Heh.

That reminds me of when HSBC changed their (personal) online banking to what it is now - which, frankly, is a horrible design. However, when the change first happened, at first I couldn't get in.

I'd go through the log-in and get as far as seeing the account information (recent transactions) in a faded form - the website was drawing an overlay on top of it, and never completing, so I couldn't get any further. (Obviously, I had to try a few things in case it was my paranoid security settings at fault - such as my use of NoScript).

After complaining on Twitter and initially getting fobbed off with it being the browser I used etc., eventually I saw a comment in reply to someone else (IIRC) saying the problem was an add-on called Ghostery. This aims to block tracking cookies and similar. Their tweet claimed the new website was incompatible with the add-on.

Bullshit, I thought - and a little experimenting later, I identified the problem: They were dropping a tracking cookie that Ghostery was blocking, and their site was refusing to work without that cookie. Unblock the cookie in Ghostery, and the site worked - which is not even the slightest bit similar to the site being 'incompatible' with Ghostery. Idjits.

I challenged them on that point, and asked why the cookie was necessary - why do they need to track people's browsing habits? They claimed it was security.

Which is more bullshit. Not least because if I happened to visit a dodgy website, their cookie would only know about it if the dodgy site in question happened to be using the same third party script source and accessing the same cookie.

And there's also the little point that in my case their cookie tracks almost nothing: My browsers are always set up to wipe cookies whenever I shut them down - I don't browse with millions of tabs, leaving the browsers up all the time: I go onine, carry out whatever tasks I want to for that session, then close the browser.

As for the Visa fiasco: Quite hilarious when you consider there are people who believe we are heading towards a cashless society. While that sort of thing can happen - and it'll always be a possibility - a cashless society is an idiotic idea.

Like you, I always have cash in my pocket. I tend to prefer cash for day to day stuff, unless it's something expensive, in which case I also have both visa and mastercard available in my wallet. (Though I only have one of the latter now - some of my other card providers have switched to visa).

Hi Vince
I find the excuses/explanations given are usually utter garbage (to put it politely!), made up, just to get you off the phone. A cashless society - try telling that to the 70+ year old who wanted to buy a (cheap) car the other day and has no bank account! What a trauma just to sort his insurance given the local branch of Saga, or whatever it was called, offering the ability to drop in and pay insurance in cash, had been closed. How very dare they!! I dread to think how much cash this guy has in house!!! Oh and a MLR mare.

Hi John
I was really just making a point to the HSBC chappie when he was trying his best to fob me off. Not all phones are equal and besides what if you have exceeded your minutes limit - penal rates then apply. Im not fussed as my phone has unlimited. But it is just assumed that its ok when they have a problem that one half of the public will be happy to sit on a phone for an age AND pay for it, and its the same section of that said public which are the only bloody ones paying actual bank charges for running their accounts. Besides nowhere on the HSBC site does it say this chat box is only for members of the public. Some folk still have pay as you go phones - and when the 30 minute wait time has eaten up your credit, well you are pretty buggered! Never mind that the personal online banking was broken and if he has an answer for them, then the same pathetic excuse he was giving applied to businesses as it was showing the same message fault (gawd what a twit he was.....got a slating on his phone review post log off and Im normally very keen to mark the good ones well). The 'call handlers' are just intent on one thing - get rid of you as quickly as possible. Just like the cashier in the supermarket - 'try the cash till outside, I will keep your shopping'. But if its a VISA problem then the bloody card wont work in the cashtill will it?!!! (although in the case of Friday's farce, only about 1 in 3 were having problems or some such figure). A little patience and a retry meant a very high percentage were getting through. Although one bright spark also suggested splitting the shopping so that the contactless could be used (young lad heading to Uni on a holiday job....he could go far).



BTW folks - watch out for being charged twice on the back of Friday's VISA issues!!!!!

We had big problems with Lloyds online banking last Thursday/Friday. The MD ended up haveing to pay all the staff from his phone banking app as we just could not get onto the site.

I could almost have felt a Vince FFS moment coming on when a unkown phone number popped up on my phone and it was HSBC asking for me by name, but then asking to take me through security. But I dont know who you are do I?!!!!! The first Q from him - what is the post code......well I dont frickin well know, its my clients address he was asking for - hint, hint, you have y details on your system so ask for them. Nope, ask for clients personal stuff.....off the top of my head, I have no bloody clue, begins with a W....thats about as far as I go, hard enough pushed to remember my own.

Anyway I stopped him there with a Vince you would be proud moment saying I needed to ask him some security Qs. Bless him the poor lad clearly hadnt been asked that Q before and didnt really know how to handle it. Anyway I asked him to tell me what it was I had phoned about in the first place as I had spoken to several banks recently and HSBC twice in 2 days. I told him he didnt need to give me account numbers...just the jist of the conversation/query/issue, plus a bit more info (not published on here!!!! lol). So we got there in the end!

Although the call was just a holding call to say that he didnt have an answer, it had been pushed up the line for further review (as I expected). Have to say this guy was OK (this was the error on the Bank statements guy), unlike his counterpart (the online banking idiot!).