Barclays tops complaints list

Link to the article: Channel 4 News

Source PA News

Barclays was named as the UK's most complained about bank after the industry's ombudsman received more than 8,000 customer grievances in the first half of the year.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) said it had been a record six months for complaints in the industry, with a total of 69,841 overall.

Taxpayer-backed institutions also showed a poor outcome, led by Lloyds Banking Group, which notched up 6,947 complaints for the Lloyds TSB business alone.

Fellow part-nationalised group Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) saw around 4,200 complaints between its RBS and NatWest brands.

The UK's five biggest banks accounted for more than half of all the complaints the FOS received during the first half of the year - the first time that individual companies have been named.

Lloyds, Barclays, RBS, Abbey and HSBC Group all received more than 3,000 complaints each during the six months to the end of June, accounting for a total of 38,286 cases, the ombudsman said.

Banks received high levels of complaints about banking services, such as current accounts, and credit, including credit cards and loans.

People also complained about general insurance products, including controversial payment protection insurance, which is sold alongside credit agreements and is currently the single most complained about product.

Overall, the FOS, which handles disputes between consumers and financial services firms, said total complaints received in the six months to the end of June had soared 22% year-on-year to its highest ever for the period.

And the number of complaints upheld in favour of consumers also hit a new high, at an average of 59%.

United Airlines hit by complaint song

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By Channel 4 News

A musician who blames United Airlines for breaking his prized guitar has taken revenge by writing a song that has hit the company's share price.

Dave Carroll has finally won a nine-month battle with United Airlines after they broke his instrument.

His video 'United Breaks Guitars' has had three and half million hits in ten days and has been a PR disaster for the airline, which has seen its share price plunge by 10 per cent, wiping $180 million off the company's value.

Mr Carroll says he has now been offered $1.200 in flight vouchers as compensation, while United says they will be using his video for training purposes.