Spanish banks are not the most user friendly companies, and many of us living in Spain are only too familiar with the problems that dealing with a Spanish bank can cause. As always, you should complain, but perhaps it could be worth while taking a different approach.
I am not really sure what goes wrong with Spanish banking, but I think that one of the biggest problems with Spanish banks, is their customer service attitude. They seem to forget that they actually have a customer base, and without their customers, they would not actually be in business. Often when I hear of a bank complaint, it seems that the bank in question does not care at all. This does not help, but you can turn it to your advantage with a bit of savvy.
Spanish Bank Charges
The most common problem with Spanish banks, seems to be bank charges. All of a sudden, your bank starts to notify of new charges which have not been charged to your account before. Of course, the next day you are in the bank complaining, and the normal response is that the bank has sent you a new contract. Really? Most of the time they have not, and even if they have done so, you should have signed the contract and had it explained to you. Actually, your bank should have called you into your bank, and explained the new range of account options. And no, what they are doing is not legal AT ALL.
How To Get Your Money Bank
How do you get your money back from your bank? Most banks would like you to write to their complaints department. As we all know, this may not work too well and they have a tendency not to respond. When they respond, it is not normally in your favour. You just end up becoming frustrated and annoyed, and the bank will tell you to write to the Spanish Bank Ombudsman.
This is where stuff becomes really complicated, and you may end up spending a small fortune on getting a lawyer involved. The fact is that you can even end up throwing good money after bad money.
The truth is that you may be better off making a case out of the problem yourself. Spanish banks hate bad publicity, and they really don't want you to give them bad publicity. I would not threaten your bank with bad publicity at all, I would just go ahead and give them a bad review on a relevant website. The trick is to send them the link to the review, and let them know what you are doing. Continue to annoy them, and you should get a result. Remember that it pays to be persistent. Yes, it is costing you time, by why should they be allowed to get away with it.
Does the Method Work?
I have been through this process a couple of times now with various friends and it is surprising how well it works. Name and shame may be something new to Spain, but it seems to work. Yes, the banks get a little bit “nasty” at times and threaten you with various things. I just tell them that they don't seem to have any commercial sense, and that I will be happy to continue to tell others.
By the end of the process, you may even find that you have a better working relationship with your bank, and they may even have learned to respect you.