Barclays - Reserve/Had Enough

ShelfStacker_3

akashi wrote: »

I admit, I did not read the details on the Reserve and therefore did not know about the ability to opt out of the service.

My question, why should Barclays automatically give this service when it is not asked by the customer? Surely if a customer is interested in "purchasing" this service they can opt in?

Because for the sort of financially illiterate person who wouldn't read such a letter, the Reserve is probably a better deal.

Extant

rlfan82 wrote: »

My point is, in the past Barlcays looked at my account, and said, 'we see your a fair customer who has gone over the odd pound and obviously keep it under most of the time, so we'll waive the £30'. Now its no ifs or buts.

Now Barclays dont give a toss about any reasons, or to look at your account. therefore I feel I am no longer a customer of Barclays, just a stat. So I might aswell go to FirstDirect, pick up me £100 bonus and start afresh.

This is done for the very reason that previously, it WAS a penalty fee, and yes, we might have waived it as a gesture of goodwill. However, that was hardly a fair situation, and it also led to people being almost consistently overdrawn and relying on our goodwill in refunding these charges constantly.

So, we abandoned this practice, and replaced it with a fairer - and in most cases, cheaper - charges tariff for a service.

Previously, we had a limit, known only to us, that we would pay up to. This limit would change month to month and you would never know how much it was. One month we would let you spend £100, the next £300 - an unclear, confusing system that, yes, it was a little unfair for us to charge you under.

We have now replaced it with something else so that it is clear what you can spend, when, and how much it will cost you. We also give you the ability NOT to do this, which you couldn't do before.

So yes, you might feel like a "stat", but it's actually to your benefit, and you don't have to use the service. It's a popular service and the rates of opting out are small.

akashi wrote: »

I admit, I did not read the details on the Reserve and therefore did not know about the ability to opt out of the service.

My question, why should Barclays automatically give this service when it is not asked by the customer? Surely if a customer is interested in "purchasing" this service they can opt in?

As outlined above, we essentially offered the reserve service before, you just didn't get to know how it worked. The amount you could spend was never told to you, it could change, etc. That said though, most customers have gone over the overdraft limit at some point.

So, when we came to formalize this system, we naturally opted everyone in because most people have used this service before - we've just made it fairer, cheaper, easier to understand.

And, as also said previously, customers were advised of this through a variety of channels, more than once, and over the course of several months. It's not as though we sprung it on them with no notice. We gave you the ability to opt out online, by phone, by mail - we even gave you a pre-paid return envelope.

I think we were more than fair, to be honest. If you didn't read what we sent you, then sorry, it's your fault - and expect more trouble in the future when you don't read things from your bank!

Inactive

Any fair system should always be an opt in, never an opt out in my opinion.

The status quo should always preside.

getmore4less

There is a very simple solution.

If you can't manage your account or cash flow to stay in credit 100% of the time why not have an agreed OD limit and use that to cover these short term "only a few quid" events.

I have a free(fees & interest) £250 on my current account(comes with platinum banking).

The agreed overdraft kicks in first so you only pay any interest due on that for the days you are OD.

When you go over this you go into the reserve and pay for that.

Full details here
http://www.personal.barclays.co.uk/BRC1/jsp/brccontrol?site=pfs&task=homefreegroup&value=13392

Extant

getmore4less wrote: »

There is a very simple solution.

If you can't manage your account or cash flow to stay in credit 100% of the time why not have an agreed OD limit and use that to cover these short term "only a few quid" events.

I have a free(fees & interest) £250 on my current account(comes with platinum banking).

The agreed overdraft kicks in first so you only pay any interest due on that for the days you are OD.

When you go over this you go into the reserve and pay for that.

Full details here
http://www.personal.barclays.co.uk/BRC1/jsp/brccontrol?site=pfs&task=homefreegroup&value=13392

Because this would be far too simple, and require some actual forethought.

rlfan82

BarclaysManager wrote: »

Because this would be far too simple, and require some actual forethought.

Thats a great trick that, having your head up your own !!!!!. :rolleyes:

Dont act like your better than everyone else, maybe people have more going on in life than planning every eventuality or reading Barclays poxy T&C's

If anything, it's people like you that convince me even more that Barclays is not what it was. Holier than thou, try some compassion or empathy from time to time, its a nice thing to do. Oh, I forgot, your a Banker. :think:

ShelfStacker_3

If everyone read their bank's poxy T&Cs, they wouldn't have quite as many problems.

PROLIANT

Redemption wrote: »

Because the so called "fee" is way in excess of the true cost of providing so called "service" and is therefore a penalty which IS illegal.

No it is not, it is stated in the terms of the contract between you and the bank, here is a simple analogy for you, your train is due at 16:00 from Edinburgh which your ticket is paid and booked for that particular train, but you choose to take an earlier train and get the 15:00 instead, you are able to board the train (i.e. use the overdraft facility) but you were not supposed to get on that train (outside of the contract, T&C's - et al) therefore when the ticket inspector comes around you have to pay an additional fee to use that service.

surfcat

rlfan82 wrote: »

Thats a great trick that, having your head up your own !!!!!. :rolleyes:

Dont act like your better than everyone else, maybe people have more going on in life than planning every eventuality or reading Barclays poxy T&C's

If anything, it's people like you that convince me even more that Barclays is not what it was. Holier than thou, try some compassion or empathy from time to time, its a nice thing to do. Oh, I forgot, your a Banker. :think:

I think that's the first time I've heard anyone not on Eastenders using the word 'poxy'.

Extant

rlfan82 wrote: »

Thats a great trick that, having your head up your own !!!!!. :rolleyes:

Thank you for the compliment. I would rather be perceived in that way than be the white knight for people who are simply too lazy to read the contracts they are bound by, or even give the slightest thought towards their financial well-being.

Dont act like your better than everyone else, maybe people have more going on in life than planning every eventuality or reading Barclays poxy T&C's

As already said, if people had bothered to read the bits and pieces that come with their account, most of this trouble would never have come about.

Also, why shouldn't I feel as though I'm better, more adept at this than everyone else?

When I got my first mortgage, my monthly payments got as high as 70% of my income. And yet, even with that - a massive struggle - I've never had a bank fee. Ever. I have never bounced a cheque, direct debit or even a standing order.

I'm hardly the world's smartest person - if I can do it, anyone can. And then this whole thing will never be an issue.

I would genuinely love it if people never got a fee again, just by being sensible with their money.

If anything, it's people like you that convince me even more that Barclays is not what it was. Holier than thou, try some compassion or empathy from time to time, its a nice thing to do. Oh, I forgot, your a Banker. :think:

Yes, back in the old days, when you worked down t'pit etc.

Sorry you don't like what Barclays has become. In 2005, Deanna Oppenheimer joined us from WaMu, and under her we approached the Call Centre Association to develop a telephone based survey to measure customer satisfaction, which is now run by an independent company for us. Since 2005 their results have shown a marked increase in customer satisfaction, and is now a key performance indicator used in evaluating not only branch staff, but area and regional level staff. This year we also revised our service standards and relevant mystery shopping process to revolve solely around an 8 step guide to providing excellent customer service.

I will never lie and say we are perfect, or that your experience will always be the best, but we have significantly improved over the past three years and we will continue to do so, including the introduction of three-a-month mystery shopping to ensure a consistent level of service is provided.

So, sorry if you don't like us, but there's plenty of people who do.