Barclaycard fraud - happened to you?

snoringunicorn

Bobblebob (love that username!) you should go back over this thread to find out the extremely varying lengths of time people have had to wait for refunds. Some had refunds in days, while others like Mike have hit a brick wall. It seems be completely random, but this is Barclaycard, and we are dealing with fraud carried out on cards held on another account: your experience with Halifax may be completely different.

I didn't think of the recorded delivery Mike....their letter does say *any costs and charges* so I don't see why not? I don't see the matter as finalised yet - I still have two complaint letters they haven't dealt with, and I have the forms from the Ombudsman now. (Mwahahahahahaa....)
Sleep tonight will NOT be a problem. I have a large bottle of something very alchoholic - er -something medicinal to celebrate the return to the nest of all that Moolah. Seeing as the Bozo who originally went on the spending spree spent most of it on Booze, I don't intend feeling guilty for night of Hedonistic Pleasure. :beer:

I will keep everyone posted of any progress on the Getting an Explanation front.

J

simmmy_2

Well done snoringunicorn

I'm still £59 out of pocket 4 days after CS at barclaycard said they would recredited the amount. I opened a Halifax card and went to verify it today and keyed in all the details on the phone only to be put through to a advisor who asked for certain letters of my password to which i gave them and my Name and address , i amswered them all, only to be asked for the 3 digets on the back of my card.So i told her no way are you getting that i have already keyed it in on the phone and there is no reason why you should be asking for it. Then she tells me she won't be using my details as she will lose her job .. hahaha.. you are still not getting it. So then i get a manager and i asked why do you need it after i had already keyed it in on the phone and she said it's part of the process, i said i'm sure it is but i have been hit once and not again and if you cannot verify the card after i have done all the above then to close the account.

I might be cutting my nose off to spite my face but they need to look at the way they operate.

cleo1_2

We also had an i24 card with Morgan Stanley which was taken over by Barclaycard. The old card became invalid on 22nd September and we shredded it. We also tried to use it on holiday and were told ther were insufficient funds. When we looked into it - £16,500 had been taken out on the INVALID card in Australia, 73 transactions some on the same day as we used the valis card in the UK. What is worse is that we pay by direct debit and Barclaycard assured us that they would not take the money from our account - of course they did and we are left with a massive overdraft. No one is giving us any adequate explanations - the card has clearly NOT been monitored. I think Barclaycard has had a huge problem with the hand over from Morgan stanley and they are not admitting to it. I would be very interested to hear if anyone else has had the same problems. Barclaycard has handled our situation extremely poorly.

snoringunicorn

cleo1 wrote: »

We also had an i24 card with Morgan Stanley which was taken over by Barclaycard. The old card became invalid on 22nd September and we shredded it. .....I would be very interested to hear if anyone else has had the same problems. Barclaycard has handled our situation extremely poorly.

Cleo1, the amounts are different, but the situation was the same with me, and the frauds I had were all in Australia (the whole story is posted earlier in this thread). I finally got my money back, after a month but it took a lot of effort and going straight for the virtual Barclaycard Jugular. My personal advice is to write a letter of complaint NOW, phone the financial ombudsman NOW, and phone Barclaycards fraud line NOW, before waiting for fraud Dispute forms that may or may not arrive. All the numbers and addresses you will need are posted in this thread, including the direct line through to Barclaycard fraud in the UK, so you won't have to deal with the callcentre. In your case it seems even more essential to get things moving, because Barclaycard have not only allowed the fraud to take place on a card you were unaware had been cancelled, but they have taken the money from you to settle it. I know it is an automated process, but that doesn't make it any better.

I rapidly learned that it is the customer who has to take all the action. He who shouts loudest gets results. Don't wait for letters to arrive, and when you send something to them, send it recorded (or registered, since some people have had problems with recorded delivery being delivered if you can believe it). Maybe your experience won't mirror mine - I sincerely hope not.

Good luck, and post here if you need moral support. :)

Julie

cleo1_2

Thank you very much for your advice Julie. Really kind of you to take the time to write and help us. We have spent hours on the phone trying to sort this out. We have completed the form and sent it in and they have agreed to refund the money ( but we are not holding our breath!).
The reason I posted the details is because we too (like your husband!) believe that this is a much bigger problem than Barclaycard are admitting to. This is an expensive credit card with '100% fraud protetion' - but they have completely failed to notice or see these fraudulent transactions on an invalid card! We would very much like to hear from anyone else who has been affected by this.
(By the way - was your card used in 'Coles' in Australia?)

snoringunicorn

My card was used in a variety of shops in a Place called Castle Hill, NSW. the bozo went on a spending spree for three days. He/She/It even bought some shelves, presumably to store all the booze they bought (£2500.00 worth of assorted alcohol)/ I was so incensed that I phoned some of the shops up to find out what had happened! The purchases were made in person, and thank heavens I can prove I was in the UK at the time...I quite expected Barclaycard to ask me do that. When I first called the call centre the woman I spoke to said she could see no unusual spending on my account. (Heck, I am ALWAYS having wild parties with all my mates in Oz!!)

