Barclays - Useless, or very very sneaky?

mattymoneysaver2008

As most people know barclays introduced a "personal reserve" onto thier accounts. I had only just started uni at this time and was nowhere near my overdraft limit and didnt ever intend to be, so i ignored the letter and didnt cancel it.

over the year my spending got a bit excessive (as it sometimes does at uni) and i ended up hitting my limit. I received a letter informing me i was into my personal reserve and that id be charged £22 for every 5 day period i remained in it. luckily i was paid the next day.

I decided to go into my branch to cancel a few direct debits, move some money around and generally tidy up my finances. The lady on the desk was very helpful with everything, and i also asked her to cancel my personal reserve, she said this was all done i left very happy.

a couple on months later, another letter, another personal reserve charge. slightly miffed and annoyed i went straight to my branch. i was greeted by another friendly and helpful member of staff, who was very apologetic. She logged the incident as a complaint as an attempt to get me my money back. she also cancelled my personal reserve for me. I remember joking around with her, asking if she was 100% certain, wanted to ask the audience, "yes its definatley cancelled" she said.

i mananged to sort my spending out and was slowly digging my way out of my overdraft, untill i lost my job a few months ago.

i soon found myself back in the red, and yesturday, another letter. "you are now using your personal reserve".

now this happening once could just be a basic clerical error, which is why i wasnt too bothered.

But twice? are they just doing it purpose to get the most they can out of me?

I will be going into my branch tomorrow and this time im getting it in writing :mad:

getmore4less

Do you ever check your statements?

At the end there is a section

Account Details
Overdraft limit...........£xxxx
Reserve...................£xxxx

will-in-estoril

mattymoneysaver2008 wrote: »

I will be going into my branch tomorrow and this time im getting it in writing :mad:

By your own admission the bank has had two opportunities to remove the reserve. This time why not look for a better bank or building society to give you a decent current account? Switching is not cumbersome these days.

CLAPTON

if you didn't have a personal reserve and spent the same amount of money, then how much would they have charged for an unauthorised OD

and also note it would probably affect your credit rating

joolsybools

I would urge people not to use their personal reserves and to cancel them in writing sending it by recorded delivery. I received the original letter about personal reserves about this time last year IIRC and thought it sounded bad and thanks to this site saw it for the money grabbing exercise it was.

I would advise people to never do anything in person in banks when you are dealing with cancelling products/direct debits/standing orders, do it in writing by recorded delivery.

I cancelled my bank account insurance (long story with lots of issues - one for another time). I then noticed a month later that it had 'accidentally' been added back on. Call me a cynic but it was exactly a month after the date I had cancelled it. I think banks do what they like and operate on the assumption that most people are too stupid/lazy/unaware of their rights to do anything about it.

Rant over!

CLAPTON

joolsybools wrote: »

I would urge people not to use their personal reserves and to cancel them in writing sending it by recorded delivery. I received the original letter about personal reserves about this time last year IIRC and thought it sounded bad and thanks to this site saw it for the money grabbing exercise it was.

I would advise people to never do anything in person in banks when you are dealing with cancelling products/direct debits/standing orders, do it in writing by recorded delivery.

I cancelled my bank account insurance (long story with lots of issues - one for another time). I then noticed a month later that it had 'accidentally' been added back on. Call me a cynic but it was exactly a month after the date I had cancelled it. I think banks do what they like and operate on the assumption that most people are too stupid/lazy/unaware of their rights to do anything about it.

Rant over!

presumably the personal reserve costs nothing unless you use.

if you didn't have it but accidentally went over what do they charge?

apt

With Barclays you are much better having an agreed overdraft as a buffer for going into the red accidently rather than a personal reserve. The reserve costs £22, the overdraft within limits up to 19.3% interest, but no fees.

CLAPTON

apt wrote: »

With Barclays you are much better having an agreed overdraft as a buffer for going into the red accidently rather than a personal reserve. The reserve costs £22, the overdraft within limits up to 19.3% interest, but no fees.

the OP says he has an OD and the personal reserve.
so is it cheaper to simply go over the OD limit and sufffer the consequences or have a personal reserve as well?

joolsybools

CLAPTON wrote: »

presumably the personal reserve costs nothing unless you use.

if you didn't have it but accidentally went over what do they charge?

I don't know. I have a £400 od now that I have only ventured into once in the last year (for about 3 days), I wasn't charged anything for it bar a few pennies in interest.

getmore4less

CLAPTON wrote: »

the OP says he has an OD and the personal reserve.
so is it cheaper to simply go over the OD limit and sufffer the consequences or have a personal reserve as well?

The OD is used before the personal reserve charges kick in.

getmore4less

CLAPTON wrote: »

presumably the personal reserve costs nothing unless you use.

if you didn't have it but accidentally went over what do they charge?

http://www.personal.barclays.co.uk/PFS/A/Content/Files/9955363_Jun09.pdf

£8 per transction.