Paid credit card with no reference

stuhcz

Hi everyone,

I've been using a Barclaycard credit card for just over a month.
I have two issues:

1. The direct debit that I set-up is correctly set-up in Barclaycard, however it was not communicated to Natwest (my debit card provider) and therefore I was charged £105 finance charge because I didn't pay off the balance for the month. This mistake is surely Barclaycard's and I should be able to reclaim the charge?

2. When I realised 1 happened, I rang Barclaycard to try and settle the balance from the previous month. I asked for the payment details to pay to and they told me the account number and sort code. They did not mention that I needed to reference my card number in the payee reference. I logged into Natwest online and arranged the payment.

After not seeing the payment in my Barclaycard statement, I rang to see what the matter was. Barclaycard informed me that I should have included the card number as payee reference - I hadn't done this. I told them the payment date and amount and all they kept repeating is that I should put my card number as reference and need to pay the balance - they disregarded the fact that I had paid them just without reference. After a long call, I persuaded them to contact the finance dept. to see if they can see the payment.

They didn't seem to take the issue that seriously, but I can barely pay the £5k again (would dig DEEP into my savings).

If they say the finance dept. couldn't find the payment, what should I do? Pursue with Barclaycard, or see if Natwest can help retrieve the payment?

Thanks in advance

Gromitt

stuhcz wrote: »

1. The direct debit that I set-up is correctly set-up in Barclaycard, however it was not communicated to Natwest (my debit card provider) and therefore I was charged £105 finance charge because I didn't pay off the balance for the month. This mistake is surely Barclaycard's and I should be able to reclaim the charge?

If it says on your statement "Payment will be collected by direct debit on or after xx/xx/13" then yes, as they have acknowledged your request. If it doesn't, then it was still upto you to make alternative means of payment, as stated on your statement.

stuhcz wrote: »

If they say the finance dept. couldn't find the payment, what should I do? Pursue with Barclaycard, or see if Natwest can help retrieve the payment?

It'll be in suspense and will most likely bounce back in time, if not you need to query it with them, they'll be able to find it and reallocate. You may be charged by Barclaycard for non payment and for interest fees though.

Doesn't it say on your statement who to make payments for (account and sort code normally) along with any particular reference?

However, if you rang them up anyway you could have paid by debit card as well.

stuhcz

Thanks Gromitt.

1. Yes it does say that the account xxxxxxxx, sort xxxxx will be debited on date xx/xx/xx. Hopefully my complaint will be successful and I can be removed from any credit default record.


2. Thanks again. Hopefully they can reallocate or it will bounce back (it's been 3 working days since payment). My statement doesn't have any payment details.
When I said I called Barclaycard, before I asked for account/sort, I tried to pay through them but because of the sum Natwest blocked the payment and my card! Barclaycard told me it failed, I suspected it was because of the amount which is why I asked for the payment details (so i could pay through natwest). Went through the natwest fraud checks and then arranged the online payment.

Thrugelmir

stuhcz wrote: »

My statement doesn't have any payment details.

Not a giro slip on the bottom?

stuhcz

No giro slip - not sure if it's because I'd signed up to direct debit (if only Barclaycard had sent my mandate on to Natwest!).

Have to say the Barclaycard customer service is atrocious - spoken to 3 different people who really didn't understand the situation, I was just telling them that I'd made a payment to barcaycard but with no reference! They couldn't understand why I hadn't put a reference, not really helping matters! Plus they had no explanation as to why my direct debit mandate was lost, only that the finance charge is 'still applicable' (I'm going to pursue, especially seeing as though they have the correct details and put on my statement meaning that they at least received and recorded it!).

Let's hope finance dept. uncover the payment - it's my main issue at the moment!

Hominu

If your statement says payment will be collected by direct debit and then they fail to do so, it is completely there own fault and they should not be charging you any fees or charges for late payment.

When I accidentally paid my Tesco CC without the reference I only had to make a single call to them, said what I had done, the amount and the date and they put me on hold for about a minute and then come back and said "I've found the payment you made and allocated it to your account". I'd imagine Barclaycard can do the same if they want to.

agrinnall

Are you sure you actually have a Barclaycard? I've just looked at my own statement, and it not only has a Bank Giro Credit slip at the bottom but under the heading How and when to pay it says:

Our bank details (for phone and online banking payments only)
- Our sort code: xx xx xx
- Our account number: zzzzzzzz
- Please make sure you use your card number as the payment reference

It's hard to see what more they could do to tell you what you need to ensure the payment goes to the right place. I also pay by DD so I can't see why your statement would be any different.

jonesMUFCforever

From what I have read I don't think OP has set up a direct debit - looks like he/she has set up a bill payment which for one reason or another has been set up without a reference.
Some banks internet service will not allow you to pay a bill to a commercial organisation without inputting a reference.

agrinnall

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

From what I have read I don't think OP has set up a direct debit - looks like he/she has set up a bill payment which for one reason or another has been set up without a reference.

I think it's pretty clear that it's both. A DD set up has been requested of Barclaycard, and is showing on the Barclaycard side but for some reason not on the Natwest side. Because of that the OP did a bill payment from NatWest but didn't include the card number in the reference.

opinions4u

Barclaycard have a reputation for not collecting the first payment by direct debit. But their statement won't say that they're going to collect it either.

Did the first statement mention the direct debit? I suspect it didn't.

Google "Barclaycard how to pay" would have done the job for you:
http://help.barclaycard.co.uk/brochure/paying_bill/pay-my-bill

Our bank details (for phone or online banking payments):
- Our sort code: 20-04-15
- Our account number: 38290008
Please make sure you use your card number as the payment reference.

bartek

Hi,
I have had similar problem to what is described above. I have been charged 15.00 fee and some interest because the DD payment did not go through.
I complained about that in writing to the credit card company and they refused to reimburse me.

Does anyone know where to go with my complain now? Is there a financial ombudsman etc?

BTW: RYANAIR credit card (freebie) is shambles. They asked me to pay more in taxes for my free flight than the price of a new ticket on their website!

Thanks,
Bartek