ABBEY !!!! con artists

nickilaguapa

Hi there, im a new customer to abbey and i have a visa electron. When opening my account they told me at my local branch that because i didnt want an overdraft and because of it being a debit card account that i could only spend what was in my account and that if i tried to spend more it would be declined. Well...NO apparently that can charge me £60 for an unauthorised overdraft of .....0.03p !!!
I have made a complaint of which i recieved a very patronising letter telling me how to use my card in an ATM and have recently forwarded my complaint to the ombudsman.
Anyone else have a similar experience? And how did you get on?

natweststaffmember

nickilaguapa wrote: »

Hi there, im a new customer to abbey and i have a visa electron. When opening my account they told me at my local branch that because i didnt want an overdraft and because of it being a debit card account that i could only spend what was in my account and that if i tried to spend more it would be declined. Well...NO apparently that can charge me £60 for an unauthorised overdraft of .....0.03p !!!
I have made a complaint of which i recieved a very patronising letter telling me how to use my card in an ATM and have recently forwarded my complaint to the ombudsman.
Anyone else have a similar experience? And how did you get on?

To be honest, any bankworker telling you that you cannot exceed an overdraft limit or cannot go past £0.00 when you have a debit card is talking utter rubbish.

BeInTheKnow

With the abbey Instant Plus account (Which I started on), they do not offer an overdraft facility, nor any form of credit. However, with all bank accounts that accept direct debits and standing orders, you can be charged an administration fee for failed direct debits/standing orders.

Abbey's not the only one to do this, but out of all banks, abbey is my favorite. I started on the Instant Plus account with a CCG and lots of defaults. When opening the account they stated that as long as I credit £1000+ per month every month for six months, they'll upgrade my account to a Current Account with a Cheque Guarentee card and Overdraft. And they kept to their promise. Nationwide promised the same, and 4 years down the line i still had a cash card.

hth

Nickij01

All banks are utter gits and will try it on in whatever way possible!! With any luck the OFT case regarding unfair bank charges that Martin has been battling against and helping us all to fight will come through and you will be able to claim this back from them. It IS utterly disgusting but currently they can apparantly get away with treating customers like crap.

jos004

natweststaffmember wrote: »

To be honest, any bankworker telling you that you cannot exceed an overdraft limit or cannot go past £0.00 when you have a debit card is talking utter rubbish.

Why don't these banks do themselves and their customers a favour, by simply modifiying their software so that once you have a zero credit limit in your a/c - you cannot use your debit card, nor issue a cheque.

Answer: they want you to go overdrawn, to make money out of you. The whole system stinks.

natweststaffmember

jos004 wrote: »

Why don't these banks do themselves and their customers a favour, by simply modifiying their software so that once you have a zero credit limit in your a/c - you cannot use your debit card, nor issue a cheque.

Answer: they want you to go overdrawn, to make money out of you. The whole system stinks.

Answer because they allow floor limits, because the machines used for over the phone payments are reliant on an individual and the machines are not made dumbass proof, because people are irresponsible(yes they do exist as well) and educational standards aren't good enough perhaps. You could throw huge excuses into the mix. Remember, the charges themselves are legitimate to make but the amount is the issue so even when the OFT test case issues are resolved, this issue will still exist.

LeeSouthEast

I'm still amazed that people expect banks to manage their money for them. This isn't a pop at the OP in particular, more an observation in general. My friends at work do it as well.

natweststaffmember

LeeSouthEast wrote: »

I'm still amazed that people expect banks to manage their money for them. This isn't a pop at the OP in particular, more an observation in general. My friends at work do it as well.

Lee, I think we have both seen it on the forum, people expect that if the card stops working then that means that they are at their limit, or that the bank balance is always 100% on the mark when sometimes, it isn't necessary as up to date as tracking your own payments and having a mental note of the money in the account.

LeeSouthEast

natweststaffmember wrote: »

Lee, I think we have both seen it on the forum, people expect that if the card stops working then that means that they are at their limit, or that the bank balance is always 100% on the mark when sometimes, it isn't necessary as up to date as tracking your own payments and having a mental note of the money in the account.

Oh definitely. It's not the fault of the banks, that was my point. There's an issue with knowledge in this country - money management is something you just stumble into knowing, usually from making expensive mistakes - and isn't instead taught in schools. There should be a compulsory "life knowledge" course (perhaps with a GCSE as a result) that covers money management, debt management, crossing the road, simple DIY and so on that gives basic knowledge in useful life areas.

natweststaffmember

I thought National Curriculum for secondary schools dealt with personal development, is it not part of that?

LeeSouthEast

Wasn't when I was there ~ 10 years ago. It might have changed since.