Julie

KennyVader

Well I finally have a "your account has been closed and we acknowledge the balance is zero" letter from Barclaycard about a month after I wrote to them, but no apology or attempt to to explain any of their incompetencies that I listed in my letter to them.

I am just glad to be free of them, and all the horror stories that people are posting here. The letter clearly says they have blocked the old MS card number and the number of the Barclaycard that I never received, so if anything does happen, it'll be entirely their problem to sort out.

snoringunicorn

KennyVader wrote: »

Well I finally have a "your account has been closed and we acknowledge the balance is zero" letter ...

That is great news, Good Bye and Good <insert words of choice>!:j

I'm not quite at that stage, I AM going to get a letter out of them if I can. Just because I am feeling bloody minded and have the time and inclination to keep on and on and on like a mosquito at them. I'm not sure if the financial ombudsman can help now, since the money has been refunded, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Julie

cos_2

I just got an email from Barclaycard today about latest statement available, and it shows my account is now in credit. :beer:

Last month the account had a transaction of over £3000 taken for a Saudi Arabian company and I immediately called BC. The transaction was dated 6th October, was taken from my wife's Morgan Stanley card (I presumed it was closed as BC had already issued their new cards and I'd activated them).

The chap at the call centre (Indian) was excellent: talked me through what he was doing to report the fraud and what would happen next - get the disclaimer forms through the post. I felt reassured that things were being sorted out. :T

A couple of days later I remembered I had a Direct Debit set up to take full payment - horror! There was no way they could take three grand from my current account, so I called up to change it to minimum. I recognised that the transaction was 'in dispute' and I probably needed to make a payment.

Well, my first call lasted 12 minutes before they hung up, and I spoke with seven (7) people. I was told there was no DD, then I was transferred to the 'correct' department, and so on. I then decided to call their lost card number, gave my details to the person who answered, and he immediately transferred me - I didn't even get the chance to explain why I was calling!:mad:

Eventually, I paid the minimum through my bank...

A day or so later I got a letter from the head of customer relations explaining that my Direct Debit had been transferred to my new BC account?!?!?!?!?!? I replied with a fairly annoyed letter, asking them to explain why I was told the DD had been cancelled, I couldn't set up a new one, but was now informed it was in place. I also complained about the call centre and continuously being transferred from pillar to post.

The good thing is, within about 4 weeks, BC have refunded the fraud and all is well, and I congratulate them for sorting that out for me quite quickly:j.

Good luck to everyone else who's had problems.

snoringunicorn

You might find that getting the fraudulent transactions refunded isn't the end of the matter. The issues I have are ongoing, because of the complaint I have made to Barclaycard insisting on an explanation for the appalling customer service, and also how the whole thing was allowed to happen on a supposedly *cancelled* card in the first place. I've had two (form) letters from them in the last few days, telling me that I can expect a response by December 3rd. I suspect this is their official response to the Financial Ombudsman writing to them.

However, I recently applied for another card, intending to cancel my Barclaycard as soon as all the hassle was over. I found out today that this request has been declined - and when I asked why I was told because of recent issues with my credit report. I was advised to get a copy of it ASAP. I realise I could have waited and not paid very much to see a copy, but with all the hassle of the last month, I paid up front (with another card!) and ordered a copy of a full credit report. To my horror, I was informed there were problems with the report (the actual words were *there is a block on this report* ). I have to call them tomorrow to discuss the problems in more detail. This has become a real nightmare, since I know that even in the current financial crunch, I have always been a really good credit risk, and have never had any problem in applying for *anything*. I have no doubt that the current issues and *block* are related to the Barclaycard fraud - doubtless some sort of flag has been raised on the credit report. If that is all it is, and it is merely a question of confirming I am who I say I am, then fair enough....if however the Barclaycard debacle is actually adversely affecting my credit rating, Heads Will Roll.

To anyone who does resolve their fraud issues, you may well want to check your credit report to make sure all is in order.

I am heartily, completely and truly sick of the whole thing now. Blagh! :mad::mad::mad:

Julie