We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Co Op Bank

Hi everyone

I'll try to explain this as best I can.....I checked my Cashminder Account online and it is showing as 3 pence overdrawn, now this is supposed to be an Account that is impossible to go overdrawn with.

So I rang them and they say the 3p is from a Facebook payment from my card, and she said that when I 1st use my card to pay Facebook, they only take 1p from the card and take the rest when the card debits (which I think is a lie as its never happened before and has always declined my card when Ive tried with no money in it).

So I am likely to be charged £20 now for something thats not my fault.

Any advice on what to do would be most helpful.

Many thanks in advance.
«1

Comments

  • ~Beanie~
    ~Beanie~ Posts: 3,043 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Why is it not your fault? You spent more than you had in the account.

    If its the first time this has happened, try appealing to their better nature, they may refund the £20.
    :p
  • ColdIron
    ColdIron Posts: 10,013 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Hung up my suit! Name Dropper
    Facebook charges? For what?
  • opinions4u
    opinions4u Posts: 19,411 Forumite
    You spent money that's not yours.

    The account offers no absolute guarantee about not letting you go overdrawn.

    You should probably familiarise yourself with their three strikes and we close your account rule.

    A polite phone call, apologising, admitting you didn't realise and asking for the fee to be waived would be a good idea.
  • Apologies if this is slightly Off Topic.

    Is the Co-op's Three strikes Rule related to a particular time period i.e. per month , per year , indefinite period?
    DFW'er - Lightbulb moment : 31st July 2009 - £18,499
    28th October 2019 -
    £13,505 - 27% paid off.
    Demolishing my House of Debt.. one brick at a time!! :)
    Thinking of spending???..YNAB says "NO!!!!"


  • Anthorn
    Anthorn Posts: 4,362 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 30 August 2013 at 12:08PM
    There are no overdraft charges for the Cashminder account according to the Charges leaflet and the T&Cs refer to that leaflet. But there is an unpaid item fee of £15.
    http://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/assets/pdf/bank/currentaccounts/cashminder/cashminder-account-charges.pdf

    As far as I know the three strikes rule applies to failed standing orders and direct debits on basic accounts and is ongoing and not time limited. But in any case just because there is a three strikes rule doesn't mean they're going to apply it.
  • Twinkles08
    Twinkles08 Posts: 642 Forumite
    We received a letter from co-op yesterday,regarding our joint cashminder account.As we went overdrawn by £7 and it was the third time we have accidentley gone over,they wrote to say that they are closing our account.All dd and s/o have been cancelled with immediate effect and we have 30 days notice before they close it.
    I have found it quite difficult to monitor the amounts of actual balance as the internet and the mobile phone app I was using to keep track daily,didn't actually reflect the true balance.The lady at the counter in our bank said that it is not uptodate and does not include pending card transactions.I found it frustrating as I had been trying to keep an eye on it,I asked the lady if it wd be better to keep a log book of every transaction and she said 'that's up to you madam!'.She wasn't v helpful although she did say that the cash machines provide the most uptodate balances but with two small children I cannot get into town everyday to check it.
    Anyway,we are now heading into town to search out a new basic bank account.Thinking of hsbc or nationwide as we have debts with barclays,natwest,halifax and santander.We've been told to avoid these by our christians against poverty advisor due to off setting.
    :female:Our 2 gorgeous little girls born 2006 and 2010
    First House Deposit - £90.00:j
    DFW Nerd Member 1143 ;)Orig debt app £12000.00 :eek:
    Total Joint Debt ( Mar 2012)£3208.25

  • John1993_2
    John1993_2 Posts: 1,090 Forumite
    Twinkles08 wrote: »
    I found it frustrating as I had been trying to keep an eye on it

    You need to actually count, for yourself, what you spend, and what goes in, if you are going to run it down so close to zero, I'm afraid.

    A bettter option is generally to keep a buffer in there of a few hundred pounds, so that you never go overdrawn, but if that's not possible then you do need to note, and add up, every single transaction.

    After the first two times, did you not think to be more careful?
  • Twinkles08
    Twinkles08 Posts: 642 Forumite
    Hi John1993,

    We are on an extremley tight budget,after rent,bills and grocery we are left with £7.00 a week for the 4 of us (2 adults2 children).
    We have really trimmed our outgoings down to the bare basics and got the best deals with everything.No luxurys,haircuts,holidays,Christmas or birthdays.
    We do not have an excessive amount of debt but although my husband is a v hard worker he is in a v low paid job working in food retail.I'm a stay at home mum but will be able to return to work next year (I have health issues and have been told I may be eligable for disability allowance,but I'd rather not go down that route if poss).Christians against poverty have put us both forward for a DRO as it will take us four years and 11 months to pay the debt back,having already been paying it for 10 years.

    My husband has suggested going with hsbc and getting an account that doesn't have a debit card,so that we will have to use cash for everything.That may be best for our situation as the slightest unexpected cost can tip us over the edge.
    Sorry for the essay just wanted to try to give the full picture.;)
    :female:Our 2 gorgeous little girls born 2006 and 2010
    First House Deposit - £90.00:j
    DFW Nerd Member 1143 ;)Orig debt app £12000.00 :eek:
    Total Joint Debt ( Mar 2012)£3208.25

  • henm2
    henm2 Posts: 723 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    If you go with HSBC for a basic account it does come with a debit card. So again you will have to keep track of pending authorised transactions as they usually take a day or so to show up as debits on your account.

    Also it is again a three strikes and you are out style account so take care to keep on top of your payments. There are various ways of keeping track of the running balance as shown on the bank account- check the balance at the cash machine, use telephone banking, internet banking, or use free text alerts which warn you if you drop below a pre selected balance figure.
  • Archi_Bald
    Archi_Bald Posts: 9,681 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    No bank will do the budgeting for you. You have to do it yourself, as John1993 already said.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 352.1K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.5K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454.2K Spending & Discounts
  • 245.1K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 600.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.5K Life & Family
  • 258.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.