Scotiabank to waive certain fees, charges amid recent service issues, but customers still frustrated

A full week after Scotiabank warned on its social media that some services would be unavailable during a four-day maintenance period, "a systems issue" has left some customers still unable to access their credit card account.

Those who were affected this week are looking for answers. 

The bank told customers last week that a set of scheduled maintenance activities would leave "some" credit card and line of credit services either unavailable or available on a limited basis from Nov. 8-12. 

But after customers subsequently reported a myriad of problems continuing through Wednesday and Thursday, a bank spokesperson told CBC News on Thursday that Scotiabank would waive overlimit fees and credit card interest charges with payment due dates of Monday to Thursday. 

The bank has since extended the grace period to include payment due dates on Friday, according to a notice on the bank's website Friday.

The notice stated that following the scheduled maintenance, the bank "encountered a systems issue that created system slowness and has made it difficult for some clients to see their credit card accounts online or access banking services."

"We apologize sincerely for the inconvenience this issue has caused and will provide an update once this issue is fully resolved."

The note on the website didn't provide detail on the number of customers affected.

Service has seemingly been restored to many of the affected customers as of Friday afternoon, with outage reports peaking at a little over 300 on third-party outage tracker Downdetector, compared to a peak of more than 1,500 reports on the site on Wednesday morning. 

But answers are scarce for those wondering how maintenance turned into a multi-day outage. And for those still waiting to have service restored, the lack of transparency is upsetting.

'Up to seven days'

Stephanie Carrillo first knew something was wrong when she was in the checkout line at the grocery store on Tuesday. 

Her Scotiabank debit card and credit card, the only cards she had on her at that time, were both declined.  

"I had to leave the groceries behind," she told CBC News on Friday, adding that it was "embarrassing" and "unsettling."

The Toronto resident found out that it wasn't a fluke when she went to hop on the transit system the next morning and swiped her credit card to pay the fare, and it still didn't work.

Luckily, an employee let her go through anyway, she said. 

"During my lunch hour at work, I called Scotia," she said. "I think the fourth time I asked, like, when will this issue be resolved? That's when I was told it can take up to seven days."

One of the most distressing parts for her was reading a statement issued by Scotiabank on Wednesday, in which it stated that the outages had no impact on point-of-sale transactions. 

"That is absolutely not the case," she said. "There hasn't been impact in terms of point of sale like through Uber and any other things like that where I pay online. But in terms of in-person at the cash register, that is not working and that's also a point of sale purchase."

On Thursday, she was finally able to make it to a branch in person. The teller confirmed that the issue with her cards was connected to the ongoing outages and told her that she couldn't issue her a new debit card because of the outage, leaving a cash withdrawal as her only option. 

She said her access to her online banking – the issue that has plagued most affected customers – has been "intermittent."

"I could see it at one point and the next hour it's gone and then it's back," Carrillo said. 

CBC News has reached out to Scotiabank about whether other customers have reported  issues with their point-of-sale transactions.  

'Not taking accountability'

Aron Rogers, a Scotiabank customer based in Dartmouth, N.S., told CBC News that he didn't regain access to his accounts until midway through Friday and that he still can't see recent transactions. 

He had first noticed an issue with his credit card access on Tuesday. He said he hasn't heard from Scotiabank, though he sent an email to customer service. 

"Customers would be more understanding if they knew what is going on," he said. 

Another customer from Dartmouth, N.S., said that someone responding from Scotiabank's customer service account on X argued with him when he asked to get a fee refunded after he was charged for insufficient funds while he couldn't access his accounts. 

Blake Hebb shared with CBC News a screenshot of an interaction with Scotiabank's customer service account on X in which the customer service representative said that fees would be applicable despite Hebb's explanation of the situation. 

He said that once he moved from X to the bank's live chat on the bank website, he was quickly assured that he'd get a refund. "Guess I should have started there," he said. 

The lack of clear communication from Scotiabank is one of the sticking points for Carrillo. Even if service outages are temporary, it's disruptive for customers to receive no warning outside of a single social media post ahead of major maintenance, she pointed out, and to not know when services could return. 

"It's just really upsetting that they're, at the very least, they're not taking accountability," she said. 

"Once this is all settled, I do plan on closing my accounts for sure."