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ABBEY Overdraft charges - Check this months statements!

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PaulLewis222
PaulLewis222 Posts: 8 Forumite
in Reclaim bank & credit card charges
Hi all....

Got my bank statement through from Abbey yesterday and noticed they were charging me 76 pence for Instant overdraft charges.

Odd i thought, as I haven't gone overdrawn for a long, long time....

So I called up and was told that there had been a "system error" and that lots of customers, they don't know how many, had been incorrectly charged for interest on their overdrafts.

Why wasn't I told I asked? "We don't know how many it affects so we don't know where to start - we are refunding the charges for everyone who calls in...."

Now - it's only 76p, and I only picked it up as it was very easy for me to notice due to not being overdrawn. If I had been overdrawn, would I have picked up that this was an error? I doubt it... I was even half considering not calling up as it was *just* 76p...

However, if it's such a large number of account holders that are affected that Abbey can't call everyone up, then there is a very good chance this little episode will result in a very nice profit for Abbey.....:mad:

So - moral of this little tale - GO CHECK YOUR ABBEY STATEMENTS for overdraft charges made in error......
«13456

Comments

  • natweststaffmember
    natweststaffmember Posts: 12,063 Forumite
    Think this is worth a bump up the MSE pages as it is interesting stuff
    I have not worked for NatWest Bank since February 2009

    This username is no longer active.
  • treecity
    treecity Posts: 98 Forumite
    Hi all,

    I was pleasantly surprised to find this thread after another long call with Abbey.

    Between December 10th 2007 and January 8th 2008 I was charged 14p for advanced overdraft interest and 5p for instant overdraft interest.

    Between March 10th 2008 and April 8th 2008 I was charged £1.08 for advanced overdraft interest and 91p for instant overdraft interest.

    Note that my account has been in credit for at least the last year.

    The first time I ignored it becuase the cost of the call would be more than the charge but having just received my latest statement and £1.99 charges I had to ring them.

    The customer service person tried telling me they were right to charge me, even though I was not overdrawn. He then tried to tell me that it was a charge for having the overdraft facility!

    It was only when I told him that they either fix it or I'll contact the Financial Ombudsmen that he agreed to reverse the fees but at no point did he admit any wrongdoing or error on Abbey's part.

    Question is, how many people are not reporting this or even noticing this "error"?

    I shall now write and complain to Abbey as they charge me for not doing anything wrong and then I have to make lengthy phone calls which cost as much as the charges...
  • jill2002
    jill2002 Posts: 272 Forumite
    Although you say you weren't overdrawn - check your statement carefully. I had the same thing with a client this week - charged 6p in Instant and Advance overdraft charges.

    The reason for his charges were - he paid a cheque into his account which did not clear for four days. He then did a transaction on his card that was authorised and taken off his available balance, but not actually taken out of his account until the day the cheque cleared.
    I am a Mortgage Adviser
    You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a Mortgage Adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice.
  • treecity
    treecity Posts: 98 Forumite
    jill2002 wrote: »
    Although you say you weren't overdrawn - check your statement carefully. I had the same thing with a client this week - charged 6p in Instant and Advance overdraft charges.

    The reason for his charges were - he paid a cheque into his account which did not clear for four days. He then did a transaction on his card that was authorised and taken off his available balance, but not actually taken out of his account until the day the cheque cleared.

    Thanks but I am absolutely certain I was not overdrawn at any time. In fact, I wasn't even close to being overdrawn.

