Barclaycard payment date - misleading

susanthunt

Just wondering if i am the only person caught out by lack of accurate information on barclaycard statement?
It clearly had a date to pay in-branch and said faster payment was available.
I paid in branch on due date but when my statement came, i had been charged £12 for late payment.
I paid around 3.40 pm and when i called, barclaycard said branches have different cut off times and it was up to me to check what time the cut off was at that branch.
I am furious - they make us stick to the letter of card agreements but they dont tell us on the statement to pay by a certain time!!
They refunded the late fee but to change the details on my credit file i would have to go in branch and get them to confirm to barclaycard that i actually paid on the due date.
I asked them to escalate my complaint - the guy couldnt understand why i would want this when they had refunded the charge.
I said it was the principle - it should say on the statement if you need to pay by a specific time and i said i was sure lots of other people had probably been affected by the same thing. Lots of extra dosh in barclaycard's coffers!!
Six weeks later, they have responded in writing to my complaint saying it wouldnt be practical to include the info about branch cut off times on the statement.
So onward and upward - i am taking the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman!,

Atidi

susanthunt wrote: »

Just wondering if i am the only person caught out by lack of accurate information on barclaycard statement?
It clearly had a date to pay in-branch and said faster payment was available.
I paid in branch on due date but when my statement came, i had been charged £12 for late payment.
I paid around 3.40 pm and when i called, barclaycard said branches have different cut off times and it was up to me to check what time the cut off was at that branch.
I am furious - they make us stick to the letter of card agreements but they dont tell us on the statement to pay by a certain time!!
They refunded the late fee but to change the details on my credit file i would have to go in branch and get them to confirm to barclaycard that i actually paid on the due date.
I asked them to escalate my complaint - the guy couldnt understand why i would want this when they had refunded the charge.
I said it was the principle - it should say on the statement if you need to pay by a specific time and i said i was sure lots of other people had probably been affected by the same thing. Lots of extra dosh in barclaycard's coffers!!
Six weeks later, they have responded in writing to my complaint saying it wouldnt be practical to include the info about branch cut off times on the statement.
So onward and upward - i am taking the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman!,

I presume you paid in cash at a branch of barclays on the payment due date?

If so, as you paid after 3.30pm, then it appears your payment was not credited to the barclaycard account on time.

If, which is not necessarily agreed, a basis of a valid complaint exists, surely this is against barclays bank, not barclaycard.

The reason I'm not sure a valid complaint basis exists is that despite some branches of barclays opening way after this time (mine is open until 6.00pm) according to the barclays website:

Cut off times also apply for certain services and details of these are available in branch

http://ask.barclays.co.uk/help/day2day_banking/opening_hours

In my branch, a notice is clearly displayed explaining the cut off time for crediting deposits is 3.30pm. Deposits after this time will be credited the next working day.

By all means, take your complaint to the FOS, but I fear you will not get much support in this instance.

susanthunt

Hi
Thanks for your reply. The manager at the branch has already apologised and said the cashier should have informed me that cut- off time had passed - especially since i asked for faster payment.

The point i am making is that Barclaycard needs to say on the statement that cut off times might vary. At the moment it simply says "Pay at any branch of barclays by september 11".

If the time of payment matters then it should have some reference to that - if only "branch cut off times vary. Check with your branch".

They told me that some branches are open only until 1pm so you would need to pay before noon. That is not right - they need to let us know if the time matters.
I am sure they have probably had thousands of pounds in late fees from people who have paid on the correct date but fallen foul of their branch cut off time.
Barclaycard knows this is an issue for customers but is not willing to make it clear on the statement.
It is misleading and needs to be corrected.