PLEASE HELP!! Unfair charge - Alliance&Leicester

Anarane

Hi all,

I've joined this forum in utter desperation. I need some advice, BADLY!

I get paid every Thursday. Once a month, my rent leaves my account (also on a Thursday). Yesterday, my rent went out as normal, and my wages went in as normal... EXCEPT, I opened my account today to find that thbank have charged me £25 for a payment review fee.

They say that money LEAVES their accounts at 12.01 but the money isn't cleared INTO their accounts until late morning. But the money was in there on the SAME day!! Surely this isn't right?

All this wouldn't be a huge problem if something hadn't already left my account on Tuesday that there weren't enough funds for, so I am now looking at £50 in payment review charges.

To make matters worse, I was already living on the edge of my overdraft, and this £50 of charges has now put me over my overdraft - which A&L are charging £5 per DAY for. I already owe £15 of these charges, bringing the total today to £65 worth of charges in just 2 days!

I called A&L, explained the problem, and the gent I spoke to wasn't a gent at all - said they couldn't help me. I asked to speak to his supervisor in the hope that someone more senior would have a chance of helping me, only to have the 'gent' refuse to do so! Out of sheer despair I asked 'what I was meant to live on until I get paid again, fresh air?'. His reply? 'Yeah, pretty much'. (!!!)

Not only do I have this to deal with, but now I have realised that most of next week's wages are going to be eaten up by these charges and my bills - and I have literally NO money between now and next Thursday!

What can I do? I'm totally fuming and on the brink of tears all at once!

Eydon

A bit late now I know, but switch banks. I'm with Barclays and I know for a fact that you don't get charged in situations like this. I frequently have direct debits and standing orders go out on payday, and if you look at my statement it quite clearly shows the balance going negative (sometimes quite a bit negative) before my salary is credited bringing it back into the black. Never been charged yet. And I'm sure Barclays aren't alone in operating this way. I'm sure I've read on this very site about other banks that as long as you are in the black by close of business on a given day they won't charge you.

My suggestion to you would be to make a formal complaint to the bank - not about the charges, but about the way the customer rep spoke to you (assuming that is what he said, and not tainted with your emotions - please don't take that the wrong way). Ask for a copy of the telephone conversation (I don't suppose you got the 'gents' name did you). If he has spoken to you this way then I would think at the very least they should be looking at giving you the £50 back as a gesture of good will. It's worth a try.

Anarane

Thank you for replying so fast. I understand what you mean by emotions, but that is genuinely what he said - word for word. I was actually gobsmacked by his reply.

I did get his name (at the start of the conversation thankfully, else it might not actually have been his name!) and I was going to call them back to complain, but what do I tell them? I can't very well say 'my feelings were hurt' can I?

Also, how do I go about complaining about him? The only complaints form they seem to have on the website is for the actual account, and if you call them the only options are to complain about a current account, saving account, or internet banking issues.

I though A&L were meant to be a decent bank - I'm completely disillusioned by them after this!

zppp

Anarane wrote: »

Thank you for replying so fast. I understand what you mean by emotions, but that is genuinely what he said - word for word. I was actually gobsmacked by his reply.

I did get his name (at the start of the conversation thankfully, else it might not actually have been his name!) and I was going to call them back to complain, but what do I tell them? I can't very well say 'my feelings were hurt' can I?

Also, how do I go about complaining about him? The only complaints form they seem to have on the website is for the actual account, and if you call them the only options are to complain about a current account, saving account, or internet banking issues.

I though A&L were meant to be a decent bank - I'm completely disillusioned by them after this!

Can I ask what you are hoping to achieve through this? Whilst I agree that is is unhelpful if somebody is abrupt over the phone, you did pose a question to somebody that has no control over the policies they have to adhere to. IMO they will not refund the charges, they may pass the feedback on and listen to the call, but this doesn't change the charges that have triggered, whether someone was rude or not.

If it is going to put you in financial hardship, then I suggest you may want to try and;

• Increase your overdraft limit.
• Cancel non essential direct debit payments ie gym etc.
• Write to them with a statement of affairs and offer a set monthly repayment, in exchange to stop it triggering further charges.
• Direct your pay into a new parachute account to avoid it being swallowed up. (Be aware that you may trigger more charges with A+L by doing this)

Eydon

I can't comment on how decent they are - I've never used them.

I guess we all have bad days, and you may have caught this 'gent' on one, but that is no excuse. By the sounds of it he also refused to put you through to a supervisor when you requested it and again that's not on IMO.

A formal complaint is best done in a letter. There should be an address on their website. Make sure it's headed up COMPLAINT and make sure you stick to the facts in the letter. Detail how you phoned up for help and advice and got neither. Ask that they reconsider their decision to apply the charges to your account bearing in mind that the account was not overdrawn at the end of the day. Explain that you were not aware that you would be charged in these circumstances and promise to ensure that it won't happen again. As mentioned above they may refuse to refund the charges, but for the cost of a stamp it's worth asking.

Obviously this is going to take time, and you're not going to get a result any time soon.

Anarane

zppp wrote: »

Can I ask what you are hoping to achieve through this? Whilst I agree that is is unhelpful if somebody is abrupt over the phone, you did pose a question to somebody that has no control over the policies they have to adhere to.

