Me (with the aid of CONDUSEF) vs Banamex

On the folio (file folder) was written in big bold letters

DEBRA JOYCE KUHN

VS

BANAMEX

Now that’s a little unnerving

Here’s how it started:

Back in November of 2013 during one of Tom’s pilgrimages to Home Depot his debit card (I am the account holder, but Tom and I each have debit cards on the same account) was rejected.

As you can well imagine he was quite confused, and then livid.  He called me, I called the bank, they couldn’t see any reason why it would be rejected, I called him, no good, still wouldn’t work.

The next day we headed to our bank and met with our account exec. He checked the account on his handy dandy all seeing computer, no issues,  we even did a 100peso withdrawal just to be sure it was all ok.  phew!

Later on, the same day, at the supermarket, Tom’s card was once again rejected.  This prompted a personal gaze in to our account via our own personal all seeing computer.

Unfortunately what we found was not ok.   Three days prior someone had used our, well Tom’s debit card and NIP (PIN) to make 5 separate withdrawals one after the other totaling just over 19,000.00pesos.

We immediately called the bank in DF (Distrito Federal) and made the report.  Amazingly we were told it could take up to 45 days to get their reply/determination.  Almost exactly 30 days later (26 December) we received an email informing us that the bank had no responsibility since our personal NIP/PIN was used.  We of course felt we had no recourse but to wait until after the holidays; our account exec, the guy assigned by the bank to help us,  would not return from holiday till 6 January.

We called Luis on 6 January 2014 and made an appointment for 7 January.  We asked to see him AND the Branch Manager.  No way, the Branch Manager can’t do anything, our Account Executive can’t do anything. ONLY DF can do anything.  We went and met with Luis, we outlined what we thought had occurred, why we weren’t to blame etc.  The outcome of our meeting with  Luis and after several phone calls to DF was that we should send a letter contesting the determination.  I was given the specifics of what the letter should say, etc, etc.

8 Jan and all the required info was scanned, saved to hard drive, attached to an email and sent off.

Within 24 hours, 9 January, I am informed the explanation letter needs to have the word REDICTAMEN on it.  OK, no worries, I make the adjustments and once again send it all off.

10 February, and we get the same form letter denying our claim.  Included in this documentation were printouts of each transaction. The withdrawals, which were made at a machine in Malaysia were our responsibility because it was our card, and and our NIP.  Seems unimportant that we can prove we were not in Malaysia.

13 February we go to CONDUSEF, (Comisión Nacional para la Defensa de los Usuarios de las Instituciones Financieras).  This is a completely free service offered by the Mexican Government to help the citizenry against financial institutions; banks, loan companies, etc. This should have been a pretty good clue, when the Government pays to have a Bureau to protect the citizens against financial institutions, we are screwed.

So, we have copies of everything we think we’ll need, but there are always the exceptions.

We return 14 February, Happy Valentines Day, and submit our paperwork.  What this does is force a representative of Banamex to come to a meeting with an arbitrator/conciliador to answer, and/or respond to our concerns.  And to offer justification for their decision.

This meeting was this morning, 21 April, 10:30am.  It was a joke, and extremely frustrating.  We had a bilingual friend along for this, and although I was able to explain, and understand most, it was so helpful, and quite vital to have her there.  So what this representative does, and he represents a multitude of banks, not just Banamex, he comes in with the same information that Banamex has already sent us, and just repeats it.  He is unable to answer any specific questions we have posed in our correspondence.

•  When we leave the Country, heck, even the State, we are told we must call DF and advise them of the dates of our travel, and where we will be else we can’t use the card.
•  When we travel, we are allowed 1 withdrawal per day. The amount of the withdrawal is determined by the atm machine.

1.  So how was someone in Malaysia able to make not 1, but 5 separate transactions when no advice was given?

2. How is this our fault?  How can someone, unknown to us acquire our NIP.

All parties agree, unofficially, that our card was probably cloned, although it was hinted at a possibility that we could have given our number and nip to someone…

So 2 hours later, nothing is being accomplished – We draft up a set of very specific questions to which Banamex MUST reply, else they get a multa, a fine.  Now the fine is just a bit more that the thieves got from us, so maybe to save a few pesos, Banamex will pay us.                                     I don’t know who gets the multa; us? CONDUSEF?

What we all agreed upon, unofficially, was that the bank has no responsibility to protect its clients, and we have basically no recourse.  We could go to a trial, but just how much is that going to cost??

Oh, one little tidbit – Banamex has the worst reputation in responsiveness towards its customers, and Santander has the best.

We have another meeting set, and a very specific set of questions are now a part of the CONDUSEF letter to Banamex, and not just my letter to Banamex.   So the MUST reply to the questions, or be assessed the fine.

 

Stay Tuned!