Something I’ve bumped into just now that might end my participation in Monzo- the issue mentioned in the title.
Background: I only found out after the fact that once you load your account from your debit card at another bank, you can’t just switch to another debit card to load with for future loading.
I sent a request to support to see about getting this changed, because the card I’d loaded with initially was an account that I was due to close (I was going to load what was left to my Monzo account and close the other one). The support agent who responded to my request in chat replied by saying that he would pass on my account closure request and message me back when it was done.
Even if I might have worded my chat support message poorly, sending off a closure request without confirming again with the customer doesn’t seem like the most productive way to go.
First off, it is indeed just the one time (honestly, if it happened more than once I’m not sure I’d stick with Monzo). Bad wording strikes again. Second, I’ll copy-paste what I wrote to support:
“Hi, I did want to ask, and being completely upfront here, if I could change the linked debit card for loading funds, just once. I want to change it to the card for an account I know I will keep open long term instead of leaving it stuck on a card tied to a bank account I’m set to close, as it is now. If that’s not possible, I understand, but I’d appreciate it if I could. Thank you!”
There are certainly easier to understand writings out there, and maybe you and others might see what I don’t myself. I’d understand if it sounded like a desire to close. However, proceeding to close without any confirmation (something like “So in that case, you want to close your account with us?”) seems to be jumping the gun.
Although I just got a response apologizing for that a few seconds ago, so all is well for now. Still, an “are you sure?” before moving forward with closure to avoid ambiguity would be nice going forward.
Looks like it does take a set of fresh eyes to see what I couldn’t myself. But yeah, regardless of that, asking people if they’re sure, especially because it’s a beta that people might not be able to get back into if they leave now, is the key point here.
I think I disagree. If you scan the message really quickly you might see the word “close” - but if you read it carefully then it seems pretty unambiguous to me.
I think us forum dwellers could be excused for a quick scan, but I’d want to think that Monzo folk are a bit more meticulous generally.
(I actually think that meticulousness would be a good value for Monzo to work to, but that’s a different thread!)
Of course, and I only skimmed it quickly. As much as I would love to think those in contact centres read with great detail, I can only imagine that over time they take to skim reading too, until they notice something that’s unusual or not an FAQ.
I’m not saying this is right, but I would imagine this is what has happened.
Like I said though, a confirmation should have at least occurred.
Hi all! June here from the US Operations team. Thanks so much for the feedback - I think it’s clear this interaction fell short of the level of customer service we pride ourselves on - I’m really sorry for the frustration!
I’ll be making sure to follow up here with my team to see what we can do to prevent something similar from happening again in the future – like you suggest, I agree asking for confirmation absolutely should be part of the process when closing accounts (as well as simply making sure we’ve read the message closely!).
You should know that in addition to using our Beta testing period to understand the product we’re building and the type of features customers want to see, we’re also really interested in finding out how we can give great support to our US customers. We’ll make some mistakes along the way, but I’m confident that we’ll get it right with your help
Please do continue to let me know when things go wrong - or, if you see something great that we should keep doing, feel free to let us know about that too.
Much appreciated for the response! I understand this is a beta test, so there are bound to be bumps on the road. I guess this is one of them, and I appreciate the opportunity to be along for the ride. After everything is worked out, I’d certainly continue using Monzo; it’s kind of exciting being part of the testing, feedback, new product process here.
