NOCHEX - a Warning if you don't use it for a while

paul_h

I suppose they could charge it to your registered card... :eek:

heatherw_01

I think it is terrible that they do not notify you saying something like "your account will be deactivated if you do not log in" instead of just closing accounts!

paul_h

heatherw_01 wrote:

I think it is terrible that they do not notify you saying something like "your account will be deactivated if you do not log in" instead of just closing accounts!

It stinks.

They certainly did not contact about that my deactivating my account. They do not even tell you what constitutes a dormant account. I never considered that they could do this without any notification whatsoever.

I had logged into my account several times during the period my account was deemed to be 'dormant', to perform account maintenance, but it seems wasn't good enough - they have backdated the charges to my last payment.

However, during the period that my account was deemed to be 'inactive', they did contact me to change my registered debit card details as they were about to expire! ...which I did!

Grrr!:mad:

ttony111

Another disgruntled user here. Taken all my nochex dues to dormant account. Is there anything we can do to try and get this money back?

I wonder how many people this has affected. Must be a nice little earner for Nochex

paul_h

ttony111 wrote:

Another disgruntled user here. Taken all my nochex dues to dormant account. Is there anything we can do to try and get this money back?

I wonder how many people this has affected. Must be a nice little earner for Nochex

I suspect there will be a lot more people discovering that they have lost money soon.

I suppose the first step is to contact Nochex and ask them to expain the charges and/or repay them. The problem with taking further action is that Nochex are not regulated by the FSA - however, I reckon their conduct merits being reported to the Office Of Fair Trading for investigation.

However, nothing will be done unless the OFT receive a large number of complaints about this company.

heatherw_01

If there T&C's are:

3.11 Nochex reserves the right at their absolute discretion to apply an administration charge of no more than £5.00 per quarter on dormant accounts.

Why are they emptying peoples accounts of their full balance?

Someone on the forums say they take your full balance upon reactivation!

Strange how everyone's accounts are getting marked dormant all at the same time.

Also it says:

2.2 If you do not access your Nochex Personal account for 180 days or longer we may notify you at your last notified address of our intention to close your account. If we do not receive any instructions from you to the contrary, we may close your Nochex Personal account on 31 days notice after the deemed date of receipt of our notification to you.

Well they have warned no one so far!

paul_h

heatherw_01 wrote:

Why are they emptying peoples accounts of their full balance?

Someone on the forums say they take your full balance upon reactivation!

Its all a bit suspect really. What they are doing, I assume, is charging the £5 per quarter and backdating it to the last transaction on your account.

I think its just that for most people, the penalty is more than they have in their accounts - hence zero balance. They took £40 from me and left me with a few pounds in the account.

The reference to 180 days and then 31 days notice in the T&C is for closure of the accounts due to inactivity. They are not actually closing the accounts, but making them 'dormant' due to inactivity, and then applying the charge retrospectively, in one lump. There is nothing in the T&C to tell you what constitutes a dormant account, or how they are dealt with, nor what notification users are entitled to - conveniently.

They seem to have charged me for my account being inactive for 2 years, or around 730 days, despite me logging in several times during this period.

I've found out to my cost that it is only transactions which count as activity, and people need to be made aware of this. It all seems very underhanded to me.:mad:

heatherw_01

paul_h wrote:

I've found out to my cost that it is only transactions which count as activity, and people need to be made aware of this. It all seems very underhanded to me.:mad:

That seems very wrong. Usually it is logging in that matters.

There isn't anything in the T&C's about dormant accounts other than they can charge £5 a quarter if they wish which is terrible!

paul_h

heatherw_01 wrote:

There isn't anything in the T&C's about dormant accounts other than they can charge £5 a quarter if they wish which is terrible!

The actual wording in the T&C is also very suspect.

3.11 Nochex reserves the right at their absolute discretion to apply an administration charge of no more than £5.00 per quarter on dormant accounts.

It says they apply a charge on dormant accounts, yet they applied two years worth of charges at the same time as making my account dormant. Surely, with that wording, they could only start charging once they had made your account dormant?

I also wonder if there is there any possibility that the same principles of unfair and unlawful bank charges could apply here?

heatherw_01

Very suspect.

It is unfair charges, but I am not sure how you would go about claiming them back other than sending them an email.

Anyone else been charged this silly fee?

There are other people moaning about it on their forums, but I bet there are a lot of people who don't even know they have been charged this fee.

I would probably say everyone contact them complaining about this via email stating that it doesn't clarify in the T&C's what a dormant account is, and how can they just take what they want from your account without notice.

Anyone who has their card registered with them, anyone had any money taken out?

They could possibly take more out from there if they wanted!