I asked him that to try to get him to see the desperate situation I am in - his attitude stank, and the manner in which he spoke to me prior to this question was terrible. I wanted to back him into a corner to get him to transfer my call to a supervisor. Unfortunately all I succeeded in doing was winding myself up more and showing that this particular A&L employee doesn't care - it's just a job to him, and anyone with any real problems just don't count.

zppp wrote: »

If it is going to put you in financial hardship, then I suggest you may want to try and;

• Increase your overdraft limit.
• Cancel non essential direct debit payments ie gym etc.
• Write to them with a statement of affairs and offer a set monthly repayment, in exchange to stop it triggering further charges.
• Direct your pay into a new parachute account to avoid it being swallowed up. (Be aware that you may trigger more charges with A+L by doing this)

I have already applied for an increase - they refused.
I don't have any non essential direct debits or standing orders. I have my rent, and my phone contract which is a contract that I have been locked into for 12 months and still have 12 months to go. I also pay the minimum repayments to my argos card and my capital one card via direct debit.

I will give the statement of affairs letter a go though - it never occurred to me that this was an option, so thank you!

Anarane

Eydon wrote: »

I guess we all have bad days, and you may have caught this 'gent' on one, but that is no excuse. By the sounds of it he also refused to put you through to a supervisor when you requested it and again that's not on IMO.

I agree. They are not technically allowed to say no to a reasonable request - I believe he didn't want me to speak to a supervisor in case I reported his behaviour...

Eydon wrote: »

A formal complaint is best done in a letter. There should be an address on their website. Make sure it's headed up COMPLAINT and make sure you stick to the facts in the letter. Detail how you phoned up for help and advice and got neither. Ask that they reconsider their decision to apply the charges to your account bearing in mind that the account was not overdrawn at the end of the day. Explain that you were not aware that you would be charged in these circumstances and promise to ensure that it won't happen again. As mentioned above they may refuse to refund the charges, but for the cost of a stamp it's worth asking.

Obviously this is going to take time, and you're not going to get a result any time soon.

I will write a letter as above, and include what you have said too. I just can't believe that banks are allowed to apply such large charges to an account that is obviously already struggling! How is that meant to help? It looks like a self-perpetuating issue too - do they not see that once they apply a large charge on the account, an account which is already sailing VERY close to the wind, the account (and the person behind it) may NEVER recover? Are they THAT stupid or do they just not care?

zppp

Anarane wrote: »

I asked him that to try to get him to see the desperate situation I am in - his attitude stank, and the manner in which he spoke to me prior to this question was terrible. I wanted to back him into a corner to get him to transfer my call to a supervisor. Unfortunately all I succeeded in doing was winding myself up more and showing that this particular A&L employee doesn't care - it's just a job to him, and anyone with any real problems just don't count.

Don't take this the wrong way, but I think in this case you are complaining about being backed in a corner about the charges you have had, and you don't like it. What did you want the call operative to say, after all they aren't allowed to remove the charges? I do a similar job for another institution and it is a very awkward question to ask, especially because the person knows there is nothing they can do, irrespective of what they feel about the situation.

Anarane wrote: »

I will give the statement of affairs letter a go though - it never occurred to me that this was an option, so thank you!

At least doing this may stop it escalating and try and get it back on track. You may want to take a look at this link I found for you, may help;

http://www.alliance-leicester.co.uk/customer-service/pdfs/Financial_Difficulties.pdf

Lokolo

Anarane wrote: »

I will write a letter as above, and include what you have said too. I just can't believe that banks are allowed to apply such large charges to an account that is obviously already struggling! How is that meant to help? It looks like a self-perpetuating issue too - do they not see that once they apply a large charge on the account, an account which is already sailing VERY close to the wind, the account (and the person behind it) may NEVER recover? Are they THAT stupid or do they just not care?

But it's not the banks fault you struggle, its yours. (sorry to be quite blunt!)

The bank isn't there to hold your hand, they are there to provide you with a service. You agree to that service and pay the way (the charges).

Although I agree it's unfortunate that they have charged you even though you ended the day in credit.

---

On a side note, if you do struggle, do a Statement of Affairs and post it:

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

People can help you cut back

Anarane

zppp wrote: »

Don't take this the wrong way, but I think in this case you are complaining about being backed in a corner about the charges you have had, and you don't like it. What did you want the call operative to say, after all they aren't allowed to remove the charges? I do a similar job for another institution and it is a very awkward question to ask, especially because the person knows there is nothing they can do, irrespective of what they feel about the situation.

I haven't been backed into a corner about the charges - I've had the rug taken from under me! Have you ever been *just* clinging on and then through no real fault of your own, been pushed over the edge? That's what has happened here - I was just about getting by, and then they charged me for being overdrawn when in fact, the end of the day ended in credit! As a result, I am now no longer 'getting by' - I have been pushed over into 'unable to cope' and it wasn't REALLY my fault. As I've said, up until now, theis has never happened, so I had no reason to need to watch out for such a thing happening - I didn't know things like that ever happened!

But thank you for the link - I will have a look.

Anarane

Lokolo wrote: »

But it's not the banks fault you struggle, its yours. (sorry to be quite blunt!)

The bank isn't there to hold your hand, they are there to provide you with a service. You agree to that service and pay the way (the charges).

Although I agree it's unfortunate that they have charged you even though you ended the day in credit.

I never said it was their fault I struggle - but it IS their fault that I now no longer struggle, but instead can't manage. If they hadn't applied the unfair charge, I wouldn't have been overdrawn, and therefore wouldn't have to pay an extra £5 per day for it either!

I don't expect them to hold my hand - I expect them to deal fairly with my finances - and they haven't.

And 'unfortunate' - doesn't even cover it. I don't even have enough money to EAT this week now. I am going to have to rely on the very small amount of food in my cupboard and the kindness of my local shop to possibly set up a tab - and although they USED to do this, I don't think they do it any more!