Barclays Changes in Charging...

fayp

Hi all,

I succesfully claimed back £4,000 back from Barclays a couple of years back for bank charges. However a few months back they introduced a 'reserve pot' of £150 on my accounts and if I went into this 'pot' at anytime for any amount I'm charged (not sure the precise amount as I'm at work at the moment and haven't got my bank statement with me) about £25 and if I'm in the reserve for any amount of time (I think it's a couple of days) they will charge me again.
Has anyone else encountered this? Barclays are once again making my effort to get myself financially stable extremley difficult!

sylv1

Hello, I have a letter in front of me from Barclays giving me all the details about the reserve account....
In August last year they sent all their customers a letter telling us that it was an optional service...if we did not want to use the reserve pot, then we had to inform them. I like many others thought this was a great thing at the time, so have a reserve pot on my account. It is the worst thing I have ever agreed to...and I have written to Barclays asking for it to be taken off my account. My charges last month were £128...and this is due to having gone into my reserve pot 5 times in the month! £20 every 5 days that you are in the reserve, and if they have to bounce something £8 per transaction.
Barclays have always been a brilliant bank IF YOU HAVE MONEY....but get into hardship and as you say as soon as you try to get yourself financially stable they make things very difficult and do not want to help you.

I suggest that you do as I have done and write to them and ask for the reserve pot to be taken off your account....

Hope this helps.

redperil_2

I'm in the process of going through Barclays complaints process. I spoke with their Indian call centre and asked for them to refund this £22 reserve account fee.

I explained that when I had gone to take out £10 the machine had told me I had £15 available. As it turns out, a charge from the CO-OP (processed a week earlier) was billed to the account that day, but had not been removed from the available balance. I did not dispute that I was notified of the reserve account, just pointed out that as per their website the available balance should include any pending charges.

The rep acknowledged what I was saying, agreed it was unfair, and then told me he couldn't refund it. I asked for a supervisor and was cut off while awaiting transfer.

I then spoke to another rep, where I pointed out that I would never have withdrawn £10 at the cost of £22. I went £4 over my overdraft by mistake, due to incorrect information on the ATM (it had been reflecting a £15 available balance for the previous 3 days). Anyway, they said they would arrange for a callback within 72 hours. This was never received and a week later I got a standardised letter ignoring any of the points I'd raised.

I'm sure Barclays are getting bombarded with requests for reimbursement, but I feel my case was as a result of misinformation. I was not asking for a refund due to not being informed of the 'reserve account'. I am disappointed that clearly noone has even bothered to look at my case and give me the courtesy of a response to 'my concerns'.

Due to Barclays failure to correctly address my complaint, I will now have to go through the laborious process of contacting the FSA. If they'd actually given me the time of day, I may not have had to waste their's and my time. It's free to go to the FSA, so hey, why the hell not.

As a point of note, considering Barclays go on about how this is a great 'benefit', the rep was cancelling it before I'd even said I didn't want it! (which of course I don't, despite their claims this is a reaction to the bank charging situation. As the song goes..
'Lloyds do it, Barclays do it, even smaller people like Amex do it, let's do it, let's fool our...er...customers'

Orford

Due to Barclays failure to correctly address my complaint, I will now have to go through the laborious process of contacting the FSA. If they'd actually given me the time of day, I may not have had to waste their's and my time. It's free to go to the FSA, so hey, why the hell not.

I think you mean the Financial Ombudsman, (not the FSA), who won't deal with a complaint until you have been through Barclays complaints procedure, which will take 8 weeks.

redperil_2

Sorry, you're right, I meant the FOS. I'm pretty sure Barclays aren't going to suddenly surprise me with a reversal of their decision, so I'll see out the 8 weeks and then contact the FOS.

Just out of curiosity, do Barclays pay the FOS per case referral? Or, do they pay a lump sum each year? If it is per case referral then I wonder if it's worth giving them another opportunity to look at my complaint (given the £400 per case charge that the FOS levy)

natweststaffmember

redperil wrote: »

Sorry, you're right, I meant the FOS. I'm pretty sure Barclays aren't going to suddenly surprise me with a reversal of their decision, so I'll see out the 8 weeks and then contact the FOS.

Just out of curiosity, do Barclays pay the FOS per case referral? Or, do they pay a lump sum each year? If it is per case referral then I wonder if it's worth giving them another opportunity to look at my complaint (given the £400 per case charge that the FOS levy)

it's £500 but your case will not get any further as the Barclays Reserve Useage fee will not come under the FSA Waiver and there is not bank error in the way it was put on the account. Furthermore, a court would stay any claim for it. Personally, if you have a bank charges case then add this to your claim. At the end of the day, when the OFT test case issues are settled they will have to deal with cases such as this. I would cancel the personal reserve though in the meantime.

redperil_2

If Barclays aren't displaying a correct available balance though, is that not an error?

I don't have any other bank charges I want to claim back, I run my account close to the wire, but until now I haven't exceeded my agreed overdraft.

I don't know why Barclays can't show some goodwill. If this is an upfront 'benefit', then they should also act in a fair and reasonable manner when dealing with issues such as mine.

And I have cancelled the benefit. I'm pretty sure under the old system I could go upto £5 over my overdraft without being charged. If you go £1 into the reserve account you get charged £22.

I forgot that the FOS case referral fees went up from £450 to £500 from the 1st April.

iblametheparents

redperil wrote: »

And I have cancelled the benefit. I'm pretty sure under the old system I could go upto £5 over my overdraft without being charged. If you go £1 into the reserve account you get charged £22.

If you have no overdraft or reserve then you have a £15 buffer which you are not charged for. This used to be £5 before the introduction of Personal Reserve.