Dear Claudienne

I have been an account holder with the Bank of Nova Scotia since I was a child. Now I am having an issue with the way I am being treated. Since April of this year, I have been using their new online banking system and while viewing my account statements it seems that unauthorised amounts totalling $82,000 were withdrawn from my account.

The statement said that I withdrew $45,000 from the NCB Washington Boulevard multi-link ATM machine on April 26, 2011. However, I did not make this withdrawal. The statement also said that I withdrew $30,000 from a BNS ATM at Hays Enterprise Clarendon on July 25, 2011. But I did not make this withdrawal. On the day in question I made a withdrawal of $15,000 from an ATM machine at Hays, Guys Hill, St Mary.

I informed the BNS branch where I have my account of the discrepancies and they made some changes. The changes included changing the pin numbers and the cards attached to my account. I also filled out a form to make a formal report. The bank also copied myself and my mother’s photo identification and attached them to the form. They said they would call me with an update.

On June 4, 2012, I received an email and also had a telephone conversation with the person doing the investigation on my account. She asked me to resend the dates of the unauthorised transactions as the Operations Manager could not find the file with the dates. All the bank’s requests were met, but s everal trips and phone calls made by me to the bank since then have been futile. All I keep hearing is “I am sorry I haven’t received any feedback from the manager as yet or even the photo identities to decide who made those transactions. We promise to call and update you.”

Could you kindly assist me to find out what happened.

JA

Dear JA

Tell Claudienne contacted BNS. The bank said that transactions between the bank and clients were confidential and that details could not be discussed with a third party.

We note that since we spoke to BNS they phoned and arranged for you to meet with them and that the matter has been amicably settled.

You said that the bank has now admitted that the ATM machine that the statement said was located in Clarendon was actually in Guys Hill.

You insisted that you did not make two withdrawals of $15,000 each from the ATM machine in Guys Hill on Friday July 23, 2011. You said that one transaction was on July 23 and that you withdrew another $15,000 from the same ATM machine the following day, Saturday July 24, 2011.

You also pointed out that your withdrawal limit from the account through the ATM machine was $15,000 and that the bank would not have allowed you to make two withdrawals of $15,000 on July 23.

You said that the bank explained that a system upgrade done by BNS the weekend of July 23, 2011 could have resulted in your being able to make two withdrawals on July 23. The upgrade could also have resulted in the two transactions being recorded as taking place on the same date.

In regard to the $45,000 withdrawal made from the NCB Washington Boulevard multi-link ATM machine, you said that BNS promised to reimburse you the amount in the interest of good customer relations. We see that you were reimbursed the $45,000 on Friday September 21. Good luck.

Dear Claudienne

I applied to the NIS for a funeral grant for my sister in March 2011, She died from cancer on March 6, 2011. She was on the hotel programme that the ministry of labour had from 1999. I have been calling the NIS and the ministry for over a year now and I would like to know if the funeral grant will be paid.

EK

Dear EK

The NIS told Tell Claudienne the funeral grant was disallowed as there were not enough contributions to make an award. The Overseas Employment Programme of the Ministry of Labour said that no NIS contributions were collected by the government for workers under the hotel programme during the time your sister was employed. Employees in the overseas hotel programme would have to make individual contributions.

Good luck.

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 936-9436 or write to: Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e-mail: edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com. Please include a contact phone number.