Worst ever - A&L

simli20

I decided to take out one of those Premier 21 bank accounts just to use now and again, with me being 19 i decided it would be good to keep some savings in, now i had a reoccuring payment via paypal which was debited once from my bank account of £5 which took me overdrawn by £3 without my knowlage. With me not using this account i was shocked to receive a letter which was 2 months down the line, YES two months dafter the original charge date saying my account is overdrawn, my first instance was fraudlent transaction, so i immediatly phoned Alliance and Leciester to there TERRIBLY RUDE customer service woman who i told i never use the card why am i overdrawn by £86 and then her answer was "Why are you £86 overdrawn?" like i should know already then she contined to say "Its your overdraft fee of £3 per day for the past 2 months", why they could send me a letter the day after the transaction 2 months back, obviously wanted to keep adding £3 without my knowlage, so then i said id have a further look into things so i got my mum to call on my behalf and then i got through to some even WORSE call centre staff saying "Oh unfortunatly as it wasnt the account holder that i heard first on the phone i am going to have to cut the phoneline off and transfer you back through to the automated system" this was after waiting 10 minuites in a que, obviously didn't have the guts to discuss the fees with me so wanted to get rid and that was her excuse, so i logged this as a complaint then i just receive a default template letter 3 weeks later saying "we feel out charges are fair etc etc case in progress blah" so i put my account back into the green and then today i receive another letter saying account overdrawn, i checked my statement online only to find they had charged me another £64 overdrawn fee at £3 per day whilst my account was in the green although funny how the letter came the day after the transaction date now of the overdraft fees, and when i phone customer service they tell me they cant help me etc so now they have charged me around £140 for being overdrawn £3.05 yes three pounds five pence and here they go again straight back to adding there £3 per day.

Who can i turn to, i demand all charges back and have logged complaints but all the staff arn't intrested at all they just want me off the phone.

catmiaow

I would write to head office to complain about the staff. I would also make an appointment to speak to your bank manager as the constant charges i assume are making it worse for you to get out off.
They really should be cancelling these charges as a gesture of goodwill as they didnt notify you correctly. Now i would speak to my bank manager about refunding these charges, be polite but firm.

I would remind him that they didnt not act correctly by not informing you about these charges, they can obviously tell you hardly use the account.
If that is off no help, you need to file a complaint with FOS who will deal with things for you and in my experience have been very helpful in getting the bank to do things.

YorkshireBoy

catmiaow wrote: »

they didnt notify you correctly.

they didnt not act correctly by not informing you about these charges

Are you familiar with the specific account T&C's?

First and foremost it's a current account, not a savings account (which is what the OP was treating it as).

Secondly, it's an online/paperless account...that's why it pays such a good rate of interest.

Thirdly, when you sign up to this account you agree to...

"pay in your earnings. This could be your wages, allowances or other money you receive regularly"

"use Internet Banking to manage your money and view your transactions regularly so you do not need monthly paper statements."

It's the failure to adhere to the second undertaking above that has resulted in the account running up such a debit balance.

OP, why ignore (month after month) the e-mails they sent you reminding you to check your monthly statement?

Charis

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Are you familiar with the specific account T&C's?

We are now. 100% interest per day on an overdraft of £3. That's 36,500% per annum :eek: Even after the account holder attempts to pay it back, apparently.

What happens if the account holder is ill, indisposed, unable to understand the Ts & Cs of their account or maybe they speak poor English? Does the bank not have a duty of care?

YorkshireBoy

Charis wrote: »

Does the bank not have a duty of care?

We'll find out when they issue their final response to the OP's complaint.

However, I suspect they'll say the OP...

1. was using a current account as a savings account
2. had outgoing payments set up on an account with no funding
3. did not view the account online for several months (and they'll know because an event log is maintained)
4. did not act on the 'view your statement' and 'you have charges' e-mails sent
5. had not read (or understood, or complied with) the T&C's and duty placed on him/her