Impossible to close EGG Card

tazzer

I decided to try to close my EGG card that I had only ever used occasionally, after a 9 month 0% interest free offer.
I had an outstanding balance of £124.84. I called the EGG team and told them I wanted to close the account, they said no problem, I put £200 into the account so as it would put me into credit allowing me to close the account.
A month went by before I withdrew the remaining credit, bear in mind this account is now closed, I expected a small amount of interest to be taken, they took over £40 interest for the previous month, which I still cant work out have they've amounted to this, but never the less, they took it, and sent me £32.72 and as far as I'm aware the account is now closed.
A last month goes by, don’t ask me why but I thought I'd just call EGG to check the account was all closed ok. Lucky I did as the operator on the phone said 'NO' you owe us £1.80, apparently more interest acuminated between the statement date and the date I put £200 in the account to close the account! Which they never informed me about when I closed the account.
I know for a fact at this point EGG are screwing with me, so I started to record all future phone calls that will be broadcast on my web space very soon. So anyhow I call EGG back to ask how they have accumulated these figures, they tell me they cant discuss it with me as my account is closed! which made me quite mad, as soon as I raised my voice, beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep tone cheeky f*%kers cut me off!
I call back and find further info, that if I don’t pay the £1.80, then next month I will receive a £15 fine. Now you gota remember I was told this account is closed and I only called back as I incline feeling about it. So I swallow my pride and eventually say I will pay the £1.80, and have mp3 recorded evidence that my account is now closed, end of, finished goodbye...The operator spells his name he reads my account number and confirms its closed.!
So I call back today two weeks after I was told the account was closed, I ask for my balance. Now remember this account is closed, and I was told previously they cant talk to me about this account as its closed. Anyhow quick security check, and the operator reveals I'm £60 in credit!*!"!!"**! WHAT I said, £60 in credit, I cant be the account is closed, RIGHT? No sir, we took a Direct Debit of £60 on the 25th October. You can guess what happens next, I shout and BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP cut off again.
I call back to try and find out what the f*ck is going on, the next operator said the account can never be closed and I cant close it! Don’t ask, they wont give me any statements or talk to me about my account. I completely baffled, She just said, you can close a card, but you cant close an account!
I now have £60 credit and an account that wont close, I need to know how to get away from EGG and close this account.

Its absoultley criminal...

Any ideas what I should do???

bathgatebuyer

Put everything in writing to them making a formal complaint. Get their response and then complain to the FOS if they don't resolve this to their satisfaction. I found Egg to be difficult to deal with over the phone - staff refused to believe that they'd ever made any errors - however, once I wrote to them, I got the response I wanted and they acknowledged they were wrong and put £50 in my account by way of compensation.

normanmark

Firstly your best bet is to be a bit a little more calm, whilst it isnt the fault of the person you're speaking to shouting at them actually makes them to not help you at all (coming from first hand experience).

Secondly, unless you've expressed clearly that you're recording this call & the advisor agree's to it, it wouldn't hold up much on any legal side. So i wouldn't advise posting it onto your hosting.

The direct debit issue is an easy one to sort. Walk into the bank whose account the money was taken from and ask to do a direct debit indemnity to get the money back instantly.

Failing that call Egg back up & remain as politely as possible and ask for the credit to be returned to your bank account. For the record an account can be closed and you still owe money on it. It just means that you wouldn't be able to spend or use the card whatsoever. Your confusion lies of the definition of 'closed'.

Frustrating I can see, but your best bet is just to remain calm & you'll find people are a hell of a lot more helpful. Good luck

jamalfatty

tazzer wrote: »

Any ideas what I should do???

Perhaps calm down a bit when your speaking to them, if your screaming at them then it's no wonder they are cutting you off and not being particularly helpful.

Call up, ask to speak to a manager, explain the situation, and politely ask they take ownership of the issue until it's resolved.

ladypinkof66

i agree with you op i would be so fed up and totally peed right off that i can understand anyone including myself in this situation of getting angry and swearing you clearly dont seem to be gettting anyway and i would suggest that you send a letter to someone higher - i do hope you get this sorted - i found when i had my egg account that they were so helpful and polite now they have closed my card down they dont want to know !!!!
they are damn useless in my opinion

benf90

ladypinkof66 wrote: »

i agree with you op i would be so fed up and totally peed right off that i can understand anyone including myself in this situation of getting angry and swearing you clearly dont seem to be gettting anyway and i would suggest that you send a letter to someone higher - i do hope you get this sorted - i found when i had my egg account that they were so helpful and polite now they have closed my card down they dont want to know !!!!
they are damn useless in my opinion

Annoying maybe. But nothing is that annoying to justify anyone to start swearing. Getting angry wouldn't solve anything either.

I've worked in a call centre myself and dealt with people swearing or being abusive. I would have been well within my rights to hang up, and have felt like doing so on more than one occasion, but the only reason I haven't is because I don't let it affect me.

I knew that if I'd have hung up they're only likely to call back in and give somebody else the same abuse, and others don't/can't handle it as easily as I can.

I've literally seen people reduced to tears and others walk away from the job because of the abuse given to them by some people, through absolutely no fault of their own.

For the OP - to sort the problem you simply phone Egg and say/ask politely 'the balance is £60 in credit can you please send this back by BACS to the account which the Direct Debit was called from?'.

The £1.80 interest would've been correct. As that's all paid etc there shouldn't be anymore interest to be applied, but you could always ask them if there's any further interest to be applied to make sure.

Kavanne

Funnily, I've worked in a call centre and when people start shouting the phone has a weird way of going dead. Now the only reason I can think of is that the customer is so worked up they accidentally hit the wrong button and hang up OR the call centre systems have a firewall that cuts anyone off if their voice goes above so many decibels, lol.

Beepster

I have to agree with Tazzer. Sometimes, rather than giving the telephone operative from the bank a load of sweet talk, its better to take the firmer approach both verbally and in written terms.

Have you thought about firmly highlighting your observations in a secure message to them (a few capitals here and there often help). In doing so they cannot denie reciving your message, and the ability to read the message (of course hoping the operative can read) gives them time to digest and ponder about your query.

Gook luck.

vet8

I can sympathise with call centre workers, it must be an absolutely lousy job and I bet they do get a lot of abuse, but I find them usually so unhelpful it makes you angry.

I know it's not their fault, they are only doing their job, but they seem to have access to so little information that they can almost never help you. It is the fault of the system. When I phone the bank for example, all they can tell me is my current balance and the last couple of transactions. I can get that from the internet thanks. If I ask some even slightly complex question they are totally stymied and either go away to ask a supervisor or make up an answer.

I feel that a lot of these call centre staff say just anything to get you off the phone. They need better training and more information to do their job.

Kavanne

thanks, vet, that is so true