Barclays funds transfer - ethical??

JuliaJolie

Hi, sorry about the lame title...it is almost 3am lol...I'm new here and I was just wondering if anyone knew if unauthorised funds transfer by the bank is actually something you can get legally !!!!!! off about, or would it just be a case of fighting a pointless legal battle (like reclaiming bank charges)...

Basically in early June the bank automatically took just under £700 from my student account and put it in my old standard current account to reduce the overdraft to the limit of -£10.00. I received no letter or phone call saying that this was going to happen. Of course this happened after I had worked 14-hour days earning this money to pay for a 2-week holiday in the USA that I was currently ON. When I rang the call centre the agent was shocked as she'd "never seen anything like this" and couldn't explain it - that department would be conveniently open again on monday....funny that this was the friday - the day it happened (i checked my online banking thursday night and the money was still there at that point)...they had left me with £48.00 on the 5th day of my "holiday". Thanks an f-ing lot!

So obviously I was in tears about this - luckily my generous dad decided to put in a large sum of money (cash, so instantly accessible) as a loan the next morning. But I was unable to withdraw it, and was told over the phone (yet ANOTHER costly international phone call) that "we're having some problems with cards" and "i'll just put your card through" (exact words, and she couldn't explain what that second phrase meant).

Sorry, lol that was like half-question, half-rant. What I'm slightly annoyed at is not that Barclays are like Financial Vultures (waiting for me to work so damn hard for that money, only spending it on bus fare to and from work and food, then swooping in to snatch it), but that I was given no warning at all - were they right in doing this without telling me? To be honest I don't feel that my money is safe with these Satanists any longer (they put blocks on my account last summer when I went travelling even though I notified them of this on 3 separate occasions; fun to be starving in the Grand Canyon with no phone signal up there for 3 days!).

The only communication I had from these people on the subject was just a letter in reference to the original complaint I made - not a separate notification itself (as you would have with bank charges), saying that it was their money and they could seize it at any time. Even after I cleared the last £10 of the overdraft they still slapped on a £2.83 "over the overdraft limit" charge as one last kick in the !!!. Jesus.....:mad: :mad: :mad:

Is this fair? Were they right in doing this at all, whether they had notified me or not (and I received no letter that they said they sent, although I have been pestering them for over a YEAR for a telephone banking passcode - I finally got an internet banking one after nine months, and they do have my address correct)?

Any comments greatly appreciated. Fine site, by the way
JJ

M_Thomson

JuliaJolie wrote:

Hi, sorry about the lame title...it is almost 3am lol...I'm new here and I was just wondering if anyone knew if unauthorised funds transfer by the bank is actually something you can get legally !!!!!! off about, or would it just be a case of fighting a pointless legal battle (like reclaiming bank charges)...

Basically in early June the bank automatically took just under £700 from my student account and put it in my old standard current account to reduce the overdraft to the limit of -£10.00. I received no letter or phone call saying that this was going to happen. Of course this happened after I had worked 14-hour days earning this money to pay for a 2-week holiday in the USA that I was currently ON. When I rang the call centre the agent was shocked as she'd "never seen anything like this" and couldn't explain it - that department would be conveniently open again on monday....funny that this was the friday - the day it happened (i checked my online banking thursday night and the money was still there at that point)...they had left me with £48.00 on the 5th day of my "holiday". Thanks an f-ing lot!

So obviously I was in tears about this - luckily my generous dad decided to put in a large sum of money (cash, so instantly accessible) as a loan the next morning. But I was unable to withdraw it, and was told over the phone (yet ANOTHER costly international phone call) that "we're having some problems with cards" and "i'll just put your card through" (exact words, and she couldn't explain what that second phrase meant).

Sorry, lol that was like half-question, half-rant. What I'm slightly annoyed at is not that Barclays are like Financial Vultures (waiting for me to work so damn hard for that money, only spending it on bus fare to and from work and food, then swooping in to snatch it), but that I was given no warning at all - were they right in doing this without telling me? To be honest I don't feel that my money is safe with these Satanists any longer (they put blocks on my account last summer when I went travelling even though I notified them of this on 3 separate occasions; fun to be starving in the Grand Canyon with no phone signal up there for 3 days!).

The only communication I had from these people on the subject was just a letter in reference to the original complaint I made - not a separate notification itself (as you would have with bank charges), saying that it was their money and they could seize it at any time. Even after I cleared the last £10 of the overdraft they still slapped on a £2.83 "over the overdraft limit" charge as one last kick in the !!!. Jesus.....:mad: :mad: :mad:

Is this fair? Were they right in doing this at all, whether they had notified me or not (and I received no letter that they said they sent, although I have been pestering them for over a YEAR for a telephone banking passcode - I finally got an internet banking one after nine months, and they do have my address correct)?

Any comments greatly appreciated. Fine site, by the way
JJ

Hi,

Can you explain the bit about the overdraft please? Were you behind on repaying it?

jonesMUFCforever

In all banks t&c there will be a right to set off one account to another (provided the accounts are in the same name).
Why would you need a student account overdraft and a current account overdraft?
Seems to me that you are having a good old jolly up on Barclays' money to me.

Debt_Free_Chick

ejones999 wrote:

In all banks t&c there will be a right to set off one account to another (provided the accounts are in the same name).
Why would you need a student account overdraft and a current account overdraft?
Seems to me that you are having a good old jolly up on Barclays' money to me.

Agree - it's usually in the T&Cs

They've applied term 7.5. However, they should have informed you they had done this - they do not have to tell you in advance.

If you want to pursue this, I think you can only do so on the basis that they did not correctly apply their own terms. However, don't expect much more than a token gesture in compensation.

You've learned three hard lessons here - or should have done. Firstly, that if you owe a bank some money and there is other money in another account with the same bank, then the bank can normally take the money in the second account to pay what you owe on the first account.

Seconly, get friendly with the terms & conditions of every agreement you enter in to.

Third lesson ..... don't buy what you can't afford. You actually didn't have the money to go on holiday. I know you think you did, but you didn't