Big trouble with Alliance & Leicester

elclarke

I'm wondering on the best course of action, I am having difficulties with my alliance & leicester bank account. I use this as my secondary account (my primary being with halifax) the reason I opened it was they offered a good interest rate initially and my commericial bank is alliance and leicester so I believed, incorrectly as it turns out, that I would be able to do instant transfers between the accounts. The high interest rate expired and the lack of instant transfers mean I no longer use the alliance and leicester account, at the tail end of last year I transferred all money to the halifax leaving a small amount <£10 in the account.

Unfortunately I accidentely used my A&L debit card (it looks very similar to the Halifax card, same pin number!) Which took me overdrawn, I didn't even realise until I received a letter informing me that I was being charged a 'Review Fee' of £25 for the debit card transaction taking me overdrawn. Stupidly (I should have being more proactive querying the charge) without speaking to A&L I paid the charge taking me back to the same amount I was on before, thinking this issue was now resolved I didn't think anything more of it. Here comes the big trouble however, I didn't realise that for the 7 days I was overdrawn I was being charged £5 per day!!!!!!!!!!!!! On top of that stupid review fee.

This £35 was taken out on the 2 Feb which took me overdrawn again and you've guessed it every day since then they've been charging me £5 per day.

I received a huge amount of post so usually try and tackle it all at once at the end of the month so come end of feb you can imagine my shock at realising basically for the entire month I've been charged £5 per day!

Total charges now resulting from *1* stupid mistake of using the wrong debit card an absolutely outragous, rediculous and in my book bordering on criminal extortion £230!!! :mad:

I've spoken three times to A&L customer service since reading the letter. Initially in the hope that, similar to how other banks have dealt with me in the past, they would see that this is my first problem with the account and reverse the charges. No such luck. Infact their 'customer services' team seem to be trained in avoiding the subject, stalling and definitely NOT reversing any charges. They all claim they don't have the authority! Initially while the account was overdrawn they were referring me to 'Credit Control', who never got back to me, but taking matters into my own hands and not wanting to incure anymore charges I did a faster transfer (thankyou halifax) into the account of £400. I am now thinking this was a mistake as it means that until I can get anything resolved that money is gone. A&L also claim that the charges are in the contract and as a 'web account' it is my responsibily to see the charges appearing and maintain the account accordingly. I thought all overdraft charges such as this were illegal, due to their inherant unfairness, regardless of the contract. Now that the account is no longer overdrawn they are reffering me to their complaints dept. (Within 7 days I should receive a letter) I now realise this was a mistake also and just another stalling tactic. I don't want to wait 7 days I wan't this resolved now!!

The long and short of it is I am wondering what the best course of action to take is? Should I call customer services again, and escalate it to a manager? Should I go to a branch of A&L and demand to speak to someone? Either way this is getting resolved and I am NOT paying these unlawful, outrageous and frankly extortionate charges.

A fuming consumer.

esmerellda

This is a typical example of how these charges snowball and ruin peoples lives. That £400 could have been all you had to live on for the month and they just swipe it from under you.

I would go into the branch and ask to speak to someone privately, and calmly. Explain the situation, I think branches only have authority to refund £50 though and you may have to do a reclaim following the process outlined in Martins reclaiming guide.

I can't see much happening for the seven days otherwise, just keep calling them, yes escalate it to a manager, and try and get the complaints teams direct number too.

MoneySavingNovice

If ever an illustration of why the way bank charges are imposed is so unfair - this must be one of many good examples.

If it was me I would do as esmerellda suggests above, but also I would follow this up with a formal letter - following their complaints procedure, which I guess would be on the web-site.

I would also be closing all my Abbey, Bradford and Bingley and Alliance and Leciester accounts - in writing and telling them about the above.

I am guessing that you will however need to follow the Martins reclaiming guide, as esmerellda suggests, eventually

Good Luck

earthlover

I am with A & L and as far as I know they only charge for 10 days in each month. Did your overdrawal straddle 2 different months?

ad1jnl

I've had the same thing - £85 - 17 days at £5 per day on a premier direct account. I took it at the time but just meant I had to use the credit card to get by that month. I'm now going to chase these up and try and claim them all back.

