Barclays Delay tactic ??

Gareth_J

Hi all,

I'm in the process of claiming back £2200 in charges from Barclays.
Wrote to them on 13th June, asking for the money back and giving them 14 days to respond.
They replied 7 days later with a letter syaing the following:

I am sorry you are unhappy with the charges you have incured. Your comments are receiving attention and one of my team will contact you as soon as possible.

....... whilst we will endeavour to respond to you within the timescale outlined in your letter, we cannot guarantee that we will do so. Sometimes it can take longer to fully investigate a complaint. However we do aim to find a solution within four weeks. If we are not able to do so, we will always write to you explaining what is happening. A full report or an update on our progress will be sent to you within eight weeks.

I know they are just delaying but should I give them the four weeks that they mention, before threatening court?
Should I write to them now, allowing them four weeks (from the date of the original refund request letter) but threatening court action after that time ellapses?

I don't want to predudice the outcome in court (if it gets that far) by being too pushy now.

Any advice is very welcome.
Are Barclays likely to close the account?

Cheers

Gareth

Twinkly

Gareth_J wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm in the process of claiming back £2200 in charges from Barclays.
Wrote to them on 13th June, asking for the money back and giving them 14 days to respond.
They replied 7 days later with a letter syaing the following:

I am sorry you are unhappy with the charges you have incured. Your comments are receiving attention and one of my team will contact you as soon as possible.

....... whilst we will endeavour to respond to you within the timescale outlined in your letter, we cannot guarantee that we will do so. Sometimes it can take longer to fully investigate a complaint. However we do aim to find a solution within four weeks. If we are not able to do so, we will always write to you explaining what is happening. A full report or an update on our progress will be sent to you within eight weeks.

I know they are just delaying but should I give them the four weeks that they mention, before threatening court?
Should I write to them now, allowing them four weeks (from the date of the original refund request letter) but threatening court action after that time ellapses?

I don't want to predudice the outcome in court (if it gets that far) by being too pushy now.

Any advice is very welcome.
Are Barclays likely to close the account?

Cheers

Gareth

From their point of view they arent delaying. The bank has entered you into their complaints procedure which has strict timescales laid down by the FSA. They are allowed a maximum of 8 weeks to respond to and deal with a customer complaint. This is only relevant if you were to eventually use the Financial Ombudsman as you would be required to exhaust the banks complaints procedure first.

As you are using the court route then there is no requirement to follow those timescales yourself. You need only show to the court that you have allowed ample time for them to respond to and deal with your claim. You are perfectly entitled to follow the process laid out in the main article and timescales in the template letters.

As for the closure of the account it cant be guaranteed that they wont but there have been cases where they havent. How they decide who to close and who not is anybodies guess. If they do close your account you can complain to the Financial Ombudsman that it has been done in retaliation for reclaiming your charges and you may be eligible for compensation.

If you do end up at court dont worry too much. This post shows what happened in court in a claim against against Barclays and is very reassuring about the process.
Top thanks to OP showmethemoney! for her post.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=393532

If you have any questions as you go along in the process of reclaiming ask in the forum. There will be someone who has been there and done that and can offer support and help.

Good luck

munnyhoney

I got the exact same letter - it is just a standard reply that they send. A couple of weeks later they sent me another letter saying that they do not agree that the charges were unfair but 'as a good will gesture' they were offering me £1,400 - which is £1,000 less than what I worked out that they owed me. There was a slip attached for me to sign and the money would be credited to my account within 5 working days.
Obviously I am not willing to accept this amount and have recently wrote back stating that I am willing to accept £2,000 otherwise I am taking them to court. I am awaiting their response.
So if you hang on you will probably get a 'silly' offer from them, then you can take them to Court!

Good Luck!