Clydesdale Bank - Avoid!

one-non-blonde

I've always thought the Clydesdale Bank were a dreadful bunch of crooks and have always meant to take my business elsewhere but as my maintenance money has always gone there I've not really wanted to upset the status quo.

Firstly they used to charge 10p for every direct debit (took me a while to notice though!). I also got my fingers burned when they charged me £35 or £40 to arrange an overdraft facility a few years back, then a few months later when I no longer needed it and phoned them up (thinking I was being a good customer and doing them a favour) they charged the same again to remove it. However, this week they took the proverbial biscuit. I accidentally went overdrawn by I think about £10 (the online facility is CR*P and doesn't give you an accurate running balance). They automatically charged me £25 for unauthorised borrowing and today I got a letter to say they were also going to charge me a 'Maintenance Fee' of £22.50. No doubt there will also be some interest charged eventually as well.

£47.50????? :eek: For a measly £10??? When it's obviously a one-off minor mistake as the account has been well-maintained in credit for 4 or 5 years??

P*ssed off??? You bet!! :mad:

My other account is a Nationwide flex-account/e-savers and my experiences couldn't be more different - great customer services, ease of online use, fantastic free/cheap overdraft facility, etc.

Anyone any ideas of what to say in a letter to try and recoup the charges and how I go about getting my CSA money paid elsewhere?

grumbler

Why don't you just transfer money to NW once a month or even set up a standing order?

aliasojo

If it were me, I would make an appointment to speak to the Manager. I would (very politely) go over all the points you want to raise and ask that the charges be refunded to you.

Emphasis the fact that your account has been well maintained previously and you feel the charges are grossly unfair.

I think it would be less easy to fob you off face to face. Then, if the Manager refuses, you still have the option to write to their Head Office, only now you can complain about the charges AND the Manager's refusal to help. Hopefully it wont come to that though.

I agree with the above poster who advises setting up a standing order to move the money as soon as it comes in. I'm in a similar position in that I have a set amount of money paid into a not so good account from a source that I would prefer not to mess around with. Rather than try to change things and risk further problems, I just transfer the funds out as soon as they arrive into a better account.

Good luck, I hope you get refunded.

cifpower

Clydesdale is owned by the same group as Northern Bank and Yorkshire Bank and they ALL do the same.

davidcampbell

how did you get on ONB?

DC

YorkshireBoy

cifpower wrote:

Clydesdale is owned by the same group as Northern Bank and Yorkshire Bank and they ALL do the same.

My current account has been with the Yorkshire Bank for nearly 25 years, and I've never had any problems (that would make me change banks anyway) in all of that time.

Yes, I've slipped up (last time about 7 years ago) and incurred charges, but have always had them refunded (less debit interest of course) following a FACE-TO-FACE with the manager. As a previous poster suggested, don't do it on the phone - call in and speak with them (note: speak WITH them, not AT them!) - all managers have a certain amount of discretion if your account has otherwise been run properly.

If you then simply can't get the charges waived, DO NOT GET ANGRY. Turn it into a positive for yourself by telling them you'll accept the charges if your authorised overdraft can be increased by £300 or whatever. That way, you'll be less likely to go over it next time you're "sailing close to the wind".

HTH
YB

IvanOpinion

ONB, I agree with aliasojo, request that the money is refunded. I would also move all my banking to another bank/building society. You said in your original post that you had reasons for staying well now you have 47.5 reasons for going.

I made a move to the Abbey National back in 1996 after a major fall out with my other bank and was surprised how easy it was. The girl at the Abbey did all the form filling and work for me ... all I had to do was bring informaiton about my various DD's and then sign the various bits of paper that she put in front of me. I walked out of the bank that morning with ALL my banking problems solved (and I had some major issues the days leading up to it that were causing me to lose sleep).

I would say to anybody to vote with their feet. Leave these banks that have extortionate charges. People will spend hours venting on various chat boards, ruminating, losing sleep etc. but will not spend 1 hour changing their bank account ... People seem to be under the perception that changing bank account is difficult .... IT IS SIMPLE (or at least it was for me).

Ivan

Liz19

I too think the Clydesdale Bank is the pits. There is no facility online to cancel direct debits so I have to phone all the time (a bit of a pain since I have indulged big time in the 3 for £1 magazine offers). Everytime I phone they ask if a mortgage advisor can phone me and I usually say no as we were tied in to our current lender(they still phoned anyway) but in November I said ok and guess what I am still waiting for them to call - incompetent or what!:(

dchurch24

See https://www.bankchargeshell.co.uk for tips on how to recover unfair bank charges.

scattylass

LOL! Have to completely agree that the Clydesdale is pants! Have just posted up about trying to get a new student account after 15 years with them. I called and asked them for a small overdraft facility as a safety net and they asked me to go in and see them (probably to try and sell me lots of other useless products). I explained i now lived over 400 miles away from the branch and that wasnt feasable. So they said they couldnt help me! Now im struggling to get a new account because other banks think its suss that i dont have much of a credit history and want to leave a bank i have a long relationship with! But, on behalf of many friends i Know who have had horrendous charges from them - please take it all the way and get your full refunds!
scatty as ever