Jon

elclarke

All becoming a bit clearer now, I don't know wether this applies to other banks but A&L are interpreting the court ruling as that bank charges are *LEGAL* but that the OFT can decide if they are unfair!!! Therefore until the OFT make their decision A&L say they CANNOT USE DESCRETION ON BANK CHARGES!!!

Does anyone know if there is any legal bases for this argument???

I am beginning to lose my rag with A&L they seem to be the sliperiest bank I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with. There does not seem to be any consistency between what people are saying to me and every time I ask a new question they come up with a new and equally devious explaination of why they can't do anything!

£5 a day utterly absured. My argument would be I would rather the debit card purchase should have just been refused in the first place as there was insufficient funds in the account.
As far as I'm aware I was never given this choice when opening the account therefore I cannot be held wholly responsible and incure extortionate charges for this mistake. If I, or I suspect the majority of bank customers, were given the choice I would rather a debit card transaction be refused if there are insufficient funds than incur disproportionate 'Review' fees and daily overdraft charges.

A still fuming consumer.

elclarke

Also I don't believe any customer of any bank, ever should incur charges for going overdrawn when what takes you overdrawn are bank charges themselves. Surely this is inherently unfair by any legal, moral or logical precident or measure? Please OFT, make the right decision!!!

ILW

elclarke wrote: »

I received a huge amount of post so usually try and tackle it all at once at the end of the month so come end of feb you can imagine my shock at realising basically for the entire month I've been charged £5 per day!

Total charges now resulting from *1* stupid mistake of using the wrong debit card an absolutely outragous, rediculous and in my book bordering on criminal extortion £230!!! :mad:

I would suggest you made around 30 stupid mistakes by not checking your post daily. I part own a small business and cannot believe that anyone would leave mail from the bank a whole month before reading it.

natweststaffmember

elclarke wrote: »

Also I don't believe any customer of any bank, ever should incur charges for going overdrawn when what takes you overdrawn are bank charges themselves. Surely this is inherently unfair by any legal, moral or logical precident or measure? Please OFT, make the right decision!!!

Have A&L sent you an income and expenditure form to assess you for hardship?

meccasonics

Similar situation...only have an A&L premier current account because i wanted their 12% regular saving account 18months ago. Anyhow couldn't find my abbey cheque book and needed to write a cheque for my son's golf fees of £106ish. So wrote a cheque for it using my so far unused A&L cheque book. Unfortunately I couldn't find the payment slip so I signed it and gave it to my 17 year old son to take down to the golf club....which he did 4 days later making it late and therefore liable to a 10% surcharge. So they told him it was £116. Not knowing any of this because I live with my girlfriend 50 miles away from my home town I lodged £107 into my A&L account, thinking job done, but you guessed it, they send me a letter with a £25 charge for the unauthorized overdraft of £10. No explanation on the letter of a £5 a day fee. 21 days later I put £35 in account to settle balance or so i thought. So now my latest statement show a credit of £1.43 but they say they will charge me £105 fees thats a tidy profit of £130 for them.

So my question is what is the best course of action if after phoning them tomorrow i get the familiar cold shoulder....Do I lodge the £105 and try to claim it back or refuse to give them anymore money (I don't need this account anymore)?

Sorry for the long-winded post...thanks in advance for your time and patience reading it.

drew81

My brief period of being overdrawn has snowballed to £180. After the £5 daily charge sent me overdrawn again. I am disappointed with the system that would let Alliance and Leicester get away with any kind of snowballing charges.

This obviously upsets alot of people who are otherwise conscientious savers.

I failed to cancel a Standing Order in time, furthermore i didn't think it would be processed if there were no funds - That may sound naive but In Mobile phone jargon thats: PayAsYouGo as opposed to Contract (an arranged Overdraft).

In response to ILW, i think its unfair to assume that a letter is immediately received.
I was abroad for two months, other reasons might be a change of address, or letters gettings sent to another dwellings like the parentals.