£1.08 Overdrawn - First Time Offense in 10 Years - Barclays Refuses to Waive £22 Fee

Ulysses31

NorthernStudent wrote: »

The reserve fee is not a penalty charge, it's a fee for a service (hence the name). OP's mother made use of the reserve service on her account and was charged accordingly. The Ts and Cs of the service clearly state this..

I have just been charged the arbitrary amount of £22 for one day of being overdrawn by just £2.40

It is all very well to point out to people that it is the T's and C's, and that it is the fee for a "service" (actually I believe the personal reserve is merely to circumvent criticism of the old overdrawn charges, but that's for another time) but the sheer disproportionate charges for what has been received as part of that service, i.e. £2.40 worth of credit for less than a day, is the principle of what is being lamented here. Just because a customer has not opted out of the personal reserve scheme, and is subject to the bank's T's and C's is not, by default, an agreement to be given such appalling value for money for such a service.

noh

Ulysses31 wrote: »

I have just been charged the arbitrary amount of £22 for one day of being overdrawn by just £2.40

It is all very well to point out to people that it is the T's and C's, and that it is the fee for a "service" (actually I believe the personal reserve is merely to circumvent criticism of the old overdrawn charges, but that's for another time) but the sheer disproportionate charges for what has been received as part of that service, i.e. £2.40 worth of credit for less than a day, is the principle of what is being lamented here. Just because a customer has not opted out of the personal reserve scheme, and is subject to the bank's T's and C's is not, by default, an agreement to be given such appalling value for money for such a service.

If you think the service is not value for money then don't use it.

DizzleUK

izools wrote: »

Something sounds highly amiss here given that Barclays offer a ten pound buffer across all of their accounts - both cash and current.

AFAIK it's not across all accounts. I have the Current Account Plus, which I pay £5 a month for. This account comes with the £10 buffer. My partner has the Cash card account and has no buffer, and my (full) current account didn't have the buffer until I upgraded it to the Plus account.

izools

In that case the FSA's guide to bank accounts is wrong. Grr

noh

izools wrote: »

In that case the FSA's guide to bank accounts is wrong. Grr

The FSA guide to bank accounts states that Barclays Cash Card account has no buffer zone which is correct.
http://www.moneymadeclear.org.uk/pdfs/bank_accounts.pdf

izools

Ahh. I haven't read it since 2009 so I guess they've updated it

I'll try to keep more up to date

ColinFishwick

CatalinaMadnickh is spamming the forums

gsmmad

moved over to santander because of this issue.....overdrawn by such a small amount and then whacked a few charges

Ulysses31

noh wrote: »

If you think the service is not value for money then don't use it.

I don't particularly subscribe to the personal reserve being any kind of "service" for which I ought to be grateful. I've now opted out, as I had never been overdrawn before, this being the first time in a long period of banking with Barclays. There is a culture of shoulder shrugging amongst a certain quarter, and a "Them's the rules!" attitude. Surely anybody, even those that agree with a bank's right to make money from charges and fees as I do, can see that such a deal is heavily and unfairly weighted in the merchant's, rather than the customer's, favour?

BreamoreBoy

gsmmad wrote: »

moved over to santander because of this issue.....overdrawn by such a small amount and then whacked a few charges

Nothing personal but you must be barmy, as Santander overcharge you for their continual screw ups.