prepare to fly off on holidays this day week….
I opened a BoI account on friday, but it’s too late to get my wages for this week lodged into that…. I’m actually so stressed about all this that it isn’t funny…
Where do I stand if I have inadvertently overdrawn my account?
How much compensation am I going to get from them, because this is making my life hell at the moment and causing a lot of embarrassment.
They issue vague statements of apology, this is really not good enough. I feel very badly treated.
Keep hearing about payroll, but nothing about PayPal transfers. As a freelancer, that IS my payroll.
I’m actually stuck in another country and unable to fly back to Cork because I can’t access my funds. Can’t even charge my phone to call Ulster. I did manage to dig up the email of the fellow who helped me set up my account initially. He replied to my message almost immediately and asked for my overseas phone number. He called within minutes.
If I can send him screenshots and proof that PayPal has transferred money to Ulster, he may be able to send money to me via Western Union. He also said to keep track of any additional expenses incurred, as there will be a way to receive recompense later. Info will be on the website at some point.
We have a UB mortgage as well. They are now six days late to take it. I know someone else who is 12 days.
Some people will end up spending that money.
I think the least they can do in compensation is not charge us any bank charges or fees for the rest of the year at least!!!
My husbands account was updated today as at 25th June which is week ago and the figures aren’t accurate as it shows transactions my monthly salary still has to be processed. Apart fromnregular d debits i haven’t being able to pay car insurance or my mortgage. My mortgage is with RBS and when i rang them this morning they asked me when I could expect to pay it, I asked him when he expected to resolve the banking issue – got no reply. Really sick of this and the lack of outrage from the government afraid to say boo to the banks even though we own the banks. The UK had their issue resolved in couple of days.
Ulster Bank didnt withdraw my mortgage today……………It would be great if they never took another payment!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Patrick and Katrina
I am in the same boat as you guys. I was onto Ulster Bank Mortgages first thing this morning. Got through before the rush. I was told that the mortgage will be taken from my BOI bank a/c when their systems come back online.
I asked if next month would be a double month and they said they could not answer that based on the information they had at the time.
Im working on the premise that they could take the funds at any point once their systems are back working.
thanks brian, such a mess. just dont want my mortgage to go into arrears because of it. otherwise im not affected by it. dont know how people are managing!!
Thanks Brian. Think I’ll put that money aside somewhere before I spend it.
Have not been paid for 2 weeks this will be the 3rd, Help Batman
Awaiting last months salary since 26th June. My wife weekly salary not in account for past 2 weeks. Employees in ulster bank helpful but impotent. A smile is the best they can offer. An atrocious example of public relations. Since I am in IT myself I would guess the issue was ongoing for a considerable amount of time before anyone competent noticed. I have absolutely no confidence that this will be corrected before the end of this month (July). My guess also is,that if the system is outsourced,the bank itself is in the dark as to when it will be rectified. nI don’t wish it, but I believe the bank will die on its feet after this, current and savings accounts will go elsewhere, business accounts will have to move. Confidence in this bank is shattered.nOh and finally, I fear we’ll all be remonstrating with our mortgage and service providers for months after this fiasco.
Hallehujah!! My salary from 26th June appear in account about 10am today. Still no signof my wife’s salary though.n
one the lads i work with went in with his payslip friday got his wages went in again today got them again so he has his wages got twice he went down to AIB opened an account and has handed them details into work to be paid on friday doubt his the only person doing this
I’m working in the uk with no access to my cash sinse the 18th
can i expect any apolagy or compensation or should i send them a letter listing all the money ive had to borrow to pay for food. they are quick enough to send one to me when im late and then charge me for it.
Steve I rang UB Sunday they gave me a 500 overdraft on the phone you should try them found no problem with them
When you log on to Ulster Bank’s online banking the 1st screen you see asks you to either verify your email address or mobile number.nn Every time you log on this happens, so why haven’t they emailed us about this issue yet?n It costs nothing and I’m sick to death of their weekly letters telling me about whatever amount of TRS credit I’ve amassed, so I don’t want another letter as we’re all ultimately paying for these. n
response from financial ombudsman:
Any sanctions against the Bank as a whole is a matter for the Central Bank of Ireland.
I have forwarded your email to a member of the Ulster Bank management team, who will deal with your issue ASAP.
While I appreciate this is a stressful time for you, I have been assured that Ulster Bank are working on the issue. I would maybe give them until Friday – if at that stage there is no progress, let me know and I can send you a complaint form to lodge a formal complaint through this Office.
