Appreciate Monzo staff response but why do have to hide and flag a complaint like the one discussed above
I’ve seen this a number of times. Some potential heated debates that I’ve been following as they happen then delisted by staff.
Anyone can flag posts.
The current behaviour with Discourse (the forum software used here) is to hide them after a certain number of flags.
No one (except members of staff) can see who if a post has already been flagged, and if a certain number of people flag a post, it gets hidden.
I’d reckon that people could just message relevant members of staff to alert them, but flagging is just two clicks, so tends to be more convenient for most I guess.
One potential solution, if Discourse allows it, could be to adjust the settings so as to not auto-hide posts unless they are flagged as inappropriate (i.e. if they contain personal info).
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Absolutely faultless reply @simonb
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Just want to add: it seems like some people think flagging is just for inappropriate posts, but it’s how you notify staff to posts that you think need attention. If enough people flag it it gets hidden (but of course you can still read it- it’s not deleted) until staff can review the post.
You could message staff, but then you would have to wait for one specific person to check Discourse, and you would have to link the specific post as well, when it would be easier and more direct to flag it for attention.
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I’m pretty sure our current response time for a complaint is 15 days internally. Well before required by regulations 
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As expected 
(But that still feels like forever if you have no access to money, more so if you don’t know the lead time)
Are complaints sent to help@ acknowledged as complaints? As opposed to support requests?
(I checked up and rediscovered https://monzo.com/blog/2017/08/09/complaints-at-monzo/)
I guess I’m wondering should there be a complaints@monzo.com so people know COPs aren’t just shutting out users, leading them to shout on the forum.
Yup 
This is all handled via our standard COps channels and our complaints specialists are still COps at the end of the day! (As are any of our specialists - we don’t have a “complaints department” that is fire-walled off!)
The way we identify, handle and resolve complaints is very strictly regulated and it is something we are required to get right 
If a customer does want to make a complaint they can always ask at any point for us to do so 
At that point, it will get escalated for a complaints specialist to have a look at during the week, and they will follow up with an initial response.
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Took almost 26 days back in February to handle my complaint. Unless we’re talking business days in which it was only 16.
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I think this is a good reason to never have all your eggs in one basket!
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Touché
Hi Hugh,
Perhaps we can get a further update now a week has passed? Hopefully the situation has progressed somewhat 
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Sure! I have a meeting on Thursday to chat about this and hopefully I’ll have some more information soon
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Thursday’s come and gone - any news 
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Hi 
I’m so sorry it’s taken so long for us to discuss this and respond properly 
I think that broadly, as @simonb has mentioned we try to be as open and transparent as possible. We love to get feedback on how we’re doing this, suggestions for how we improve the product and the discussion around fintech in general. It’s really great we have a community like this who hold us accountable for our product and help us shape it and improve it - so thank you!
Sadly, there are a few things we aren’t going to be as transparent about as maybe people would like - that can include the specifics of customer’s accounts, financial crime, KYC & AML and commercial agreements. We are bound by contracts and the law in what we are able to share and in some cases it wouldn’t be appropriate for us to talk about these, even if we could.
Sometimes, we see customers posting on the forum about an issue affecting their account. Whilst it is really great to see community members trying to help, in some cases this can add a bit of confusion as the issue needs to be resolved with us directly. In these cases, we prefer to unlist certain threads to avoid confusing other customers. This isn’t to try and save our reputation or hide issues - we always want to engage with customers to try and understand what is causing friction and to help sort it out. However, sometimes the forum isn’t the best platform to do that when it involves sensitive customer data.
I hope that helps explain this a bit better and I’m sorry we didn’t initially make why we were doing this clear.
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I wonder if a “complaints counter” would solve the transparency issue without needing to disclose sensitive details. Every time a customer complains and you aren’t allowed to leave the thread (due to KYC, etc) just incrément the counter.
I definitely think we could look at a public, formal, complaints counter. “complaint” does have a regulatory definition and meaning, so we have to be a bit careful where we use it! 
Personal view, but I’m not overly interested in this sort of transparency. I have no idea where these threads are coming from, whether they are genuine or whether there is a systemic problem somewhere. I just don’t think it’s information that’s particularly helpful to me - I just don’t know enough to be able to understand what the data means.
And while a counter sounds intuitively good, I’d be more interested in transparency around formal complaints volumes etc. Indeed, I worry that a counter might incentivise bad actors to flood the forum to tick the count up.
I also worry that transparency sometimes becomes a stick to beat Monzo with. Paradoxically making them less likely to be transparent going forward.
Food for thought?
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Most of those complaints are out of Monzo’s control and would happen with any bank. I see no need for it. Doesn’t tell us or solve anything
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I agree with this, because Monzo has promised to be as transparent as much as possible some people assume it means they have to share every single detail. They do have to follow strict privacy laws and a public forum isn’t the place to discuss each individual’s situation.
As much as Monzo feels immensely friendly and intimate and has a vested interest in the well-being of its users (and inspires great loyalty in us) it’s not my best friend and we shouldn’t expect to be told everything 
we haven’t been betrayed because we didn’t find out if Mr. XYZ was really locked out of his account by mistake or if he was a fraudster.
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