    I have money (bank giro credits) going into my account almost every day and I log into my account at least twice a day. This is why I was so surprised to see charges for overdraft facility and on two seperate occassions.
  • emmagrace2100
    emmagrace2100 Posts: 1 Newbie
    Treecity - you are right to check all your bank statements for all charges etc Abbey are experiencing major problems with their systems, many customers are writing to Abbey to complain. If you experience any problem with your Abbey product, no matter how small, I suggest you write & complain, for your time & inconvenience you will most likely receive monetary compensation. (this will prob take around 6 weeks)
  • treecity
    treecity Posts: 98 Forumite
    I'm glad I wrote a letter of complaint to Abbey about the above as the call center customer services rep told me the incorrect charges would not be debited from my account and I just noticed that they have. Abbey is a joke and if I didn't have so many accounts with them and my business as well I'd certainly change.
  • susiesusiesue
    susiesusiesue Posts: 15 Forumite
    I have just been on the phone 3 times and tried to sort out these high fees,,,,in the end they said the overdraft charged have been increased and a letter went out in the post on the 1st May.
    My charges have shot up from £2 a month to £7.16 this month,,,,,
  • treecity
    treecity Posts: 98 Forumite
    Abbey have written to me, admitted they had a technical fault, even those this has happened twice, and compensated me £15, which includes the amount over charged. If it happens again I shall definitel report this to the Financial Ombudsman as what is most worrying is that I had to notify them of an error they are aware of. How much money have they made out of these technicals faults where their customers have not even noticed?
  • bargains83
    bargains83 Posts: 404 Forumite
    I'm having serious problems with abbey. I've recieved a statement with a whopping £98 in charges due to come out of my account next week. This consists of an unpaid direct debit fee and loads of advance overdraft fees.

    The thing is I have never spent over my authorised overdraft, Abbey includes an authorised overdraft on the available balance in online banking and I ALWAYS take care to keep within this. I.E I always make sure my available balance is about £500, even though any direct debits I have to come out are never over £100 each.

    The problem stems back to a debit card processing problem, when I use my debit card the money comes off the available balance immediately. The account balance stays the same. Then 2/3 days later these show on the statement and deduct from the account balance, the problem is they are also deducting transactions from the available balance for a second time leaving me in minus figures. Its as if they are not clearing the initial debit card authorisations before processing them to the statement, either that or a flaw in their software is adding things somewhere it shouldn't!.

    Here is a snippit from my statement in E-Banking:

    Why reverse a direct debit when clearly the money WAS in my account!, I'm going to have to write to them!, its a joke.

    <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" summary="This table shows your statements"><TBODY><TR class=even><TD class=dateAlign>26 Apr 08</TD><TD class=descriptionAlign>DIRECT DEBIT REVERSAL MANDATE NO 2 REFERENCE 4DGXXXXXXBPSBACKDATED</TD><TD class=amountAlign>48.00</TD><TD class=amountAlign></TD><TD class=amountAlign>811.52</TD></TR><TR class=odd><TD class=dateAlign>26 Apr 08</TD><TD class=descriptionAlign>CARD PAYMENT TO SKY ON 2008-04-24</TD><TD class=amountAlign></TD><TD class=amountAlign>10.00</TD><TD class=amountAlign>763.52</TD></TR><TR class=even><TD class=dateAlign>26 Apr 08</TD><TD class=descriptionAlign>CARD PAYMENT TO XTRA ON 2008-04-24</TD><TD class=amountAlign></TD><TD class=amountAlign>250.00</TD><TD class=amountAlign>773.52</TD></TR><TR class=odd><TD class=dateAlign>26 Apr 08</TD><TD class=descriptionAlign>CARD PAYMENT TO VIRGIN ON 2008-04-24</TD><TD class=amountAlign></TD><TD class=amountAlign>20.00</TD><TD class=amountAlign>1023.52</TD></TR><TR class=even><TD class=dateAlign>26 Apr 08</TD><TD class=descriptionAlign>CARD PAYMENT TO VIRGIN ON 2008-04-24</TD><TD class=amountAlign></TD><TD class=amountAlign>20.00</TD><TD class=amountAlign>1043.52</TD></TR><TR class=odd><TD class=dateAlign>25 Apr 08</TD><TD class=descriptionAlign>DIRECT DEBIT PAYMENT TO PAYPAL PAYMENT REFERENCE 4DGXXXXXXBPS, MANDATE NO 2</TD><TD class=amountAlign></TD><TD class=amountAlign>48.00</TD><TD class=amountAlign>1063.52



    </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
  • treecity
    treecity Posts: 98 Forumite
    Here I am again. New statement and more wrong fees. Abbey is a farce. I am now having to complain yet again. How can they get away with it?
This discussion has been closed.
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