Barclays staff transferring money between my accounts without permission

Joe_Bloggs

There are rules with other banks that restrict a basic account to using particular ATMs unless you have a additional savings account.
It does make sense to budget for things in advance and some kind of place for saving this money is required.
J_B.

Gromitt

Thats strange as I visited a branch for some business but was told by bank staff that they couldn't access my account with an authorisation code which I had to supply via a card reader. They then entered the number into their PC which brought up my account on screen.

(No doubt some people can access your account without such a device, but probably the cashiers and customer support can not?)

chanz4

I would raise a complaint yes, however demanding compensation as nothing lost is upto the individule. Money has to come from somewhere.

abercrombie

If it happened to me I would be livid! What gives them the right to do transactions on your account. If a standing order or direct debit had gone out and you had gone overdrawn due to their not being efficient funds due to that £20 being put back in your savings account I can only imagine the hassle you would have had trying to get them to refund the bank charge? Definitely complain, what that member of staff did was certainly illegal. I imagine most people in sales/finance have targets but that's still no excuse for what they have done. When you do complain make sure its written and sent recorded delivery so they can't fob you off with excuses that they didn't get the letter, and be sure to send it to their head office and not the branch as the manager might just discard it?

JimmyTheWig

chanz4 wrote: »

I would raise a complaint yes, however demanding compensation as nothing lost is upto the individule. Money has to come from somewhere.

Maybe not compensation, but I would expect goodwill on the basis that because of their mistake I had to go to the bother of writing a letter. Would hope for £10, maybe.
I also think that if they give some sort of payment it helps to reinforce that they have taken you seriously.

rosmersholm

I got a relatively large goodwill gesture from smile / coop after something which, on balance and careful consideration, I would be less angry about than this issue. This problem above strikes me as abhorrent & a horrible example of target-driven manipulation, in order to appear to meet benchmarks through violating customer trust.

Hope disciplinary action is taken in-branch. Customers can be treated like dirt post-problem and it is lucky that this instance didn't result in more serious problems (charges, reduced credit worthiness et al.) - so any preventative measure to stop this happening to someone else is good news.

enigma368

Letter written and posted. As I say will keep you updated. Thanks for advice

Hasty1991

If you signed an application form and have indicated you'd like a certain amount transferred over then you have given authorisation.

Additionally, I doubt moving £20 from one of your accounts into another will have been of any benefit to the lady in the branch.

jonesMUFCforever

I wonder if it is some kind of sales target dodge - ie staff get target to open a current AND savings account and savings account has to have funds in it for a certain number of days for staff to get credit towards target?

hippey

It sounds like a sales target.

Back in the day when I worked for Barclays we were targeted on savings accounts but to get the points you had to ensure the customer 'used' them within 3 months, which would explain the money being transferred.

One would suggest it is illegal but mainly due to the member of staff accessing the account without authority so along the lines of Computer Misuse or Data Protection. I have had a similar thing happen with Lloyds TSB recently that is still ongoing where a member of branch staff has been trawling through accounts looking for sales. This was done to customers who had no relationship with that particular branch and without authority either. Even this persons manager can't explain what has been going on.