Make a Complaint

1/ Start with your bank

Before bringing your complaint to ADRBO, you must first bring your complaint to your bank and go through the bank’s internal complaint process (usually Branch – Customer Care/Office of the President/other second level – Complaints Appeals Office, though each bank has different designated levels). If you are not satisfied with how the bank has dealt with your complaint internally, then you can escalate to ADRBO.

ADRBO cannot entertain complaints until the internal bank complaint process has been exhausted. If you have yet to do so, please follow the process listed below: 

For the Bank of Nova Scotia (including Scotia Trust):

Step One:

Your Branch OR

Customer Contact Centre 1-800-472-6842

 

Step Two:

Escalated Customer Concerns Office, Scotiabank

44 King Street West

Toronto ON  M5H 1H1

 

Toll Free:  1-877-700-0043

Fax:  1-877-700-0045

Email:  escalatedconcerns@scotiabank.com 

 

Step Three:

Scotiabank Customer Complaints Appeals Office (CCAO)

44 King Street West

Toronto ON  M5H 1H1

 

Fax:  1-866-787-7061

Email: ccao@scotiabank.com

Website

For DCB:

STEP 1 – DCBank – Client Care Centre
736 Meridian Road NE
Calgary, Alberta
T2A 2N7
Attention: Client Care Centre Manager
Phone: 1.844.836.6040
Fax: 1.855.852.0391
Email: complaints@dcbank.ca

STEP 2 –  Appeal to the Complaints Appeal Officer
DCBank
736 Meridian Road NE
Calgary, Alberta
T2A 2N7
Attention: Complaints Appeal Officer
Email: appeals@dcbank.ca

Website

For NBC:

National Bank of Canada

Client Complaint Appeal Office

Toll-Free: 1-888-300-9004

Email: complaintappeal@nbc.ca

Website

For RBC:

If you are an existing client you can use RBC’s Message Centre within Online Banking , visit a Branch or call at 1-800-769-2511 

You may also visit RBC’s complaint website: rbc.com/customercare

Website

For Tangerine:

Step One:

Tangerine Associates

1-888-464-3232 (English) 

Email:  clientservices@tangerine.ca

Step Two:

Client Response Group Tangerine

3389 Steeles Avenue East

Toronto, ON  M2H 0A1

Fax: 416-758-5297 or toll-free 1-877-505-3240

Email: theclientresponsegroup@tangerine.ca

Step Three:

Tangerine Bank

Customer Complaints Appeals Office

44 King Street West Toronto ON  M5H 1H1

Phone: 1-800-785-8772

Email:  ccao@scotiabank.com

Website

For TD:

Step 1  – TD Customer Service

Toll-Free: 1-833-259-5980

Email: customer.service@td.com

In Person: visit one of our branches

 

Step 2 – TD Customer Care
– Ask the individual you are dealing with in Step 1 to escalate on your behalf.
– Escalate the complaint directly with Customer Care, using the following contact information:

Customer Care

PO Box 193

Toronto-Dominion Centre

Toronto, ON  M5K 1H6

Toll-Free: 1-888-661-9029
Email: customer.care@td.com

Step 3 – TD SCCO

Senior Customer Complaints Office (SCCO)

PO Box 1 

Toronto-Dominion Centre

Toronto ON  M5K 1A2

Toll-Free: 1-888-361-0319 or 416-982-4884

Fax: 1-866-891-2410 or 416-983-3460

Email: td.scco@td.com 

Website

 

 

2/ If You Are Not Satisfied With the Result, Contact ADRBO

You may have a right to an independent and confidential review of your complaint at our office.

Complaint Intake–“Getting Ready”

To get started with submitting your complaint, verify if you have received:

  • a final written response from the bank’s internal appeal office (final decision letter); or
  • a letter from the bank indicating that 56 days have passed since the complaint was received by the bank or otherwise indicating your 56-day date (56-day expiration letter); or
  • you have documentation (i.e. your initial complaint or email to the bank) that is dated and shows you brought your complaint to the bank more than 56 days ago (56-day documentation), and you are not satisfied. 

In order to proceed, ADRBO requires 1 out of 3 of the possible documents above. If you have 1 of these 3 documents, you may contact ADRBO for an independent and confidential review of your complaint. If you’re unsure  please reach out to the ADRBO’s bilingual intake team at  contact@bankingombuds.ca or 1-800-941-3655.

Deadline

Please note that, if you have a final decision letter from the bank’s internal appeal office, you must return your completed document package to our office within 180 days (6 months) from the date of the final decision letter in order for ADRBO to investigate. Otherwise, ADRBO may investigate a matter submitted between 6 months and 1 year after the bank’s internal appeal office’s final decision only if it is considered fair and reasonable to do so (requiring sufficiently compelling explanation for the delay). ADRBO will never investigate when a complaint is submitted more than one year beyond the bank’s internal ombudsman’s final decision.

Complaint Intake–Submission

To submit a complaint to ADRBO, download and complete the intake documents. Send the completed and signed intake forms to ADRBO by mail, fax (1-877-803-5127) or email. If you have any questions while you are preparing your documents, you can email the email address above, or call ADRBO’s bilingual intake team at 1-800-941-3655.

Along with your intake documents, please include the initial documentation outlined above in “getting ready” (a copy of the bank internal appeal office’s final decision letter or the 56-day expiration letter, or your 56-day documentation). Please also include copies of any supporting documents (any documents you think could be relevant to our review, such as your relevant agreements, agreement renewals, statements, receipts, screenshots, etc.). Please note that complaints are not considered “submitted” until all required documentation has been provided to our office. ADRBO endeavours to respond to all communications within 3 business days. For further information, please see our FAQ page.

Review and Investigation

After ADRBO receives your full complaint package, your complaint file will be reviewed by a member of our Ombuds Team who may: ask questions, review your rights and responsibilities, request evidence from you or your participating bank, and may provide access to resolution services at no cost without any requirement for legal representation. If your file is assigned for further investigation, you will be notified and subsequently contacted by the investigator. If we decide that your case is outside of our mandate for further investigation, we will let you know within 30 days from the day we have all the information necessary to make that decision, and we will explain the reasons for the decision.

ADRBO Investigation

All ADRBO investigations must meet standards of fairness, independence, and competence. This means:

  • both parties will have a full opportunity to present their case and evidence;
  • the investigator has no vested interest in the outcome and is free of any conflicts of interest; and
  • all relevant rules will be applied to the facts rationally and justifiably, taking everything into account that ought to be considered.

The investigator will look at all of your documents and the bank’s documents. The investigator will also interview you and relevant bank personnel. You will receive ADRBO’s written decision, including reasons for the decision, within 120 days (4 months) from when the investigator obtains all the necessary information required to assess your case.

Final Report

The final investigative report you receive will include ADRBO’s recommendation. Banks are not forced to follow our recommendations, but we have never had a bank refuse to follow one. If a bank does ever decide to refuse to follow a recommendation, we must publicly describe it on our website (but we would remove all information identifying you so no one would know you were involved and your privacy is protected).

3/ If you have a complaint about ADRBO

If you have concerns related to ADRBO’s compliance with the Complaints (Banks, Authorized Foreign Banks and External Complaints Bodies) Regulations or ADRBO’s own policies, or general concerns related to ADRBO’s investigative process, you may contact the ADRBO Compliance Officer. For further information, please see the Compliance Program Pamphlet and the Request for Review Form.

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