A&L 'switching' problems

crawley_girl

Have just opened an A&L Premierdirect account and went through the switching process.

It was a total disaster and the actual switch 'went through' whilst I was out of the country.

A&L cancelled direct debits and standing orders from my old Barclays account before they were set up with A&L. I incurred a £10 charge from one company for late payment of a dd which I intend to get back from A&L

One of my standing orders is to my parents which was cancelled and set up for the following month. Because the money did not hit their account on time, they incurred bank charges and we had a bit of a falling out (nothing major) until I made sure the money was in their account. Thing is... I am going to complain to A&L about all of this and also about receiving a letter saying I was o/d and that they couldn't honor a dd when there clearly was enough money in the account but do you think that A&L would cover the bank charges incurred by my parents? They are kinda old school and would not be interested in trying to claim back from their bank or am I just pushing my luck? I fear I am!

Have spoken this through with a few mates and I am getting myself a reputation for being a serial complainer!!!

Any thoughts?

:heartpuls CG :heartpuls

fagun

crawley_girl wrote:

...Thing is... I am going to complain to A&L about all of this and also about receiving a letter saying I was o/d and that they couldn't honor a dd when there clearly was enough money in the account but do you think that A&L would cover the bank charges incurred by my parents?...
Any thoughts?

:heartpuls CG :heartpuls

A&L did a similar bounce to the OH's account. I am definitely complaining, since they also deducted £34 fees immediately, which is contrary to Banking Code. I'd suggets you complain and get as much as you can out of them, inlcuding for any consequential costs.

Thay have a ridiculous online banking system that requires serious investigation.

shanky

I've also been caught out twice by A&L.

The first time was when I deposited a bankers draft and after a day it was showing up on my online account, yet the funds weren’t available? It still allowed me to transfer some funds out and I hence whet over my agreed limit and was charged £34. I've gave them a call and they said they would give me 1/2 back as a gesture of good will, I said that wasn't good enough and asked to speak to the supervisor, but apparently the supervisors won't speak to anyone about refunds. At this point I said don't give me 1/2 back as I wanted the full amount refunding and I would write a letter to the customer service department. The next day I look at my account and they had refunded me 1/2 of the amount anyway???

The second time I got caught out was when I realised that I didn't have enough in my account to pay a DD so I deposited cash to cover it. But apparently cash takes a day to clear, and the DD went out in the morning when the funds weren’t available. This caught me out as my old HSBC account would have let you go over my limit in the morning and then because you'd covered it with the cash deposit you wouldn't have got charged for going over your limit. Instead of being charged £34 by A&L and £12 for a missed payment on a credit card. When I rang about this they basically said they couldn’t do anything about it and I’d already had one gesture of good will so that’s your lot!

chairman_miaow

I've just switched to A&L from first direct , and I regret doing it !!!

I transferred sufficient funds from my savings account to cover my mortgage payment on 6th November and I received a letter from them yesterday to say that my account was overdrawn on that day , but they had made the payment and wouldn't charge me the £25.00 fee as I was still in the "switching" period.

Presumably the funds transferred from my A&L savings account to the A&L current account weren't classed as cleared funds ? Can anyone confirm that ? If so , that's flippin ludicrous !

And don't even get me started on their internet banking website.......it's awful

chesky369

I've just opened an A+L account (to get the regular saver) and whilst I agree about the dreadfulness of the website, I do have to say they've given me a £1,500 overdraft facility which is free for (I think) six months.

chairman_miaow

You'll probably need it !

I e-mailed A&L about their letter - part of the reply here :

If the available account balance at the start of a working day is insufficient to meet your debit transactions the item fails to pay and a decision is then made whether to pay the item or not.
We are notified as soon as credits are paid into an account when a customer uses the Post Office or one of our branches to make a cash deposit. This also applies if a transfer of funds is made using the Internet from a linked savings account or if a credit is received from another Alliance & Leicester account. However, if those credits are received on the same day an item is due to be paid, charges will still be applied as the decision to pay or return an item is based on the balance of your account at the start of a business day.

So basically ANY receipts aren't credited until the end of the day.....after the payments have been made (or not , as the case may be !)

Is this how other banks deal with this sort of thing ? (I've only used first direct before , and the funds were always credited first thing in the morning)

YorkshireBoy

chairman_miaow wrote:

So basically ANY receipts aren't credited until the end of the day.....after the payments have been made (or not , as the case may be !)

Yes, and they say as much in the T&C's...

22.4 If the cleared balance on Your Account at the start of the day is insufficient to cover the amount of any payments that may be debited to Your Account that day (i.e. cash or cheque withdrawal) We may refuse to allow the payment. However, We do not guarantee that We shall refuse to make any such payment. We may allow a payment to go through, and You will incur the relevant fees.

http://www.alliance-leicester.co.uk/currentaccounts/ec03964.pdf

Is this how other banks deal with this sort of thing ?

In my experience (with Barclays, Nationwide, Yorkshire Bank, and others), yes. The decision(s) are taken overnight when all the processing is done.

chairman_miaow

Hmm...fair enough...I was obviously spoiled with first direct then...

Still think it's a bit of a cheek though...especially when the funds are being transferred from another A&L account

emeraldbugle

Should I do the switching myself?

chairman_miaow

If you can , yes !

Of the 8 or so direct debits they switched , I have had problems with 3 !

Essenchill

Feeling a little foolish even writing this query, but feeling a little on the confused side today!

To switch my direct debits myself, would I need to get in touch with all the companies who I am paying or would I just need to set them up in a new account and cancel them from the old account?

The best advice is to leave enough money in the old account to cover everything until you know its working and running smoothly, but how do you ensure that two lots don't go out to the companies?

Could someone just jot down a Janet & John guide to switching Direct Debits yourself?!