Can ATM Bank Charges be reclaimed?

LoveChild

I'm a poor student hoping to go to university next year. I don't get any income at present apart from a few quid now and then when I can get some babysitting work.

I opened a bank account recently, both to keep safe the very little money I do have and in anticipation that I will no doubt need one next year.

As I'm only 17 at present I don't have any overdraft, not that I want one at the moment.

However the bank have given me a debit card. I asked the bank what this was for and they explained it would enable me to buy things online or in many stores. They also said I could obtain cash from a cash machine with it, but they said I should be careful as some cash machines do charge for this.

I used it for the first time last week to obtain £20 cash for a taxi home from my babysitting which over-ran meaning I missed the last bus. I made sure I went to a cash machine that didn't charge.

Today I received a bank statement and see the bank have charged me £20 for this withdrawal.

Is this allowed or even legal? Can I reclaim this charge? I was never informed they would deduct £20, and I can't really afford to lose this money.

I can see why so many people here hate banks. :mad:

McKneff

Are you sure it isnt the £20 you actually withdrew.

So on the withdrawal is it on your bank statement that it is £40 or
£20 cash and £20 charge.

Someone has made a mistake somewhere.

If a cash machine charges, it will tell you on the screen and you have to agree to the charge. Normal charges ar around £1.50.

Double check first.

Wywth

dunstonh wrote: »

Cashpoint charges, for those that charge, tend to be around £1 to £1.50. That sort of range.

If you have been charged £20 then it will almost certainly be for something else.

Or of course you could be pulling our leg and you havent yet realised that if you draw £20 out of the cashpoint then your balance is reduced by £20.



Really? Is this your level of decision making? Banks dont charge cashpoint fees. The retailer or machine owner decides that. Rather than start going all Daily Mail on us, why not try and get the facts before forming an opinion.

How rude! :mad:

This is a new user and we are expected to give them a chance and be especially nice.

I think you should read the forum rules before spouting your vitriolic opinions!



LoveChild - as McKneff says, there does appear to have been some mistake here. I would suggest you contact your bank and discuss the matter.
If they have made a mistake, they will certainly refund the charge and even if not, banks will often refund fees on a first "offence", so worth asking.
Worst case, is that after the call you should understand why the charge was applied so that you can try to avoid such charges in future.

Good luck and take care!

dtaylor84

If you think that's vitriolic, you've not been on internet forums for long...

To understand what is happened we would need to know more about the statement which "shows" the charge of £20 -- what does it say, exactly, for both the withdrawal and the charge?

Wywth

dtaylor84 wrote: »

If you think that's vitriolic, you've not been on internet forums for long...

No, I've only been an MSE member for a couple of weeks myself and certainly think the comments were vitriolic.

How bad were the comments previously that made Martin decide to introduce this new rule on how to respond to newbies?

McKneff

If the statement is correct the OP is either

Reading it wrong

Gone overdrawn taking out the £20 and so has received a £20 charge for going overdrawn.

If the second is the case, contact the bank, be nice, and if it is a first offence they may agree to refund the charge.

But please let us know.

LoveChild

Well I don't understand what it's for really. I'm just so annoyed they have taken the money. I put my money in the bank to try and keep it safe and the bank appears to have stolen it themselves. :mad:

It's definitely £20, and not £1.50 or some other charge.
I've called the bank and even they said they don't seem to know what its for. They said they would investigate and call me back later.

I'll let you know what they say.

LoveChild

McKneff wrote: »

If the statement is correct the OP is either

Reading it wrong

Gone overdrawn taking out the £20 and so has received a £20 charge for going overdrawn.

If the second is the case, contact the bank, be nice, and if it is a first offence they may agree to refund the charge.

But please let us know.

I don't know if I'm reading it wrong or not, but they have taken £20. The lady I spoke to on the phone could see the £20 deduction too, but couldn't explain what it was for and said she would get someone to call me back with an explanation

I've not gone overdrawn. I don't even have an overdraft as I'm not 18 yet. But now they've swiped this £20, there's hardly anything left.

I just don't know what else to do other that wait for them to call me back and hopefully refund me this outrageous charge.

Kingsd316

So it clearly shows £20 withdrawal and the £20 charge, if that is the case then someone has messed up at the bank

McKneff

So are there 2 deductions,

1 x £20 for the money you actually took out and another one for £20 as a charge.

So that your balance is down by £40, I did ask this before but got no reply

LoveChild

To all those that have asked, yes of course the £20 I withdrew was reflected on my statement, but also a £20 charge.

It wasn't a £1 or £1.50 charge. It wasn't a charge by a retailer. It was a deduction by the bank for £20. I don't know why this is so difficult to understand.

The statement shows an opening balance of £25 when I opened the account last month.
It then has another £20 credit on the 1st June 2012, being the pay for some some babysitting I did.

Then on 14th June it shows a £20 withdrawal, being the cash I withdrew. But there is also another £20 debit on the same day called charges.

That means I've now only got £5 remaining balance according to the statement.

So unless the £20 charge is for opening or crediting the account, it must be for the cash withdrawal. It's the only transactions on this account.

And I've not had that phone call returned either. :mad: