Moneyclaim - Cleo AI Ltd

[parity4all]

 

Hi everyone, 

 

I've had a few issues with Cleo (meetCleo).

The latest has been the last straw.

It started when I attempted to withdraw money from the Cleo Wallet.

 

A message came-up on screen saying:

Quote

'There is an error with your account. Please contact support for help.'

 

I contacted support and was duly told that it was because I had reached the maximum withdrawal limit and that I had to upload ID.

I immediately uploaded ID.

 

However, few hours later received an email saying the verification has been unsuccessful.

Tried the upload again, only to receive the same 'ID verification unsuccessful' email.

 

I then contacted support to let them know.

Didn't receive a reply.

So tried the ID upload again.

Failed.

 

Contacted support again.

I was then told that the issue will be escalated to the technical team and that they 'will get back to [me] as soon as possible next week'.

I waited patiently.

 

By mid-week I hadn't' heard anything. 

Contacted support again (On the cleo facebook app, I could see that this message was 'seen' by support).

By Friday I hadn't heard anything,

I then contacted my regular contact at Cleo.

I didn't receive any reply.

 

Checked online and saw that Cleo was experiencing some problems with handling support queries.

Waited patiently thinking it will be sorted sooner or later.

Weeks became months and no reply.

 

Then decided enough was enough and contacted the CEO using twitter, linked-in and email.

No reply to any of these communications. 

 

I then decided to write to Cleo using the pre-action protocol requesting refund of the £16.88 kept in my Cleo wallet back to source

(This amount comprised of two payments that had been made in to the Wallet using credit card).

Also, I asked for £50.00 for the inconvenience suffered as well as £10.00 for printing, photocopying and postage in lodging the claim.

 

Received letter from cleo with accompanying receipts showing two transactions (£7.45 and £9.43) refunded back to source.

I checked credit card accounts and the two transactions had been refunded.

 

However, Cleo refused to pay any compensation saying 'Unfortunately, we are unable to provide compensation on such matters, with this being the same for all users'.

They have provided an explanation for the lack of support:

 

Quote

 

You then provided identification to be verified and made further communication on 28th September and again on 5th October. I can see that you were informed that the issue would be escalated. Here it seems that the communication broke down, and we are sorry for this. However, there was no further attempt on your behalf to contact the team from 5th October onwards.

As the issue was not pursued, the communication was lost. We do accept that we could have been more proactive in making sure that your issue was resolved, and again apologise for this. We are consistently working to better our service and your feedback is of great value.

 

 

I have written to Cleo again stating that I had actually communicated with my contact at Cleo and also written to CEO Barnaby Hussey-Yeo using multiple channels.

I then explained that the time spent on this has caused me financial loss, detailed the loss suffered (3 hours), attached payslips and requested that they settle the amount within 28 days. I also told them about paragraphs 15 and 16 of the Practice Direction and that if I do not receive a response in 28 days 'I anticipate that court action will be commenced with no further reference to you'.

 

Now it's well beyond 28 days. How should I proceed?. Should I go ahead and make the money claim now or should I first make a Subject Access Request (SAR) to obtain all my personal data, then make the money claim?

 

I think Cleo has definitely flouted the BCOBS rules and possibly the terms of the agreement. The terms of the agreement says:

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We will give you notice if we decide to terminate provision of the Services on any Application or the Website.

 

I was never given any notice.

[BankFodder]

It's a very small amount. I notice that they are registered with the FCA. I wonder if they are subject to the FOS. I would suggest that you call the FOS and find out. If they are then the first thing to do in this circumstance would be to begin a formal complaint and tell them that you want it moved up to the ombudsman after eight weeks.

See where that takes you.

Secondly, I would start giving them one star reviews on trust pilot and Google.

[parity4all]

I already complained to the Ombudsman. Cleo isn't covered. i.e. Financial Ombudsman does not have jurisdiction.

[BankFodder]

Once again it's a very small amount and also let me point out that it is very difficult to obtain the kind of compensation that you are seeking.

On the other hand, it is such a small amount there is a possibility that they would put their hands up rather than to have to go to the trouble of going to court.

I think the chances of you succeeding on the principal are extremely good – better than 90%. However the chances of getting the compensation you want are extremely poor. I certainly think that it would be interesting to bring an action under BCOBS and that my alarm them sufficiently that they would be prepared to put their hands up and pay you out.

You would have to factor in the risk of losing the court fee – which would be about £25 and a hearing fee if they decided to go the distance which should be about a hundred or so – I'm not completely sure.

It's such a small outlay you may well want to have a go just for the crack. I'd be very interested to know how it goes

[parity4all]

20 hours ago, parity4all said:

I already complained to the Ombudsman. Cleo isn't covered. i.e. Financial Ombudsman does not have jurisdiction.

 

I just checked the FCA register: https://register.fca.org.uk/

 

Cleo AI Ltd is definitely on there. When I check 'Trading/Brand name' it shows the 'effective from' date as 09/04/2018.

 

I complained to the ombudsman on 28/10/2018. This is the reply I received:.

Quote

 

..The Financial Ombudsman Service only looks at complaints between financial companies that are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and their customers.

I can see that your complaint is against Cleo Al Limited. Unfortunately we won’t be able to look into this complaint because Cleo Al Limited isn’t a regulated company.

In moving forward you could try and contact Cleo Al Limited and ask about their complaints procedure so you could follow it accordingly.

