Help - Alliance & Leicester (Santander)

cabbage73

Hi

I have joined this site to let off a lot of steam about the Alliance & Leicester. I have a current accout with a £50 overdraft. What is happening is every time money is paid into my account and I withdraw cash from it on the same day it shows the money being taken out first then the money coming in, therefore 9 times out of 10 it will take me overdrawn and over my overdraft limit. Then at the end of the month they charge me for this and just about every month I have to ring them (the nearest branch is 30 miles from where I live in Dorset) and try to get these charges refunded. Today I have spent over £10 ringing them 3 times as 2 advisors told me that the charges would be refunded immediately, but the 3rd advisor tells me it takes up to 48 hours for the refund to happen. It has always been immediate, and on the basis of the 2nd advisor I put petrol in the car, and then my card was declined and nearly arrested for theft. The customer services advisors are rude and unhelpful, and even asking for a neme if they are not helpful so you can complain, they refuse. This bank is horrible but unfortunately I have debts and therefore cannot open another account with another bank. I am getting to my wits end with this every god damn month it happens. The money they have taken from me today, £15 still has not been refunded to my account as yet. I do have online banking so how come when I wish to withdraw cash that is showing as cleared are they showing the debit first and then the credit. Does anyone else have this problem? Any advice? I really don't know what to do now. I have contacted the financial ombudsman about this but heard nothing as yet. Its driving me nuts every month. Please hellp me someone!

noh

Alliance and Leicester require cleared funds in the account at the start of the day (effectively close of bussiness the previous day).
You need to draw the cash out the day after the incoming payment to avoid going overdrawn.
The practice of listing debits before credits is something most banks do and has no bearing on whether or not you incur a charge.

http://www.alliance-leicester.co.uk/customer-service/pdfs/Current-Account-terms-and-conditions.pdf

section 19.4

cabbage73

What do you do work for the Alliance & Leicester? Taking the debit before the credit is not what most banks do as my landlady is a bank manager but not for the Alliance & Leicester and she has a lot of dealing with other banks and even she has confirmed that this is not usual practice for most banks. If the money is showing as coming in and cleared then why should I have to wait an extra day to draw on money I need that day? Also being on benefits money is tight enough and therefore I need to be able to access the cash on the day it goes in. I always check my bank online and therefore if I can see the money as coming in and cleared on my "available balance" then the money is there for me to draw on. If I do take any cash out as I explained the debit shows before the credit and does incur me a charge due to going over my overdraft and they do charge me every month for it. Very frustrating I can tell you.

onlypaddy

i agree with you cabbage, if money is showing as available on online balance then you should eb able to use it. but that coupled with A&L online banking not working in real time was a right pain in the rear for me.

i was caught by their daily rearrangement a couple of times, but never actually got charged as it was always positive by the end of the day.

why do you think having debts means you cant open another account?

noh

No I don't work for A+L or any other bank.
I do have an A+L account and accounts at several other banks.
All the banks I use all list debits before credits.
It is not the order that they are listed that cause your charges. It is the fact that they require cleared funds in the account the day before.

I'm just telling you how they work.
If you continue to use the account as you are doing you will continue to be charged.
The way to avoid the charge is to withdraw the cash the day following the deposit.

cabbage73

The money is showing as cleared so its there to use. Not all the banks use debits before credits as I explained that my landlady is a bank manager and she knows better than anyone how banks work and she is in agreement with me and also that not all banks list debits before credits she has confirmed that to me face to face. Maybe yuou don't mind being charged as you can afford it, but I can't. If its there its cleared to draw on but they are a rip off bank and hate them. They never used to do this before they were Santander.

cabbage73

Thanks for your support on this matter, as no-one is helping me anywhere. I can't open another bank account as they credit check you then debts come back to haunt me. Not that I have purposely ripped any company off as I am not like that, its just someone ripped off my O2 contract phone some years ago and it was run up to over £500 and they are still chasing me to this day.

It is only wednesday, and the charges have not been refunded to my account as yet and I am sitting here broke, very little food and I don't get paid until friday. They normally put the charges on straight away but they are being awkward this time and it really has got me down. Its cost me so far on calls to them £22 for what? They really are uselesss and would love to be in a position to tell them to get stuffed but I'm not unfortunately. Its not easy being on benefits and budgeting evertything but didn't expect them to f**k me about like this. They are all right sitting there with there jobs and cheap mortgages but people who are disabled like myself they just treat me with such utter contempt its very upsetting.

nikki2804

Me and the OH are with A&L, his debits come off before the credits (same day) which puts him over his OD limit of £100 but we're never charged for it. Don't know if that helps any?

I always found A&L to be ok, Santander on the otherhand are crap. So no doubt this will have an impact on there CS now.

onlypaddy

cabbage, you can get a basic bank account with any of the major banks. these accounts dont have full facilities and are specially designed for people with poor credit history, and don't carry out a full credit search. have a look at the sticky on the top of this board...link: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=319736

you can open an account with one of these and then work to repay your overdraft with A&L gradually.

I would also recommend going over to the Debt Free Wannabe board. If you post about your situation and fill in an SOA (They will provide links) they will help you make changes and get help. There may also be someone who can advise you on the legality of your situation with O2

cabbage73

Hi there

Thanks for your post, and I am surprised you do not get charged. My OH has an account with them but has NO overdraft facility and they did the same to him but didn't charge him. How stange. The A & L were ok I agree until they got taken over by Santander and now the customer service is rubbish.

noh

The money is showing as cleared so its there to use. Not all the banks use debits before credits as I explained that my landlady is a bank manager and she knows better than anyone how banks work and she is in agreement with me and also that not all banks list debits before credits she has confirmed that to me face to face. Maybe yuou don't mind being charged as you can afford it, but I can't. If its there its cleared to draw on but they are a rip off bank and hate them. They never used to do this before they were Santander

.

No I dont ever get charged the reason being I dont draw money out unless it is available at the end of the previous day.
My running balance has often exceeded my overdraft intraday but I have not been charged as there was sufficient funds available at the end of the previous day.

I explained how they work and pointed out the clause in their T+Cs.
The only way for you to avoid the charge is to make the withdrawal the day after the deposit.
If you continue to do what you are doing you will get charged no matter what you or your landlady say or think.