Barclays Charges still unfair!

mymoneynotthebanks

Hi

Just wanted to see if any one else having the same problem with Barclays as I am having.

Over the last 3 weeks I have had two letters coming through the door saying that they have had to pay a card transaction beacause it was guaranteed but the money wasnt there to pay it therefore they have charged me £8 to honour the transaction.

I was incredulous as I knew the day in question I had checked my bank account and even transferred money that day to a savings account.

I contacted Barclays and enfuriated by the sales customer services response , escalated it to a relationship manager, who still refused refund the charge. This was their reasons(figure approx)

My balance on the 31st may was -377 ( authorised OD of 500)

At 12.04am on the 1st of June 124.87 in card transactions including by the way £6.50 account fee for Barclays took me to- £501.87

This is where it gets ridiculous!

At 7.02am a credit to the account of £260.00 hit the account hence why I was able to make the transfer later in the day.

The "helpful" client manager refused to credit the fee as I had been £1.87 over drawn.

My Arguement come 3 fold:

1. Taking the debits before the credits on a days banking is a cynical attempt to gain revenue, particuarly as you can not control the time or day that merchant account payments are debited against the account.

2. Barclays tried to tell me I had not paid money in until the afternoon ( it was a wire payment and later admitted that it came in at 7am) and secondly that I had made even further payments so I was lucky I was being charged once- the payment specified was my Tesco shopping -which I had done at 7pm on the 1st.

Therefore they try to blind you with payment times to justify the fee!

3. This is the third time in a month that I have had this problem, and have fought them on each occassion, even the customer representative I first spoke to admitted it had happened to her!Therefore the individual value might be less but they are trying for more!

4. Finally I am aware RBS group and other banks give you till 3pm and dont see why Barclays dont do the same!

I cancelled my additions programme so their attitude may have made them £8 but has lost them £72 a year, however the number of charges they will be gaining on this makes it a drop in the ocean.

Any one else having these problems? And is there any grounds for these being unfair on current guidelines?

YorkshireBoy

mymoneynotthebanks wrote: »

This is the third time in a month that I have had this problem

You need to change the way you manage your money.

Best to assume you need funds in your account before you enter your PIN/give your card details.

Also, assume the money has left your account the moment you enter your PIN/give your card details...not rely on the 2-3 days it takes to change from 'pre-authorisation' to 'collect'.

Finally I am aware RBS group and other banks give you till 3pm and dont see why Barclays dont do the same!

They don't...so why not accept this and change banks?

I cancelled my additions programme so their attitude may have made them £8 but has lost them £72 a year

How much will it cost you to buy those products (you obviously thought you needed otherwise why did you have the product?) elsewhere?

And is there any grounds for these being unfair on current guidelines?

No.

mymoneynotthebanks

thanks Yorkshire,

I did have the money in the account, and the point of the thread is not my money management but the ethos of taking debits before credits.

I also banks elsewhere so rather than personal advice I am looking to start a discussion which may help others

opinions4u

mymoneynotthebanks wrote: »

I did have the money in the account, and the point of the thread is not my money management but the ethos of taking debits before credits.

You mean the internationally agreed accounting standards?

I am looking to start a discussion which may help others

Which is supported by the reply you have received.

Barclays do things a particular way. The customer signs up to the T&Cs so agrees to it.

If you don't like it, there are three options:

1) Do nothing and get lots of charges.

2) Change the way you manage your money with them - the rules of the account are clear enough.

3) Take your business elsewhere. There's a bank paying 5% interest on current accounts, another paying £5 a month, another that's considered to be the strongest bank financially in the UK, others with 3pm or even 5pm cut off times for funding your account. A couple that don't charge for paying an item in the way you describe - although they may have other daily fees to be aware of. Lots of choice.

What else is there to debate?

YorkshireBoy

mymoneynotthebanks wrote: »

I did have the money in the account

You did not have money in the account the working day before the card transactions were presented, as required by section 4 of your account T&Cs...

http://www.barclays.co.uk/ImportantInformation/TermsandConditionsforPersonalCustomers/P1242558103284

the point of the thread is not my money management but the ethos of taking debits before credits.

At 12.04am you didn't have a credit! That arrived at 7.02am, some 7 hours later. The decision had already been made to levy a fee as per your T&Cs.

I also banks elsewhere so rather than personal advice I am looking to start a discussion which may help others

We can discuss it all day long but the fact remains that with Barclays (and some other banks) you need cleared funds in the account by close of business the previous working day.

money_maker_2

Debits are always taken before credits. Simple! Has been like that for a very long time with all banks and isnt something you can change.

Like a PP stated, you need the money in your account before you spend on it. Debits always come out around midnight, so first thing on a new day.
If your not careful your credit rating will be demolished very quickly, if its not already, by these charges. I dont understand how you can let it happen to you 3 times in the same month.

You need to consider either moving to somewhere else, who allows cut off points (ie-3pm) or change your ways. Maybe do both, to avoid this ever happening again. If you move providers, make sure you read and understand the T&C's! Clearly this was something you missed when signing up to Barclays.
I know its not nice to hear, but take peoples comments onboard.

pmduk

You should be thankful it was only £8.00 I'm sure it used to be much higher.