Bank of Valletta case resolved

Kevin Borg writes:

'Although I was refunded by Bank of Valletta on October 13, I would like you to publish my letter.

'I was recently called by the bank and told it was a misunderstanding.

'However, I am convinced this was an excuse.

'Dissatisfied bank customers should write about their complaints, as this would change the bank's attitude. After all, if we deposit our money in a particular bank we need to be respected.'

This is the case:

'Last June, I decided to close a bank account that I held at Bank of Valletta. I checked my bank documents and it transpired that the sum in the bank account was smaller.

'So the day after, I decided to speak to the cashier. She could not explain what had happened, so she referred me to the manager.

'I was introduced to Norman Spagnol, manager front office, BoV, Republic Street, Valletta. We discussed the matter but I was told to give him some time.

My accountant was also working on the case.

'Mr Spagnol called me and said the bank needed to issue two statements, one costing €2.32 and another €10.44. I asked him whether the €2.32 statement would solve the problem, and was told it would. So I asked him not to issue the €10.44 statement.

'It resulted that there had been an error with the bank transfer. I received a bank statement in July and was charged €2.32 and €10.44.

'After talking to Mr Spagnol again, he said he had forgotten about the issue, was arrogant and asked me to write to him.

'I wrote last August but got no reply. I wrote again and received a letter which said that I was the one who had asked him to issue the statement. I informed him this was not the case and that I expected a refund.

'Why should a customer pay for something he/she never asked for? It was the bank employee's decision to issue the statement.

'This is not the first time that BoV has made a mistake in my regard.' (Mr Borg)