is barclays bank stalling me ?

gazza74

I sent off my first letter and got the usual response - they will deal with it within 8 weeks. So i then sent off the second letter and they replied saying they were unable to deal with my complaint at present and they will respond in 4 weeks time at the latest. Does anyone think i should wait and see what barclays says in 4 weeks time or stick to my guns and escalate things to a claim at the small claims court like i said in my second letter

thanks

Twinkly

gazza74 wrote: »

I sent off my first letter and got the usual response - they will deal with it within 8 weeks. So i then sent off the second letter and they replied saying they were unable to deal with my complaint at present and they will respond in 4 weeks time at the latest. Does anyone think i should wait and see what barclays says in 4 weeks time or stick to my guns and escalate things to a claim at the small claims court like i said in my second letter

thanks

The bank has entered you into their complaints procedure which has strict timescales laid down by the FSA and they are allowed 8 weeks in total to respond to and deal with a customers complaint before the matter can be referred on. If you wish to eventually use the Financial Ombudsman to settle the matter then you will need to allow these 8 weeks.

The 8 week delay is being abused as a stalling tactic since the banks are aware of their obligations with regard to refunding unlawful charges. They could and should settle these matters much sooner.

You can wait and see if they come up with a reasonable offer, some banks do. However if you dont want to wait and with to use the court route then you need only show to the court that you have allowed ample time for them to respond to and deal with your claim. The template letters and timescales are more than adequate for this purpose.

Good luck whatever you decide