Crap crap month - damn Santander!

Stillsmiling

I mis-timed a bank transfer into my Cahoot account which meant that some DD's wouldn't have funds available. I rang to temporarily extend my OD but was told that it wasn't bank practice to do that anymore and they couldn't help me! I was rather flabbergasted at that as I'd halved my OD a few months before - my choice! I should have left it as it was - hindsight is a beautiful thing. A few DD's were refused - my fault, I should suck it up. I was annoyed but couldn't really blame anyone but myself.

I then sent off of a cheque to pay into the account and I assumed it was there - I couldn't check as that damn online banking only seems to work about half the time at the moment and I haven't had the opportunity to phone as I've been working long hours at work. It was there - but hadn't cleared (which bugs me as it was a cheque from a MEGA company and would not have bounced anyway!) and as a result the re-presented DD's were refused again - plus a load of small paypal amounts (all under £20). Whilst I should have ensured the cheque had cleared, I was hindered in this by the dodgy online system (2 / 3 times in one day it was "service suspended for 5 minutes" except the minutes goes on for longer!). Am I really going to face £25 or £30 charges for each one of these? If so I might as well go bankrupt now! I'm on a debt management plan and can't afford 8 of those fees in one month - and right before Christmas too! Is there a cap for how much they can justifiably charge you...

The car has just cost us around £700 (waiting on final bill), now this. What the hell is next?!

boo_star

To be fair to Cahoot, if you are on a DMP it's very unlikely any bank would extend your overdraft, even if only temporarily and even if you have voluntarily reduced your overdraft.

Did they not suggest cancelling the DDs when you called? It would result in some snotty letters from the companies involved and can mess things up a bit but would have avoided the bank charges and since they were not going to get paid anyway you'd be in pretty much the same position with those companies anyway.

Regarding the cheque, banks can at their own discretion allow access to funds earlier however if you're on a DMP and your credit file is presumably trashed it is understandable that they might not feel comfortable exposing themselves to the risk. Afterall, the cheque could be forged/fake and be returned unpaid.

I don't know Cahoots charging structure but I think it very likely you will be charged for the represented DDs unfortunately.

My only advice would be to call them and try to negotiate the charges and in future cancel the DDs (or place a stop on them if the bank will do it) if OT looks like it's going to happen.

Stillsmiling

boo_star wrote: »

To be fair to Cahoot, if you are on a DMP it's very unlikely any bank would extend your overdraft, even if only temporarily and even if you have voluntarily reduced your overdraft.

Really? They've been putting it up and down ever since I started banking with them - which was after the DMP started. And I know I'm not supposed to have one when on a DMP but it kinda happened - which is why I've halved it and it's going to be cleared.

And no they didn't suggest cancelling my DD's. I did think of that myself as one of them is my gas and elec - which I'm changing anyway. But I couldn't login to do it as the online thing wasn't working again. Story of my life lately. *sigh*

boo_star

Really. I am surprised they haven't asked for the overdraft to be repaid on a DMP, most would, at least when they do a yearly review.

If they didn't offer the solution of cancelling the DDs and you couldn't log in you could try asking for some mercy, I doubt they'll bite but nothing ventured nothing gained (don't go venting your anger at them though, they've technically done nothing wrong and having a go at the CS advisor will likely lead them to do as little as possible for you)

Stillsmiling

Think I must have got lucky as they've waived the fees incurred since the cheque was deposited. PHEW
Though ironically they asked me to use the online messaging system to respond to them - but I can't login AGAIN!!!!

SimIsOnTheUp

Stillsmiling wrote: »

Think I must have got lucky as they've waived the fees incurred since the cheque was deposited. PHEW
Though ironically they asked me to use the online messaging system to respond to them - but I can't login AGAIN!!!!

Great to hear that they've waived the fees.

I'm with A&L / Santander, and was cringing at the thought of £90 worth of pending charges (Paid Item Fees and O / D fees).

However. it looks like I've been lucky too, as they waived one of the £25 Paid Item Fees, leaving just the one £25 charge to pay.

The overdraft fees (10 days @ £5.00 per day) have also not been charged.

Talk about a relief!

Stillsmiling -

You mention Santander's 'online messaging system'.. Where on earth do I find that on their website?

When I'm logged in to my online banking, there is an option to read their incoming messages, but no option to message them.

Or am I missing something?!

Cheers,

Sim :cool: