Money Grouse: Bank not so co-operative for shopper

CO-OPERATIVE Bank's pounds 10 cash pledge on broken service guarantees announced this week will bring no comfort to James Barnett from Norwich. Dr Barnett is incensed by the service his wife received at the bank's hands at a branch of John Lewis.

She tried to use her Delta card to pay for a pounds 529 television at the Norwich branch of the store. When the card was checked, the bank would not authorise payment. She went to her branch to find out what the problem was, and was told there was a pounds 500 limit on the card. She returned to John Lewis, paid pounds 30 in cash and asked for the remaining pounds 499 to be paid with the card. Once again, authorisation was turned down, and the store had to contact the bank to find out what had happened.

In fact, in common with most debit cards there is no limit to the amount that they can cover, provided there are sufficient funds in the person's bank account.

Dr Barnett said: 'The Co- operative Bank caused my wife considerable inconvenience and embarrassment. I wish to receive a full explanation, and some compensation for the trouble the bank has caused us.'

A Co-operative Bank spokesman said: 'There were problems with the authorisation lines over that particular weekend. This type of problem will not be helped by the service guarantee as we will not offer it on services that are partly out of our control.'

Co-op is offering customers pounds 10 if it breaks any one of five service guarantees.

Write to Money Grouse, The Independent, 40 City Road, London EC1Y 2DB. Please do not send SAEs or original documents as we cannot guarantee to deal with every letter personally.