I’m sorry I’m unable to help any further.'

 

Kind regards

 

[name of investigator] | investigator | 

 

 

Why would the ombudsman tell me Cleo AI Ltd is not covered?

Edited July 4, 2019 by parity4all

[parity4all]

I've left google review. couldn't help noticing that my usual contact (I use 'usual' in the loosest possible way here as I've not heard from him for months) has also a left a review with the following:

 

Quote

Cleo is awesome - helps me keep track of my spending in a useful and fun way. The insights are great and I'm loving the auto-save feature too.

 

Presumably he's left the review as a customer?, The review is a year old. I definitely had a few email exchanges with him in June 2018, so he was working for Cleo back then for sure.
 

[parity4all]

Okay. Subject Access Request (SAR) lodged with cleo. Will keep you posted on what happens. 

 

Btw word of warning about the financial ombudsman service (FOS). Simply put. It's a circus.

 

Most of the people working there have no clue what they are doing (apart from the one or two exceptions). I've made about 20 complaints over the past 10 years or so. Only one was handled properly. That was the first ever complaint I made (back in 2010/11). Every single complaint since then has included a service complaint (sometimes one complaint would have several service complaints during the course of the process).

 

For example, my latest complaint against Marks and Spencer (M&S) Bank, spent months in queue. I sensed there was something wrong and contacted the FOS. It turned out it was put in the wrong queue. FOS apologised, paid compensations and said they will start investigating immediately. 

They did this. I received email from investigator immediately. But it turns out that he either can't read, won't read, or don't read. Huge chunks of what I've said in the complaint form was completely missed. Seems he doesn't understand that credit cards have something called interest AND fees, because he kept going on about just interest.

 

He asked the bank for the terms and conditions when the bank had already sent them. When I asked how come, he tried to cover it up by saying 'upon fully reviewing your case file I've now seen that it was not necessary to ask for the terms'. Heavens forbid. There are so many complaints waiting months/years to be resolved and he is duplicating work!

 

I've seen in another forum that FOS allocates the best adjudicator's for those complaining for the first time. I can see truth in this. Because after my first time I've come across some real numpties. If it's your first time you may be lucky. Otherwise don't bother guys. Take it somewhere where common sense rules. 

[parity4all]

On 04/07/2019 at 11:10, parity4all said:

 

I just checked the FCA register: https://register.fca.org.uk/

 

Cleo AI Ltd is definitely on there. When I check 'Trading/Brand name' it shows the 'effective from' date as 09/04/2018.

 

I complained to the ombudsman on 28/10/2018. This is the reply I received:.

 

Why would the ombudsman tell me Cleo AI Ltd is not covered?

update: 

 

I emailed the FOS staff member (who said Cleo isn’t a regulated company) to complain (make service complaint). The email was returned undeliverable. Tried again, same result. Forwarded my service complaint to the FOS generic email address. Didn't receive any acknowledgement within 14 days (which is FOS policy for acknowledging service complaints).

 

So, contacted my MP (Member of Parliament). After he wrote to FOS, they agreed to look at my complaint again. A senior adjudicator (SA) contacted me and said Cleo hadn't actually been regulated at the time I complained to FOS. They've only become regulated since 01 March 2019. 

I checked the FCA website again and although the the Trading/brand name ‘effective from’ date says:  09/04/2018 the 'Current PSD Status' date under 'regulators' is showing 01/03/2019.

 

the SA liased with Cleo on several occasions and managed to resolve it.

Rather than the £60 I was claiming as compensation, Cleo had agreed to pay £100 compensation in 2-3 working days.

However, it was never actioned.

 

I contacted the SA again.

He chased-up with CLeo.

Turned out the Cleo staff member handling the payment had gone on leave.

 

Now that he was back, I was told payment will come through in 2 working days.

This time it did come through.

All's well that ends well. 

[dx100uk]

hey so we can mark this won?

well done

 

[parity4all]

On 10/07/2019 at 23:34, parity4all said:

Okay. Subject Access Request ( SAR) lodged with cleo. Will keep you posted on what happens. 

 

.............

 

SAR Update: 

 

SAR lodged on 08 July 2019.

 

Cleo didn't respond to my SAR within the statutory one calendar month, so I complained to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) on 14 August 2019. 

 

The next day (15 August 2019) Cleo responds to my SAR message, with one of the strangest emails I've ever seen:

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We are reviewing this internally in response to a reach out from the Financial Ombudsman Service.  We feel we felt that we had closed this complaint with our previous responses. 

We will let you know when we have an answer from them on how to proceed.

 

 

How on earth can a SAR be confused with the complaint with the FOS?..Has Cleo ever seen a SAR before?

 

I've sent many a SAR before and used the same template. It clearly mentioned the personal data I was requesting. i.e. all personal data held under my name or reference.

 

BTW, heads up on personal information complaints to the ICO. My complaint lodged on 14 August is still 'awaiting allocation'. Looks like ICO is dealing with heavy backlogs.

[parity4all]

8 hours ago, dx100uk said:

hey so we can mark this won?

well done

 

Of course. However, only for the purposes of keeping the same format ongoing. 

 

In all honesty, common sense, decency, reasonableness, fairness were the real victors. So, really, it's a win-win for both sides.

Thanks to everyone for their valuable insights and encouragement.

 

p.s. once marked, can we still keep the thread open? I can then update the outcome of the SAR request as and when.

[dx100uk]

We dont close threads

 

Dx