Parents V Barclays 'Additions Plus' fees-Help!

buel

Hello,
i recently read in The Observer that an MP was helping (mainly) foreign workers claim back account fees (not 'charges') from banks who advised them to sign up for them instead of offering them basic accounts when it was obvious that a basic account would have been more appropriate. This also applied to either unemployed or retired people, well my Dad has had one for the last 7years and he has been on sickness benefits for around 20years and is 64, surely he shouldn't have been persuaded to sign up for a Additions Plus account costing around £13 p.m? Has anyone successfully claimed these back from Barclays/any bank?

Premier_2

Have you considered contacting your own MP about such possibility?

buel

Hi, yes i have thought about this and am going to write to him, i just wanted to know has anyone on here ever attempted such a claim?
i believe one 'advantge'/bonus to this account was mobile phone insurance(my dad didn't/doesn't own one) and travel insurance(my dad never travels abroad)

natweststaffmember

buel wrote: »

Hi, yes i have thought about this and am going to write to him, i just wanted to know has anyone on here ever attempted such a claim?
i believe one 'advantge'/bonus to this account was mobile phone insurance(my dad didn't/doesn't own one) and travel insurance(my dad never travels abroad)

You need to argue the point with Barclays, ie benefits he could have gained was x amount and the benefits he couldn't get was y amount. There has been cases of refunds based on that basis but it is important firstly to cancel the additions account extras if it has not already been done.

buel

Hi and thank you for your answer! Thankfully he cancelled the a/c 3months ago, they didn't like it either!
It is horrible to hear how they went from nice&friendly to abrupt when he was asking to cancel it! The a/c was totally unsuitable for him!

pasti

I'm sorry to hear someone was rude with your dad whe he requested to downgrade the account from Additions. At the end of the day the advisor shouldn't be like that. Yes they're meant to go through the features with him before to ensure he understands them, but should carry out the request in a professional manner.
As regards claiming the monthly fees back he will find it almost impossible purely for the reason being that the bank informs the customer that they have the product in several ways.
1. When the upgrade is done the customer receives a welcome pack in the post
2. The fees is on the statement as account fee
3. The product shows as Barclays Additions Plus for example on every statement
4. Any amendments to the product are issued 60 days before they come into effect eg. In July 2009 there was a mailing issued to advise that the Domestic emergency was being changed to Home SOS, but don't get me started about them. We should have stuck with Homeserve.

Based on all this they will decline any form of refund on the account.

Spiritdancer7

Why won't they refund his money? They've robbed him!

Barclays have done exactly the same thing to me....they've took hundreds of pounds from me.....a lot of it is to do with car related issues and I don't have a car, I don't even drive!
Re the mobile phone cover...if I was aware of the account, then why when I lost a mobile phone, did I go out and buy another one? Why when I dropped a mobile phone in water, did I go out and buy another one?
The Will cover...huh,that's hilarious, I haven't anything to leave anyone.
Etc.,etc., could go on but I'm not going to...will go straight to CAB on Monday, because I also have to see about Barclays taking overdraft protection from my account and I don't even use my overdraft so why would I want that?

I put in a complaint and have spent the last two Saturdays being lied to, hung up on, the last young man in particular acted quite threatening ending the phone call saying that if I was trying to get my money back, to give up and not to bother because they wouldn't be giving me a penny back! Who made him God?

I'm really incensed by all this and because of the way I've been treated by Barclays staff, I am definitely not going to take this lying down. I will take it as far as I can!!! Ombudsman, MP,the newspapers!:mad:

Would advise you to do the same buel!

natweststaffmember

pasti wrote: »

I'm sorry to hear someone was rude with your dad whe he requested to downgrade the account from Additions. At the end of the day the advisor shouldn't be like that. Yes they're meant to go through the features with him before to ensure he understands them, but should carry out the request in a professional manner.
As regards claiming the monthly fees back he will find it almost impossible purely for the reason being that the bank informs the customer that they have the product in several ways.
1. When the upgrade is done the customer receives a welcome pack in the post
2. The fees is on the statement as account fee
3. The product shows as Barclays Additions Plus for example on every statement
4. Any amendments to the product are issued 60 days before they come into effect eg. In July 2009 there was a mailing issued to advise that the Domestic emergency was being changed to Home SOS, but don't get me started about them. We should have stuck with Homeserve.

Based on all this they will decline any form of refund on the account.

But based on the individual circumstances, ie customer CANNOT travel due to medical condition, cannot drive, etc,etc then they can prove that the overall deal was unsuitable and therefore can claim for a partial refund of charges based on their individual circumstances. Furthermore, many people will confuse "account fee" with bank charges so will assume it is that rather than for the account.
I do not agree with you and furthermore, they missold additions blatantly in years gone by....I've seen that whistleblower program from 2007, I think you missed it.

natweststaffmember

Spiritdancer7 wrote: »

Why won't they refund his money? They've robbed him!

Barclays have done exactly the same thing to me....they've took hundreds of pounds from me.....a lot of it is to do with car related issues and I don't have a car, I don't even drive!
Re the mobile phone cover...if I was aware of the account, then why when I lost a mobile phone, did I go out and buy another one? Why when I dropped a mobile phone in water, did I go out and buy another one?
The Will cover...huh,that's hilarious, I haven't anything to leave anyone.
Etc.,etc., could go on but I'm not going to...will go straight to CAB on Monday, because I also have to see about Barclays taking overdraft protection from my account and I don't even use my overdraft so why would I want that?

I put in a complaint and have spent the last two Saturdays being lied to, hung up on, the last young man in particular acted quite threatening ending the phone call saying that if I was trying to get my money back, to give up and not to bother because they wouldn't be giving me a penny back! Who made him God?

I'm really incensed by all this and because of the way I've been treated by Barclays staff, I am definitely not going to take this lying down. I will take it as far as I can!!! Ombudsman, MP,the newspapers!:mad:

Would advise you to do the same buel!

You make a complaint in writing and explain the reasons why you do not/did not qualify for the various benefits and look at what you actually did use and ask for a refund partially, based on that issue alone.

Spiritdancer7

Thanks for advice. I didn't realise the complaint had to be in writing, the gentleman and rest of staff on the complaints team at Barclays failed to mention this.
I did not take advantage of any of the benefits of the additions account because I was unaware I had it. As you mentioned in your previous message,it says account fee so I thought it was bank charges and it was only when I rang up to say I had become unemployed and didn't have any money coming in and that I would end up overdrawn when they took the account and overdraft protection fees out, that I found out about this additions account

buel

Aha!
It was the Daily Mail, not the Observer! Apologies for that!
Here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2010/jan/24/businessandmedia/cash

Thanks all for the replies, interesting reading!!
Ps- Spiritdancer7, let me know how you get on please!!