Upheld: Service failures generally complaint against First Rate Exchange Services Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Miss M opened a Post Office Travel Money card on 28 June 2025 but experienced multiple failures: the card was locked upon arrival on holiday and could not be activated through customer service or the app, requiring phone activation; days later, she could not top up the card to pay for a ferry home and could not access the app, during which she reported feeling unsafe. Post Office acknowledged a data entry error (incorrect date of birth) and offered £50 compensation, which Miss M rejected as inadequate. The FOS investigator recommended £450, which Post Office disputed. The Ombudsman upheld the complaint, awarding £450 because Miss M was vulnerable with complex post-traumatic stress disorder, was travelling to recover from her health conditions, and the card failures caused significant distress, embarrassment, and exacerbated her health issues.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The Ombudsman upheld the complaint because the Post Office's initial £50 compensation did not fairly reflect the impact of the service failures on Miss M's individual circumstances. The Ombudsman considered that Miss M was vulnerable, travelling specifically to recover from complex post-traumatic stress disorder, and that the card failures caused her significant distress, embarrassment, and exacerbated her health conditions. The Ombudsman noted that the Post Office was aware of Miss M's vulnerability through the welfare check and that the failures affected not only her emotional wellbeing but also her holiday recovery. The Ombudsman determined that £450 fairly reflects the short-term impact of these failures.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website