Barclays Reserve

Extant

Uncertain wrote: »

So, if I have one pound in my account (without Reserve) and I write out a cheque for a pound you will pay it. You will do whatever work is involved and not charge me a penny?

However, if I make out the cheque for two pounds you won't pay it (fair enough) but you will charge me eight pounds for not doing so!

How, exactly, is this worked out?

It is a cost representative of overall costs incurred in the process of unpaids and associated processes, it does not relate specifically to the amount of your payment.

SparciaM

at the end of the day, why don't you just stay in credit and actually spend what you earn and not more?!? It's not that hard.!.

Uncertain

SparciaM wrote: »

at the end of the day, why don't you just stay in credit and actually spend what you earn and not more?!? It's not that hard.!.

Well, as a matter of fact I do but that is not the point of this thread!!

Having had this "device" foisted onto me without asking, I wanted to clearly understand it. Then, in the unlikely event that I used it (either by accident or choice) I would know how much I was going to be ripped off (sorry, charged).

Extant

Uncertain wrote: »

Well, as a matter of fact I do but that is not the point of this thread!!

Having had this "device" foisted onto me without asking, I wanted to clearly understand it. Then, in the unlikely event that I used it (either by accident or choice) I would know how much I was going to be ripped off (sorry, charged).

BarclaysManager wrote: »

Also, since I haven't already answered it previously - the introduction of Personal Reserve was a change to our terms and conditions. It formalized the existing unauthorized overdrafts arrangement. As such, it was an opt out, and we acted in accordance with our existing terms and conditions (clause 13) and with the Banking Code (see section 6) in notifying all customers.

All customers were mailed starting June 9, with "mop up" mailings carrying on through to July 9, with the service starting on August 18.

Perhaps I did not make this clear enough - because the service was such a fundamental change to our terms and conditions, and because it was formalizing an existing system, then an "opt in" was not appropriate to the situation. We acted in accordance with our terms and conditions and with the banking code.

The average customer is better off under the new system. Take, for a example, a customer who pays out for a direct debit that will taken him over his agreed limit. Under the old system, his direct debit would bounce and he would be charged £35. As soon as that charge was levied, he would owe debit interest there on. The next day a cheque he wrote bounces - another £35 unpaid fee and debit interest.

Barclays charges: £70 plus any relevant interest. Other charges? If the payments were to a credit card, he might suffer another £12 from them. So there's a total of £94 of charges for the customer potentially.

Under reserve: both payments are made. He is charged £22 for each five days he is in his reserve. No debit interest is levied. No other charges. To even get close to the old style of charging, he would need to be overdrawn for a month.

Don't like that? Take off the reserve. Both your payments will bounce, and we'll charge you £16. Still cheaper.

Don't like that either? Come and talk to us first and increase your agreed overdraft to cover your short falls and to have a safety net. Or, you know, just learn to manage your money.

blenks

Ok so i have an issue with this too. I went over my overdraft by £4 on christmas eve because i wasn't aware a phone bill was coming out. now before i would have been charged £8 which means all I would have to pay back is £12, however now I have to pay back £26, which since I am only just scraping by as a student is kind of a lot. I have been with barclays since i was 11 and now is the first time i feel like they are screwing me over. I think they might have pushed me to move banks since all of them seem to actually abide by FSA guidelines on charges, not avoid it by calling them 'fees'...

Extant

blenks wrote: »

Ok so i have an issue with this too. I went over my overdraft by £4 on christmas eve because i wasn't aware a phone bill was coming out. now before i would have been charged £8 which means all I would have to pay back is £12, however now I have to pay back £26, which since I am only just scraping by as a student is kind of a lot. I have been with barclays since i was 11 and now is the first time i feel like they are screwing me over. I think they might have pushed me to move banks since all of them seem to actually abide by FSA guidelines on charges, not avoid it by calling them 'fees'...

Please read the thread and see previous replies: if you are an existing customer that has been with us since before Reserve was introduced, an opt-out mailing was conducted, along with advice through all direct channels (telephone banking, internet, etc.) If you had opted out, you still would have been charged £8.

blenks

i have read previous replies actually, and my point was i know i would have been charged £8 and that is far more reasonable than £22. Shame on Barclays for disappointing so many of it's customers.

ShelfStacker_3

blenks wrote: »

i have read previous replies actually, and my point was i know i would have been charged £8 and that is far more reasonable than £22. Shame on Barclays for disappointing so many of it's customers.

...how are they disappointing its customers, if the customers were given the option of being charged £8 instead and didn't take it, or in some cases even care enough to read the letter? Do they have to spoonfeed you everything?

Extant

blenks wrote: »

i have read previous replies actually, and my point was i know i would have been charged £8 and that is far more reasonable than £22. Shame on Barclays for disappointing so many of it's customers.

Actually, intial acceptance of Personal Reserve was around 90%, falling to 82% in the month following introduction. That drop is obviously from those people who never bothered to read their letters and then finally cottoned on to the change.

By and large the most complaints around Personal Reserve have come from customer realizing that we removed any discretionary limit for the staff to refund the fees - in the days of charges we let them refund up to £100 a day at their discretion, and that is now gone.

If you want to go overdrawn, we'll now provide that option as a service - not as an unspoken ability or an "unarranged overdraft." If you want a safety net in place you can use our product or you can get an overdraft.

If you don't want our product and you don't have an overdraft - that's fine. We'll bounce your payments and charge you £8 - a third cheaper than that magical £12 number.

blenks

Hmmmmm. Another point, they should really train their staff better, the woman i spoke to today didn't have a clue about anything to do with the reserve, all i got was a phone number since she couldn't answer ANY of my questions :rolleyes:

Edit: oh and what is the £22 charge actually for? My mum asked me today and I couldn't think of anything...