Are Barclays telling the truth?

Pleaseadvise

Some background - on 25th January, the letter accepting Barclays' refund offer was delivered to them (we sent it to require a signature, thank goodness!).

After 4 weeks without hearing anything, my husband rang and after a brief attempt to say the letter hadn't arrived, which they dropped when he mentioned we had electronic proof of delivery, the person on the phone said the money would be in our Barclays account by the 27th of February.

It wasn't. So he rang again and was told the payment would be made on the first of March.

When there was nothing in the bank on Friday (1 March) afternoon, he phoned again and was told the date on the payment was the first, and it would show up in the account before midnight.

Of course it wasn't there, and now on Monday the 4th it still isn't.

Finally my question! If he phones AGAIN and is still told the payment was made on the 1st, and is just hanging around in the banking system somewhere, will it be true? Or should the payment show up the same day?

agrinnall

I think they are probably lying to you already, this is an internal Barclay's transfer and really should be instantaneous. However, because I don't know Barclays' systems I would give them the benefit of the doubt and allow them the Payment Directive timescale of end of next business day to complete. If it's not there tomorrow then it definitely hasn't been made.

pmduk

Was it a firm offer or just an indication of the likely amount to be paid? I have to say from my experience of Barclays staff, I would double check even the time they told me.

Pleaseadvise

It was a firm offer. I scanned the form before we sent it back (untrusting though that may be) and it says

'I/We confirm my acceptance of the offer made by Barclays Bank outlined in your letter dated 15 January in full and final settlement of my complaint.'

That letter says, among other things -

'We are sorry the policy you were sold was not suitable for you, and as a result, we are upholding your complaint. We will refund you a total amount of £2500.22 in cash.'

I didn't like the sound of what my husband was told Friday, apparently the person was going on about the money needing to go into accounts 'all round the world' before reaching ours which was odd when phoning an office that's in the UK just like us.

Probably needing to ring again tomorrow then!

dalesrider

Pleaseadvise wrote: »

Some background - on 25th January, the letter accepting Barclays' refund offer was delivered to them (we sent it to require a signature, thank goodness!).


Finally my question! If he phones AGAIN and is still told the payment was made on the 1st, and is just hanging around in the banking system somewhere, will it be true? Or should the payment show up the same day?

Is this a refund for something like PPI?

If it is i would expect that the people that work these have authority to refund a account straight away.
i know the way we work that any refund we process is into a customers account once the button is pressed for confirm. Even worst case of it having to be done elsewhere should see it credit overnight.
Of course this may not be how they work....

I wonder if while they have recieved the letter, that it has gone walkies in the system and they cannot find it. Which could explain the delay.

When you ring up. If its not showing I would see what they say. Ask if they can see the letter on the system. If they say its not showing then, mention COMPLAINT. Fact is, if you know they have recieved it and they have lost it. Then they have to resolve it.
Complaining should get the ball rolling a bit faster as this appears to be a failure of due process. FOS takes a very dim view of banks not working to their procedures.
Might even mean a few more £££ in your pocket :T

Pleaseadvise

Yes, it's mortgage PPI for Barclays Mortgagecare for critical illness (the life assurance was and is separate and ongoing, but they agreed the critical illness wasn't suitable).

The people answering the phones don't really seem to know what's going on!

innovate

How long since you had filed your PPI claim? I would say you can go to the ombudsman if they have not satisfactorily resolved the matter 8 weeks from your original claim.

It is unlikely to speed up the matter but it will mean extra work, and another bad statistic, for Barclays (for which one or more of the people holding up your payment might well get a personal b*****ing).

If you are close to the 8 weeks, or if the 8 weeks have already expired, mention it to them in the next call. If that doesn't have the desired effect, go to the FOS.

pmduk

1 more added to the thousands of complaints the FOS receives about Barclays surely won't have much affect. (Although I'd still go ahead and make the complaint if I were the OP.

pmduk

Pleaseadvise wrote: »

I didn't like the sound of what my husband was told Friday, apparently the person was going on about the money needing to go into accounts 'all round the world' before reaching ours which was odd when phoning an office that's in the UK just like us.

That certainly sounds an untruth. Whilst they have offshore offices I doubt whether funds leave the UK, it raises the vision of them paying currency surcharges each time.

alanq

Lloyds has just been fined £4.3 million for taking more than 4 weeks to pay out on PPI complaints that it has agreed. Can we look forward to a similar fine for Barclay's?

http://www.which.co.uk/news/2013/02/lloyds-fined-4-3m-for-delayed-ppi-payments-311262/

agrinnall

pmduk wrote: »

That certainly sounds an untruth. Whilst they have offshore offices I doubt whether funds leave the UK, it raises the vision of them paying currency surcharges each time.

Agreed, and I think it confirms that you are being lied to, either deliberately or through a total lack of understanding. I'd also go for the FOS complaint if only to be more a thorn in the side of Barclays.