We have obtained information from a reliable source with regards to customers who have had issues with banks who are being referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service (Ltd) ABN 67 131 124 448.
- The FOS is a corporation that is funded and maintained by the banks.
- The FOS is a public company, i.e. a NGO (Non Government Organisation).
- The FOS is not a decision making authority.
I don't agree with that. There is a case I am very aware of, wherein the person had a bank difficulty - the bank had been happily ignoring them for around 6 months, at the same time actively increasing the harm that the difficulty was causing the person. The person complained to the Ombudsman and the bank started responding, because every letter from the Ombudsman costs them around $1300. The Ombudsman can not resolve the problem, but they act as the intermediary and at least the bank must begin a process. What they also appear to do is bring the matter of a potential breach of legislation to the knowledge of the Cth, because dealing specifically with the bank keeps the problem internal to the banking process and the Cth is not involved internally. As soon as the person was able to identify themselves as a Commonwealth national - the bank quickly resolved the matter to the person's satisfaction - giving back to the person far more than they expected.
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