Alliance & Leicester (merged)

big_chief wrote: »

i had/have an account with these people.i decided to go back to my old bank.
didnt cancel a direct debit,but there was a little money left in the account,albeit not enough to cover.it put me £1.02 overdrawn.as i was no longer using this account,i never checked on it, until i got a statement saying that i was now £100 overdrawn.they are charging me £5 per day.ive just checked on line,and i am now £187 overdrawn.
is this right or are they taking the p***s out of me.can i try to claim this back or not

I made a post earlier in the month to say they had done the same thing to me. A payment was taken by amazon.com from A&L because my main accounts card had expired and I'd not changed it.

I phoned them up and had it out with the person I got through to. They gave me the usual 'You should have been keeping an eye on your account, it's up to you to make sure you are in credit and not us.'

I then asked to speak to their manager as I wished to make a complaint. The complaint was that I found it amazing that they don't send a letter like the other banks a day or two after you go unauthorised overdrawn and it would appear it is their new way of extorting money out of us.' but the manager didn't give me a chance to say that, he was apologetic and said he would pass it through to the charges team and put a note on saying he thinks it should be canceled as it was the first time it had happened.

I received a letter a week later saying the charges were correct and they were sending the letter to give me tips on how to make sure it doesn't happen again. I have checked my account today and the £130 was taken out... but then returned. so it would appear they were kind to me.

So I'm going to take my last tenner out and bin the account.

I think if you deal with someone on the phone they feel more obliged to say they will do what they can to help, if you remain polite but stick to your guns, compared to sending a letter in. It's easy for an oik to say no to a bit of paper.

SUCCESS!

I've just had a response back from Alliance and Leicester regarding the fees they had applied to my account. Just to recap I was charged £55 for going overdrawn by about £100 for around 12 hours. I thought it was a little steep and luckily the power of the written word managed to make them agree with me. I've been refunded £50! More than I'd hoped for really, having originally been offered a £25 refund when I called up to complain just over a week ago.

So it just proves that even when dealing with huge corporations it pays to take the time to write a letter. I'm very chuffed, thanks Alliance and Leicester.

hi all,

is there any update on the OFT court case?

I'm still waiting to hear from A&L regarding my bank charges they STILL have on a 'stay'

Is it worth getting in touch with them, logging it with MCOL or do we just have to sit and wait it out??

x

I took out an account with A&L following recommendations from MSE, Money Supermarket etc. worst mistake I could have made. In the last 2 months due to changes to their charging system (which in my opinion is worse than ever) I have managed to incur £235 in charges!! In Nov I didn't realise I'd gone over my overdraft by £3 so got charged £25, then my boyfriend and my standing orders for £1900 went it then in December I went £2 over my overdraft, that cost me £25, I paid in £48 to cover it and have a bit of breathing space, I wasn't expecting any further debits but unfortunately had another £28 debit which took me £8 over, that incurred me another £25, in addition the £2 over I'd gone in Nov cost me a further £60 as I didn't realise for 8 days so that took me even further and then I have another £65 due out as I hadn't realised I'd gone that £8 over for 13 days - surprising they're charging me for non working days over too even though I can't pay any money in over those days.
I have just had a conversation with the bank regarding the £65 due out, they have given me a date of 29th to withdraw their charges and my standing order has come out of my other account as it does every month, the deposit date into A&L varies from 27th to 31st of every month so I can't be sure it will hit them by their date of charging me. Their answer is tough!! They wont change the charge date, wont stop me getting a further account. I've said I can't govern the date that it appears and they said it takes up to 4 working dates.
I find it unbelievable that with the test case going on now that they aren't trying to help people out a little more. I find it unfair that they have a set charge for £25 everytime you go over then also charge again for the amount of days. Not only that they'll charge you for charges that take you over!!

I will be looking for other accounts. I have been impressed with Lloyds TSB recently, they have a texting facility that for £2 a month they'll text you weekly your balance and also warn you if you go over your agreed overdraft. Not only that they give you until 3pm that day to pay in the funds. Their charges are £15 per day but capped and if they charge you and it sends you over your overdraft then you don't get charged again. Its a little fairer, just in the sense that they try to help and don't have a done give a tss attitude like A&L.

I did try and complain about the charges, they promised me twice someone would be in contact, but I had to chase it then finally got a standard 2 page response about the test case. Nice personal touch wouldn't you say...

I'm going to send a letter requesting my money back, I know with the test case it wont go anywhere but at least it will be there.

Don't give up, just add their latest extortion to the list. Keep the statement
with details of their latest gouging as evidence when you reclaim it back.