Barclays Bank Hell

heidi09

Hi all.
I am new to this forum and I hope I am posting this in the right section.

We are going through hell at the moment but I will try to keep this brief as I really want people to read this without getting bored and perhaps offer some advice because at the moment I really don't know what to do.

My husband did some building work for a woman two months ago and she paid him the money into his Barclays bank account via online transfer. He completed the job and a month and a half later she went into a Barclays Bank branch and told them that she made the payment in ‘error’ and so they reverse it and give her the money back.

After digging into this we find that she told the bank that she had paid my husband cash as well as the online deposit, but she only realised this nearly two months later! This is a lie, as she never paid him in cash.

Barclays have taken the money from his account and even worse, he is left £800 overdrawn. He has no overdraft facility and they just decided to take all his money from his account and give it to this liar of a woman.

My husband worked very hard to earn money, we were about to move into our own place (we are living in shared accommodation). Barclays have stolen £4500 from him without any kind of explanation or even asking him about the matter.

They have literally ruined our lives, we have no money now – we have bills to pay, we have had to borrow money from friends. The stress has got to us and I suffered a panic attack over the weekend and had to be hospitalised. I then found out that I am pregnant with our first child, but all this seems to have taken over and we can’t even enjoy what is supposed to be the happiest time of our lives

We have spoken to Barclays on the phone, in branch but they are unwilling to help. They have said we can go to the Ombudsman and take the woman who did this to a Small Claims Court, We will pursue her, I won’t let such a scammer get away with this but it will all take time. On top of that mu husband’s wages will be eaten by Barclays yet again to pay the £800, plus fees.

I just feel so lost and so badly treated. Surely this is wrong and Barclays should be held responsible. I mean - to take money from someone’s account without any explanation.

Is there anything we can do? The stress is really making us so unhappy and I fear for the wellbeing on my unborn baby.

Can someone please help and advise us on what to do?

CherlokHomes

I'm surprised a stranger can walk in to a bank and get access to someone's account and not only that bleed their account dry.

heidi09

Innovate wrote: »

I'm surprised a stranger can walk in to a bank and get access to someone's account and not only that bleed their account dry.

That's exactly our point. We have argued this time and time again with Barclays, who claim that it can be done. I still don't believe it. They claim that you can deposit money in someone's account and later walk into a branch and say "I made the payment in error". Barclays will take your word and give you the money. It's ridiculous.

Any ideas on what we can do?

nidO

I'm sure the "correct" action here is following Barclays' complaints procedure, then going to the Ombudsman in writing, etc etc, but frankly in your shoes i'd be tempted to go straight to the police.

This woman has not scammed or conned you and this isn't some murky "bank fraud" from abroad, she's stolen £4,500 from you, and Barclays has helped her do it. Once the money she sent you lands in your account it's yours, this is why every single other bank will tell people who accidentally send money to the wrong account or when they didn't mean to (as this woman is claiming) that they can only reverse the transfer on approval of the receiving account holder, because once the money's sent to them (you) its theirs (yours), and the woman + Barclays have now stolen it from you.

If your local force don't want to listen to you reporting a theft and hide behind the veil of "for the bank to deal with", you can report it to Action Fraud on 0300 1232040 - The fact that you presumably have the woman's name and address should help greatly.

Archi_Bald

Have you officially complained to Barclays, in writing? They have no right take money out of anyone's account on the say-so of someone else (unless the someone else has a Court order).

Barclays also do not have the role of judge, or arbiter, when there is a dispute over money between two of their customers. The woman should have taken your husband to Court if she felt he owed her money.

8 weeks after you sent Barclays your written complaint, you can take them to the Ombudsman.

If your husband wants to take anyone to Court, he should get legal advice first from a Solicitor or may be the CAB.

xylophone

Have you complained in writing to Barclays?

If so, do you have a copy of their reply?

I find it hard to believe that if for example, I pay the gardener direct to his bank account I can then pop into his bank and say that I want the money back from his account.

meer53

If she banks with Barclays too, she could have reported the transaction on her account as unauthorised. Thats the only way i can see them reversing it. Get your OH to ask his branch how the money was taken from his account. If it was reversed as part of a dispute your OH should have been given the chance to respond to them. Although bank transfers aren't usually disputed. What did your OH's branch say to him ?

InsideInsurance

To be honest, welcome to the joys of being in business.

As with others, I would question that she's just walked into "your branch" and they've given her money but to be honest that part is fairly irrelevant. Cheques bounce, people dont pay, people do chargebacks with false reasons, these are all things you'll experience as a business at some point.

You could argue the toss with Barclays over the procedures but you arent really going to be getting anywhere. The ombudsman may give you an award but that can take years and you may not get anything from them.

With any case of a customer not paying then the best route is simply to send them a letter before action and then issue county court proceedings (aka small claims court) to recover the unpaid monies and potentially consequential losses depending on the wording of your contract.

opinions4u

If it's as stated, Barclays won't have a leg to stand on at the FOS.

If it's covered by the FOS!

Archi_Bald

opinions4u wrote: »

If it's covered by the FOS!

What do you mean - how could dissatisfaction with a UK regulated bank not be covered by the FOS?

JuicyJesus

Archi_Bald wrote: »

What do you mean - how could dissatisfaction with a UK regulated bank not be covered by the FOS?

If you aren't a customer of a bank, you aren't an eligible complainant about that bank.