Lightbulb Moment Due To Being Held to Ransom!

Phamous

Hello all,

(Apologies for the long post!)

I am new to this forum and thank God for it!!!

I have had a fair few financial struggles over the years but I have finally had my 'lightbulb moment' after being held to ransom by Barclays Bank!

Basically, I have my own business and pay myself weekly. I have struggled a bit recently and have been overdrawn a few times.

I have two Barclays accounts - one is an old one with a £1000 overdraft which I am paying off gradually and one is my daily current account. Because I have been overdrawn on my current account recently, the standing orders to pay off my old account did not go through for two months.

This alerted Barclays Consumer Finance department who called and said that they could see I was struggling and they would like to help me re-organise my finances. After going through all the possible options to get my finances in better shape, it was decided that if I paid myself monthly instead of weekly, things would balance out better.

So - I went online and organised a monthly payment to myself. This went into my account as planned so I was amazed when I went to the cashpoint to find my account empty!

What Barclays had done was to take my month's wages to pay off my other account - leaving me with no money to live on or pay my bills with!!

When I called, they told me they were perfectly within their rights to do this and it was my own fault. The woman on the phone was really nasty in her tone and told me that I could not have my wages back. After being on the verge of tears for twenty minutes and trying to get her to change her mind, I was told the only way I could have it was if I pay off my old overdraft within 3 months and that if I missed a single payment, she would take my wages next month as well and that next time "nobody will help you!" (Her words)

I am going to struggle like mad to do this but I had to promise I would, as it was the only way I could get my wages back! I was completely held to ransom and made to feel like a small child! I am going to beg, borrow, re-organise, sell stuff, work harder, whatever I have to do to pay this off.

This is when I finally, finally had a lightbulb go off in my head...

I am a grown woman and there I was grovelling, apologising and scared, whilst some patronising and nasty woman from Barclays holds my future in her hands.

I DON'T EVER WANT TO FEEL LIKE THAT AGAIN! And yes, I will struggle to pay off £200 a month but I will do it. And if I can do that, I can pay all my debts off (around £20,000) and regain my dignity, freedom and financial self-respect.

I'm so glad I found this forum and I am here to stay... working towards my financial freedom!!

I have not fully admitted to myself or anyone the extent of my financial troubles but today I feel like a weight has been lifted and I have taken the first step.

Thanks for reading my long, long post!!!!

Lots of love
Phamous
x

brummiebabe

Just wanted to say well done!! Sounds like an awful situation!

The regular Debt-Free Wannabees will ask that you post a SOA (Statement of Affairs) listing ALL your income/outgoings/debt and interest rates. They'll then help you to make your situation more manageable...hopefully saving you some money and helping you towards your goal!! They're a fab lot....and you'll be made most welcome!

I have nothing really helpful to add....just wanted to wish you all the best x x

melaniec_2

Whilst the member of staff at the bank may or may not have been right in what she was saying she shouldn't have spoken to you like that. I would call back and ask to speak to a supervisor (or call in at the branch) and complain about her attitude. You may also get more support from the bank, i didn't think they were allowed to keep all your wages, hopefully someone else will know.

Storm

Hi and welcome :hello:

First thing I would do is open another bank account away from Barclays to pay your wages into - that way they can't just take your money if you miss a payment.

£1000 in 3 months then - if you post a SoA people can see if there's any areas you can save money on, and have a hunt around for anything you can sell to help you get some more money coming in. If you look for the £1024 from nothing thread there's loads of ideas for getting extra dosh

mophead

Hi Phamous, and welcome.

I have had to deal with Barclays' Consmuer Fiance Department before and it was'nt very plesant, i also came away from it with the same attitude.

Well Done on your LBM i suggest posting a SOA and see if we can offer any advice.

Claire.

mophead

First thing I would do is open another bank account away from Barclays to pay your wages into - that way they can't just take your money if you miss a payment.

Sorry i meant to add that is what i did.

Bestthingsinlifearefree

I think I would take personal responsibilty rather than blame Barclays i.e once you bounced your direct debits to your other Barclays account they have taken steps to protect their position.i.e you had an agreement with them to pay back a certain amount and you broke that agreement........and yes there are consequences.

Anyway welcome to MSE :beer:

This is a good starting point.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

Post an SOA.

I wish you well.

phoebe03cat

Storm wrote:

Hi and welcome :hello:

If you look for the £1024 from nothing thread there's loads of ideas for getting extra dosh

Hi Storm, could you possibly post the link for this please. It sounds inspiring for me too and I can't find it Thanks.

Broken_hearted

Don't forget to work out all your bank charges and claim them back. Hopefully this should help you clear the O/D and stick it to barclays.

Baggiebird1nil

Welcome to MSE and well done for your LBM. I agree with Broken Hearted. Claim all your bank charges back. The step by step guide on here is really good.
Try Ebaying a few things to raise some cash. I find that Amazon are best for selling books, DVD's and CD's.
Look at Quidco, Pigsback etc.

Good luck

Storm

phoebe03cat wrote:

Hi Storm, could you possibly post the link for this please. It sounds inspiring for me too and I can't find it Thanks.

Here it is - I never got off the ground with it cos work went mental, but there's some great ideas (though an enormous thread!)

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=271716