Abbey charges unfair?

sm4rtie

Hi, just dropped in to take advantage of the collective wisdom

My wife has just received her Abbey statement for her own current account and was supprised to see she had been hit with £140 in charges.

These were unexpected, so looking into what had caused them showed that whilst she was just in credit there were four separate paypal direct debits for items she had bought from e-bay.

In total the e-bay items came to about £20, which would have made her £20 overdrawn but as she doesn't have an overdraft facility she was charged: -

£20 for an overdraft which was not authorised
4 x £30 for clearing a direct debit while overdrawn

Therefore she has been charged a total of £140 for going £20 overdrawn.

This seem totally extortionate ... is there anything can can do about this, or is she completely in the wrong and will have to pay up and put it down to experience?

Thanks

HannahandMark

We also got charged £140 from Shabbey. Had to make a couple of long phone calls but got the money reimbursed. Have now switched to A+L.

nealallen

HannahandMark wrote: »

We also got charged £140 from Shabbey. Had to make a couple of long phone calls but got the money reimbursed. Have now switched to A+L.

Sorry, not laughing at you but that put a smile on my face :rotfl:

Shabbey

jonesMUFCforever

What makes you think you have the right to use Abbey's money without permission?
You broke the rules and then whinge.

Dylanwing

EJ you're a hard man - Or do you work for a Bank and need the charges to pay your bonus?:p
Technically EJ is right, morally, it is horrific and out of all proportion to the 'crime' IMO. Ask politely, be very nice and apologetic and you might get them reduced or waived. If not, wait for the Court verdict on fees and you might then be able to reclaim some of them.
Even my good friends The Money Shop would only charge me £2.60 for a £20 loan, and I'd get a month to pay it back! These high APR short-term lenders may get a lot of knocking here, but in comparison to the Bank OD fees, they are actually pretty cheap.... Makes you wonder what the APR on these small unauthorised overdrafts is.

noh

Yes but you have to ask the Money Shop for a loan before getting it.
Abbey are charging a fee for using their money without first asking for authorisation.

Nigel

BlondBoy

Proportionality lacking here though, surely? £140 to borrow £20? Unless, of course, you take the view that the charges are penalties rather than charges for the provision of a service?

noh

Proportionality is not relevant. It is a charge for the provision of a service That charge is the same wether the amount involved is 10p or £10000 as the service provided is the same.


Nigel

Dylanwing

the service provided is the same

The computer shows it as being over-limit and slaps a fee on - And you class that as 'service'?

BlondBoy

noh wrote: »

Proportionality is not relevant. It is a charge for the provision of a service That charge is the same wether the amount involved is 10p or £10000 as the service provided is the same.


Nigel

In my opinion, proportionality is entirely relevant - as it is in other borrowing transactions, so why not that? If I have an unsecured loan or overdraft for £5,000, that service will cost me less than if it were for £100,000.

To take argument to the extreme, shouldn't flights to Sydney cost the same as flights to Paris? Same service!

masonic

sm4rtie wrote: »

£20 for an overdraft which was not authorised
4 x £30 for clearing a direct debit while overdrawn

Therefore she has been charged a total of £140 for going £20 overdrawn.

I'm confused here. If you were already £20 overdrawn, then Abbey had to pay 4 direct debits, weren't you a lot more than £20 overdrawn after that?