Barclaycard mess

lastcall

Hey all - need some expert advice. I'll keep it brief and detailed.

Have a Barclaycard credit card - got relocated with work to the states - had a balance of circa $1500 on the card. I had a direct debit set up, and unknown to me the dd was cancelled by Barclaycard. As I was not in the UK - and travelling with work, I had electronic statements, which stopped.

I had sufficient funds in my bank account to account for the monthly payments. Another complexity is that while I'm abroad, my HSBC online account switches to using the new digipass key pad. I did not recieve mine and as a result, battled to gain access to my banking acc - to see that the dd was indeed going off.

I will say that I was a little relaxed about it as I thought the dd was going off monthly, so was not that worried about it. I got the digipass, logged in to my banking, and saw that no funds had left my account. When I enquired with Barclaycard, they said the account is now with collections. I asked how I had not been informed, and spent long periods of time getting bounced from one call centere to the next. I ended up getting told the final balance and will pay it this week.

My questions to HSBC re the direct debit - suggest that Barclaycard cancelled the dd.

So now, looking to return to the UK (been away for approx 2.5 years) - I suspect I have a nice black mark on my credit report. What are my options of getting this resolved. Do I have any rights here? Any help appreciated.

meer53

Did you give Barclaycard your contact details in the US ? If they couldn't contact you then it's not surprising they passed the account to Collections really. You first of all need to find out why the DD was cancelled, your post is a little vague. How many payments have you missed ?

Don't think Barclays will take into account the problems you have had with accessing your HSBC account.

lastcall

thanks - I did not give them an address in the US - as I knew I'd be moving around a lot. I had suspected that I could interact with them via email, as I was receiving online statments etc, and didn't intend using the card whilst abroad.

To your point, I'm trying to determine why the dd was cancelled, but to be honest, I'm so tired of being bounced from call operator to call center. As a result of this mess - I have missed 12 payments.

Perhaps they may take into account the trouble I had with the online banking from an HSBC perspective, maybe not. Is it worth writing to the credit agencies direct, explaining the situation?

CLAPTON

you should make a written complaint to barclays outlining the situation;
however missing 12 payments does rather weaken your case especially as barclaycard have an online facility so there was no real reason why you couldn't check all was well.

lastcall

Thanks - I will write a letter to them. I will also seek some guidance from the financial ombudsman, as I'm still frustrated that they had my email contact address (where they were sending statements) and had also previously conversed about other topics via this address. They could have contacted me and asked them to get in touch to notify me of the problem / or enquire and let me know as to why they cancelled the direct debit?

Will writing to the credit agencies be any good? how do a I put a note on my credit file?

meer53

If you were still getting statements surely you noticed the late payment fees on there when the DD was cancelled and the payments weren't being made ?

jonesMUFCforever

................not to mention the increasing balance on the HSBC account?

chattychappy

Don't want to sound unsympathetic, but let this be a lesson to people. You can never rely on DDs working, month after month without a hitch. All sorts of things can go wrong. Whilst it might not be the cardholder's fault, it's a nightmare to sort after the event.

You must check statements online. Or even ring your cards monthly to check that all is in order. Endless threads on here from people that set up DDs and hoped/assumed.

I was in Saigon for the best part of a year in 2001. Internet was frequently unavailable and besides many CCs didn't have an online facility then. A phone call a month was enough. I left blank signed cheques with a relative.

These days it's so much easier. Horses and bolting gates, I know. BUT, people MUST check statements MONTHLY.

DD + (HOPE or ASSUME) + PASSAGE OF TIME = DISASTER

lastcall

meer53 wrote: »

If you were still getting statements surely you noticed the late payment fees on there when the DD was cancelled and the payments weren't being made ?

no, they stopped sending the online statement pretty much when the problem occured. I therefore have had no statement for the last 12 months. According to the phone rep, they 'switch off' online statements once an account is in arrears.

lastcall

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

................not to mention the increasing balance on the HSBC account?

I didn't have access to the hsbc account for a long period. wasn't really looking for sarcasim.

meer53

I don't think you will get anywhere at all with anyone regarding this. There really is no excuse at all for missing 12 months worth of payments. Are you saying that you didn't have access to your HSBC account for 12 months either ?

The only way you might have any chance at all is if you can find out who cancelled the DD and why. If it was a bank error, either by HSBC or Barclays then go for it, BUT if the error was yours, you need to accpet whats happened.

The only way your credit file will be amended is if it was a genuine bank error. Your post doesn't clarify what Barclays said about why the DD was cancelled, i presume you have asked this question ?