Unauthorised Balance Transfer - Barclaycard

Zapp_from_Planet_Zogg

Wasn't sure if this was best placed in the 'warnings' section or here - apologies if I got the wrong one!

I have recently been diddled by an unauthorised balance transfer on my Barclaycard account.... this is the story so far:

I got a call out of the blue from Barclaycard with their agent saying.."we got cut off before we could complete the balance transfer details, there are just a few more questions..."

Well, that was news to me. I didn't want a balance transfer and I hadn't just been speaking to Barclaycard about not wanting one! So, I told the agent that there must be a mistake and that I didn't want a balance transfer. He sounded as bemused as me and that, I thought, was the end of that.

Thinking this all to be a bit odd, I called Barclaycard back to check if they had really just called me, or whether that was someone pretending to be them.

Result - relax. They did just call me. However, I was now the proud owner of a balance transfer for just under £4000. :eek:

After several phone calls through the Indian call centre, (and being asked exactly the same infuriating and mindless questions each time), I eventually got to speak to the 'fraud team' in the UK. My card was cancelled immediately and a replacement sent out.

Over a week later I am still waiting for the balance transfer to be removed from my account and notice now that interest is being charged to my account. My new statement just arrived and I also need to make the first 'payment' for this balance transfer next week! It adds just under £100 :eek: to what I need to pay (I clear my balance each month ).

Worryingly, since cancelling my card, I have also had 3 phone calls from Barclaycard asking if I have recently set up a balance transfer!

As I have very little faith in Barclaycard being capable of sorting this out themselves, (and trying to stay hot on the tails of the culprit) I did a bit of detective work on my own!

I quickly found out that the transfer came off a Lloyds TSB credit card (I also have the account number). So, I called Lloyds and told them what had happened. They confirmed that the transfer came from one of their accounts and are now 'looking in to it' from their end.

I have also reported this to my bank (current account) and all recent transactions are good. There are no unknown transactions on my credit card either so, on the face of it, this problem is entirely down to Barclaycard authorising a balance transfer on their own!

I have spent the last week flipping out over this and am now at a loss as to what to do to get this sorted quickly. I also think that Barclaycard have not really helped themselves (or me) here and I really feel like hitting them where it hurts and demanding some sort of compensation.

Luckily, all of this hasn't landed on my credit file yet - otherwise, I am in little doubt that my ongoing remortgage process would have been scuppered!

Has anyone here been in this situation? What do I do next??

Thanks

scisian

I'm sure someone else will be along soon who knows more about this kind of thing than me and can give you better advice.

But do you have the direct number to the fraud dept and have you tried calling them back yourself? I have always found it best to keep on at them as it is obviously in your interest to get this sorted quickly, as to them you are just another number.
I would personally call them up and demand that it is removed from your account/ account is frozen immediately.

I can't say I have the greatest confidence in Barclays. OH had fraud on his current account and lost all his wages (that was a tough month bill wise!) it then took them 2 months get the money back into his account! We've found they are good at spotting mistakes just not following through.

TAG

This isn't much help to you I know but when DH's Barclaycard was cloned and used in America it took Barclaycard over 4 months to refund just £50. And that was only because we kept on their case.

Barclaycard should however flag this as a dispute and freeze any interest. Make sure they do this. Also the BT amount should not be added to your min payment whilst it is in dispute/being investigated.

Keep a log of all calls you make to them. Dates, times, and names of who you spoke to. Plus copies of any correspondence.

Hope that helps a bit.

Zapp_from_Planet_Zogg

Thanks guys

I plan to call them again tomorrow about the minimum payment.

I read somewere that disputed transactions should be 'ringfenced' to allow the account to function with no effect from the disputed transaction..... will try that with them when I call.

HamiltonL

Sounds like the agent who performed a balance transfer did not do a decent security check on the original caller who authorised that BT.

Unfortunately BT's can take a few weeks to recall. You have the delay of a few days of the details being passed from the floor to the back office. Then the details usually have to be faxed off to the source of the BT (in this case Lloyds TSB) who then have to return the funds. Who knows how long they will take to reply? Then you have delays due to a backlog of enquries etc. However (unless the Fraud team have delayed this action until the investigation and fund recall is complete) Barclaycard should be able to knock off the interest on that BT without referring it to the back office.

Keep chasing it up Zapp and hopefully you'll get somewhere.