Halifax bank charges

Premier_2

They probably did notify her.

She has an online account. The fact she failed to go online to check her messages is not the fault of the bank. If she regularly has difficulty in going online, perhaps an online account is not the best solution for her. If that is the case, she should contact her bank and ask about the alternatives

Meanwhile, perhaps point her towards the Internet access forum if she is suffering from 3+ weeks internet downtimes. I know I would start going mad at my ISP if my internet connection was down for 3 hours let alone 3 weeks.

Cuppatea1982

Premier wrote: »

They probably did notify her.

She has an online account. The fact she failed to go online to check her messages is not the fault of the bank. If she regularly has difficulty in going online, perhaps an online account is not the best solution for her. If that is the case, she should contact her bank and ask about the alternatives

Meanwhile, perhaps point her towards the Internet access forum if she is suffering from 3+ weeks internet downtimes. I know I would start going mad at my ISP if my internet connection was down for 3 hours let alone 3 weeks.

Theres no probably about it.. they did not notify her and they also said that they didn't have to because she had online banking.

Yes the fact that she didn't have the internet was not Halifax's fault, but what is their fault is that they either dont clearly state that they dont notify account holders who have online banking about charges OR they blatently didn't say anything about it in the small print. I have looked on the Halifax website and also other forums and I can't find any information about it at all!

She is contacting them as soon as she has paid the charge and closing the account and going to a different bank. I will never ever use the Halifax as this is only one of many bad things I've heard about them....plus their adverts are absoulte sh*te!

Thanks for the link too....will pass it on to her.

zppp

Cuppatea1982 wrote: »

Theres no probably about it.. they did not notify her and they also said that they didn't have to because she had online banking.

Um, when I had Halifax online banking everything is notified, in fact a red warning appears at the top of the screen above the transacions saying that you need to read this, click here.

Cuppatea1982 wrote: »

Yes the fact that she didn't have the internet was not Halifax's fault, but what is their fault is that they either dont clearly state that they dont notify account holders who have online banking about charges OR they blatently didn't say anything about it in the small print. I have looked on the Halifax website and also other forums and I can't find any information about it at all!

They do, I know that as matter of fact, as I have had an alert for going overdrawn before.

To be fair, I am not their fan either, but unfortunately I have to admit they are not in the wrong here.

Premier_2

Cuppatea1982 wrote: »

Theres no probably about it.. they did not notify her ...

Then that would be a mistake and contrary to their terms 26 of their terms & conditions.

They say they will provide the account holder notification, and whats more will continue to do so every approximately 7 days whilst such charges are accruing.

However, as your sister has online banking, such notification would probably have been sent electronically and in such circumstances is deemed to arrive 1 day after it was sent. I suspect that is what they meant when they said they didn't have to write to her because she had an online account ... but yes they should have explained this better if she failed to understand that explanation

Cuppatea1982

zppp wrote: »

Um, when I had Halifax online banking everything is notified, in fact a red warning appears at the top of the screen above the transacions saying that you need to read this, click here.



They do, I know that as matter of fact, as I have had an alert for going overdrawn before.

To be fair, I am not their fan either, but unfortunately I have to admit they are not in the wrong here.

My gripe is though, that if your computer breaks down or your internet is cut off....they only tell you via your online account. They dont even warn you that if you can't access your online account, they wont be sending out a notification letter.
Also my sister was not told about mobile phone alerts....they never mentioned it to her until this situation happened!! She now has it in place. It just seem like they use dirty tricks to get money out of you.
The harsh thing is, people who are more likely to go over their overdraft are more likely in theory to have their internet access cut off....thus resulting in these ridiculous charges!
It does seem like dirty tricks and because they have done this...they will be losing two existing customers and one future potential customer. Hope it was worth it for them!

Cuppatea1982

Premier wrote: »

Then that would be a mistake and contrary to their terms 26 of their terms & conditions.

They say they will provide the account holder notification, and whats more will continue to do so every approximately 7 days whilst such charges are accruing.

However, as your sister has online banking, such notification would probably have been sent electronically and in such circumstances is deemed to arrive 1 day after it was sent. I suspect that is what they meant when they said they didn't have to write to her because she had an online account ... but yes they should have explained this better if she failed to understand that explanation

Maybe the FSA might be able to help. When I get the chance I will write them a letter as it's not on.

zppp

Cuppatea1982 wrote: »

My gripe is though, that if your computer breaks down or your internet is cut off....they only tell you via your online account. They dont even warn you that if you can't access your online account, they wont be sending out a notification letter.
Also my sister was not told about mobile phone alerts....they never mentioned it to her until this situation happened!! She now has it in place. It just seem like they use dirty tricks to get money out of you.
The harsh thing is, people who are more likely to go over their overdraft are more likely in theory to have their internet access cut off....thus resulting in these ridiculous charges!
It does seem like dirty tricks and because they have done this...they will be losing two existing customers and one future potential customer. Hope it was worth it for them!

The problem is, millions of people accross different banks use online banking, and normally wouldn't have no internet for a prolonged period. If you are unforunate not to have access for a prolonged period (for whatever reason) I would be using ATMs, and telephone banking etc, as although your internet may have stopped, your account continues. I don't see how it can be a dirty trick, as they are not aware that your sister did not have access to the internet.

zppp

Cuppatea1982 wrote: »

Maybe the FSA might be able to help. When I get the chance I will write them a letter as it's not on.

The FSA won't do anything, as they don't take individual queries and complaints from bank customers.

noh

It is not about whether you have online banking or not.
You can still use online banking and receive paper notifications.

Within Halifax online banking. If you select "My preferences" from the menu on the left, then select "Document settings" you are then able to select how you would prefer to get documentation for each of your accounts.
For bank accounts you can have statements sent by post or online and you can have letters sent by post or online.
Your Sister has online notification selected. The choice of being notified by post is there if she requires it.

Cuppatea1982

zppp wrote: »

The problem is, millions of people accross different banks use online banking, and normally wouldn't have no internet for a prolonged period. If you are unforunate not to have access for a prolonged period (for whatever reason) I would be using ATMs, and telephone banking etc, as although your internet may have stopped, your account continues. I don't see how it can be a dirty trick, as they are not aware that your sister did not have access to the internet.

Sure, I see what you mean and she does check on a regular basis now.

As far as I’m concerned though, unless clearly stated, Halifax shouldn’t just stop sending out bank charge notifications by post, but give customers the option to only receive online notifications when you log in for the first time! In my eyes that’s tricking people.

She didn’t check her account either because she wasn’t using it as she knew she wouldn’t have any funds until pay day. Why would she think that anything had changed?

But there you go; she has learned the hard way!