BEWARE: Just been done over by Sainsburys Visa

Undercovercarrot

After an entertaining morning banging my head against a brick wall with these people, I swear my blood pressure is through the roof!

Are you sitting comfortably? Good, then I shall begin:

I have had a Sainsbury Visa for some time. I make a payment every month, generally around the £150 mark (above minimum payment). Anyway, last month, Sainsbury decide NOT to take my regular DD payment from my account (and then have the cheek to try and charge me for it, but that is another story!) I phoned them up (the day I am off on holiday) to advise them of their mistake and they are apologetic and say that it should not be a problem, and that I can make a MANUAL PAYMENT to cover the full DD for the two months (i.e. April and May) at the start of May and I will not incur any interest charges, and they will cancel the direct debit for May.

So, anyway. A few weeks ago I get a rather stroppy phone call from them asking why I have not made the payment and threatening me with charges etc. etc. Anyway, I have to refer them back to my earlier conversation, and they confirm that it will be fine to make the manual payment, which I did a couple of days later, and that no Direct Debit will be taken.

Confused yet? It gets better....

Today, I log onto my Abbey bank account (by the way, Abbey are great...cannot praise them highly enough!) to find that I am £120 overdrawn (I have no overdraft facility on my account) because...yep, you guessed it: Sainsbury Bank has taken the DD from my account! So in effect, I have payed the same bill twice and am now in an unauthorised overdraft and incurring charges left right and centre. Cue many phonecalls to Abbey and Sainsburys. I thought that this mistake would be fairly easy to rectify.

Oh, how wrong I was!

I was informed by Sainsbury that the department that deals with refunds does not accept incoming calls, so I have to WRITE to them to get them to SEND ME A CHEQUE to refund my money back to MY account. All the while, my credit rating with Abbey is going down the pan and I am gaining loads of charges. (Abbey have told me that Sainsbury should be liable for the charges, but I am not exactly holding out any hope of them paying that) and also I have insufficient funds now to meet a DD that is due out in the next few days. Luckily, my mum (she is a regular lurker here!) has provided me with a stop-gap loan so that I do not incur any charges and so that I can meet the upcoming DD.

So, 3 things:

1: AARRRGGGHHH!!! :mad:
2: Avoid Sainsbury's Bank like the plague. They are useless.
3: What can I do to either a) get the money back earlier or b) ensure that Sainsbury's Bank pays my overdraft/related charges and c) make sure my credit rating is not further damaged?

Thanks for reading this far. Get yourself a drink! :beer:

Undercovercarrot

Oh, and just to add...this really depresses me as I have only quite recently got all my finances in order and looking at getting properly debt free by the end of the year.

ADAM001

the financial ombudsman would be a good start,they deal with financial disputes between companies and consumers. you may want to contact whichever credit reference agency they use and explain the situation,they would amend it if you are in dispute and are proved right in this instance.

feijoa

Naught. NAUGHTY bank - smacked bottoms all round!

r.mac_2

I'm not sure that I can help an awful lot, but I'll try.

First of all, I'm sorry to ehar what's happened, make a cup of tea (great british cure all) and sit down with a bit of paper. Make a list of all the dates etc of when you spoke to Sainsburys with the names of people you spkoe to etc. Basically, as much info as you can.

Then draft a letter to Sainsbury's. Try and be as succinct and business like as possible, but include all your relevant information. Make sure you TELL them what you want them to do - don't ASK.

i.e. I await full reimbursement of my direct debit payment, including the bank charges I have incurred due to your actions. This amounts to........., I expect a cheque (or whatever type of payment you want) by ...........(insert date here).

Remember to include photocopies of proof of bank charges etc.

I would also suggest considering copying your letter to the CEO of sainsbury's, but this might be too extreme as a first complaint letter.

what do other mse'rs think?

best of luck!

xela_17

Unfortunately, ombudsmans don't get involved until you have entered into the full complaints procedure of the bank and this has not resolved the problem. So basically, you have to show that you have done everything possible to fix the problem with the bank's people before the ombudsman will do anything.

Undercovercarrot

Thanks! Just written an entertaining letter to them. I will send it recorded delivery tomorrow morning.

r.mac_2

ohh, hadn't thought of recorded delivery, but great idea!

let us know how you get on.

deemy2004

They are all the same i.e. banks you can't trust to do things properly.

That is why I pay all my credit cards manually (10)... and have never had any problems, just make sure to act soem 10 days before payment due by date.

You just can't trust the card companies / banks to do the job properly !

ADAM001

amen to that!

louise1234_2

Under the terms of direct debit scheme - you are entitled to a full & immediate refund from your bank if something goes wrong.

Abbey should have told you this, I believe they call it a direct debit indemnity.

Give them a call & ask them to do this for you - the branch or call centre should be able to do this for you.