Confusion re: personal reserve - are Barclays messing me around?

[Deleted User]

Hello,

I have a barclays current account (amongst a business account, savings account and ISA with them) and there is a personal reserve option active on this account.

Today, I've just checked my online banking to find that I am over my overdraft limit and therefore my personal reserve has been charged.

When I looked further I see that the reason I am over my overdraft limit is because Barclays has applied 3 reserve fees...from 27th - 9th February. Today is the 31st March: so it's been 62 days since the last one took place.

Since then, I've been very good at managing my accounts, transferring money between the two to ensure I remain under my overdraft limit. In fact, I've been into the branch twice, sat down with a personal banker and have transferred the funds in person (so to speak). Each time I asked her what I needed to transfer to ensure I didn't go into the reserve - and each time she actioned exactly what I needed to do.

So, I'm appalled that I've been whacked with £82 worth of charges today (£22 x 3 + 2 x returned payments from 6th March of £8 each) and have then been charged a further reserve fee...as a result of them applying reserve fees!

I spoke to the customer services manager (for 58 minutes) and have got no further: he told me that around Feb 9th they changed their reserve fee policy to apply charges at the end of that statement period, but that my statement was printed on 9th February and so I 'just missed out' on it being applied then. Consequently, it was carried over to 9th March and I would have been notified then that the charges would apply at the end of the month. I have not (and I'm telling the truth on this one) received any letters from Barclays telling me I was going to be charged, nor have I received this month's statement - and I've also been into the branch twice in person to confirm that my account was under the limit.

How can they expect customers to manage their account effectively if they are applying charges from two months ago and aren't informing customers that these charges are coming.

Am I totally at fault here, or is it worth pushing them to rescind the charges?

[Deleted User]

Incidentally, the crux of my post before wasn't that I was naughty in going over my limit, but that it can't be right that Barclays wait 62 days before applying a charge on my account?

StAnToN_2

You should have been informed as this new 'Pre-notification of Charges' as we like to call it actually went live around two months ago (I say around as I was on holiday at the time). Branch staff have been instrusted that they are only to refund Personal Reserve charges in the event of Fraud, or Bank error.

In this case I would suggest popping into the branch and pursuing this further, as charges shouldn't have mounted up from two months ago and then charged altogether.

[Deleted User]

Their argument was that they changed the system so that rather than the charges being applied at the time, they now apply them at the end of the month but write to you to say they are going to do this (both at the time, and again in your statement).

Now, I received no notifications - and the issue they suggested was that my statement is printed on the 9th Feb so it wouldn't have made it onto that month's statement. Instead they went on the 9th March statement (which I haven't received) and were levied on 31st March (today), which is a little bit absurd.

My argument is this: how can a customer manage their account effectively when the bank are applying charges from 62 days ago? I ensured that my bank account total remained under the overdraft limit: I even went into the branch twice and spoke to two different personal bankers in order to swap money about to ensure that this was ok. They didn't know that these charges were coming (if they did, they should have advised me that I needed to transfer more into my accounts to pre-empt them) so how could I?

Barclays really winds me up. They told me that they wrote to me to tell me I'd gone into my personal reserve, but regardless of the fact I didn't receive the letter, there is no way that they print the letters, post them and customers receive them within 5 days, which is when the second charging period takes place.

I get so frustrated with banks sometimes. I can't leave Barclays because my loan is with them, but I am tempted to move my business banking away from them in protest (which is a shame, because I've had nothing but positive experiences with their business division).

GiraffeMan

Deleted_User wrote: »

Their argument was that they changed the system so that rather than the charges being applied at the time, they now apply them at the end of the month but write to you to say they are going to do this (both at the time, and again in your statement).

Now, I received no notifications - and the issue they suggested was that my statement is printed on the 9th Feb so it wouldn't have made it onto that month's statement. Instead they went on the 9th March statement (which I haven't received) and were levied on 31st March (today), which is a little bit absurd.

My argument is this: how can a customer manage their account effectively when the bank are applying charges from 62 days ago? I ensured that my bank account total remained under the overdraft limit: I even went into the branch twice and spoke to two different personal bankers in order to swap money about to ensure that this was ok. They didn't know that these charges were coming (if they did, they should have advised me that I needed to transfer more into my accounts to pre-empt them) so how could I?

Barclays really winds me up. They told me that they wrote to me to tell me I'd gone into my personal reserve, but regardless of the fact I didn't receive the letter, there is no way that they print the letters, post them and customers receive them within 5 days, which is when the second charging period takes place.

I get so frustrated with banks sometimes. I can't leave Barclays because my loan is with them, but I am tempted to move my business banking away from them in protest (which is a shame, because I've had nothing but positive experiences with their business division).

Barclays i believe was the last bank to do pre-notification of charges as i believe. If i was you id change my statement date and then the charges will recalculate next time you go overdrawn if you do..

Extant

Deleted_User wrote: »

I get so frustrated with banks sometimes. I can't leave Barclays because my loan is with them, but I am tempted to move my business banking away from them in protest (which is a shame, because I've had nothing but positive experiences with their business division).

I understand your frustration. I'm not going to guess what happened, but please do log a complaint - details how to are here.

Complaints are logged by category, and this will highlight where there's issues for us.