Shocking, just shocking!!!! I’d leave only they have me on loans! nWhat are they spending all the money they make on? Sure isn’t their computer technicians and/or system! nI believe the heads are still getting their bonuses! Truckin tankers….
Rachel – just because you have loans with them does not mean you cannot switch your current account to another financial institution. You won’t be able to ‘switch’ the loans over to another bank as well, but at least you’ll be satisified that you can have access to your own funds at all times! Crazy stuff from UB at this stage – it is like they are intentionally seeking to lose customers/business.
I’m still waiting on two weeks worth of wages at this stage!! Utterly ridiculous, everything I have is through Ulsterbank, got cash out there on Thursday but I’m still waiting for my car insurance and my rent to go through to my landlord and insurance! Totally ridiculous and I can’t do anything about it!! Ugh!!!
Ulster bank Have one of the highest variable interest rates for mortgages..it’s a disgrace…interest rate fixing is big time in this country..wouldn’t happen I’m England…
I desperately depend on my disability payment and i’m so broke its insane. I had to go in to get an overdraft to access my own money last week, but i’m not going this week, i’ve asked the department of social welfare to forward it to the post office from here on out. I feel sorry for the front line UB staff as they are really superb. The best banking staff i’ve ever dealt with, but its completely unacceptable. I’ll probably end up with a fine for not paying my m50 toll…….
@Katrina . You will not go into arrears on it if they can take the funds at a later date. Not sure on how much flexibility we will get with that though :( Your credit rating shouldnt suffer because they did not take the funds. UB would normally submit your record to the credit scoring database if during normal circumstance they could not take the funds i.e no money in your bank a.c to pay them. In this case they never attempted to take your funds so they should not submit your record to the credit scoring database. I’ll still follow up after all of this to get written assurances that , that is the case.
@Donal. Im watching every cent going out the door ensuring that the funds will be there for when they take it. The lack of info on their site is only adding to their problems.
funds are there.. just have to make sure they stay there. thanks
Just a quick comment for the future, if it shows in your account that you are a late payment/unpaid or go into overdraft, get a letter from Ulster bank confirming that it was their systems, that way you wont be punished because of a companies error. Also, if you are making a complaint to the Financial Regulator, put a complaint in first with ulster bank as the regulator on most cases will refer you back to get an official response before making a complaint with them…they might have changed procedures on this occasion!
If you have a mortgage somewhere else and your paying from an ulster bank acc…or you have an account with someone else and your mortgage is ulster bank…DONT cancel your DD/standing order, it will show as you cancelled this yourselves and can prove that you are trying not to pay your mortgage hence you could go into arrears and get a bad credit rating… Hope this helps someone!!!
My husband and I moved to Edinburgh on the 20th of June, the day this debacle started. We bank with Ulster Bank in Ireland and RBS in the UK. We had intended doing an international transfer the day we moved but unfortunately when I rung phone banking on the 20th I was told that it would be sorted at 1pm that day so I rung again in the afternoon and was told again that I couldn’t. All of our money is in our savings accounts in Ulster Bank and we only had a limited amount in our current accounts.
We had major payments to make like the deposit for our apartment and a month’s rent in advance, get new mobile phone plans for the UK, pay for broadband and a landline to be brought into the apartment but unfortunately other than rent all of these have had to be put on the back burner until we can get access to our own money. We needed to pay for travel to our new jobs but find now that the direct debits that were set up for this will now start to bounce because we have no cash in our accounts here in Scotland. Each day is becoming more and more hassle and Ulster Bank or RBS are offering very little help to us.
I rung Ulster Bank phone banking last week and they promised that they would get my own branch in Ireland to ring my branch in RBS Edinburgh but this has not happened, I rung again at the weekend and this still has not happened. We now have less than 100euro left in our current account.
It is an utter shame that this has not been sorted. We are utterly embarrassed that we will have to resort to asking friends and family for money because we can’t get access to our hard earned savings.
My wages hasn’t gone in which was due on the 23rd. Ulster bank did take 2 DDs this morning that were due to be taken on the 25th – 2 days after my wages was to go in.none was to go to my savings account (also with Ulster Bank) but the money hasn’t shown up in the account even though it’s been taken from my current account.
Finally….My wages from 25th June are visible in my account but there is no sign of any direct debits going out which should have gone last week, phone bill, upc….etc…I rang both upc and vodafone and they said they got paid….
How to Access Your Money in Ulster Bank ?? http://www.flc.ie/news/how-to-access-your-cash-in-ulster-bank/
Not much change!!!
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