Barclaycard "Credit Balance Refund"

fallen121

I had a 14p credit balance left on a Barclaycard. They kept writing to me about it, but I couldn't figure out how to withdraw or transfer it and I couldn't figure out how to spend money on the card in such a way that I could restore the balance to zero, because all payments on the card are made by Direct Debit.

This month they sent me a statement and on the statement was a transaction "Credit Balance Refund" so they basically took the money for themselves and restored the balance to zero without any notification or advice. I would have felt better about this if the money had gone to charity or something, but in the absence of any communication from Barclaycard I can only assume this is legal and the money has gone into their own coffers.

If Barclaycard are doing this for every customer who ends up in credit, all these small amounts of money probably end up to quite a sizeable amount of cash.

If it were the other way around this would be theft, as it's a big company this is somehow ok.

Should I complain?

[Deleted User]

Did you not think to contact them or pop into a branch and ask?

They may have either sent you a cheque for it (yes, seriously) or transferred it back to your bank account,

Or you could have spent it to bring it back below zero again and the DD would adjust to bring the balance to zero

[Deleted User]

fallen121 wrote: »

I couldn't figure out how to spend money on the card in such a way that I could restore the balance to zero, because all payments on the card are made by Direct Debit.

STEP 1: Buy something on card.

STEP 2: Clear any remaining balance.

fallen121

No cheque has arrived. The money was taken 3 weeks ago whilst i was on holiday, so any cheque would surely have plopped on the mat by now?

"Popping into a branch" is kind of difficult in Scotland. Barclays branches are a bit thin on the ground up here. In fact branches of all the Banks are very thin on the ground. Many towns don't even have a Bank of any description anymore.

I did try calling, but after 45 mins listening to musack I gave up. I also have a pronounced stammer, so having a conversation with someone I don't know isn't very easy.

Secure messaging is one option I suppose. There is a character limitation so presumably you have to make it fairly short and sweet.

fallen121

For those of you helpfully suggesting that I buy something on the card. I considered that. There wasn't much I wanted online. I did go and try and buy petrol, but we only have an unmanned petrol pump in Pittenweem and it doesn't take credit cards or cash, just debit cards. After that I have to go to Colinsburgh or St Andrews. It seemed a bit daft to drive 15 miles for the sake of 14p.

Not much point buying now they've taken the money, is there?

Presumably you all live in cities where there are plenty of Banks and shops that take credit cards. We are a tiny village. We have a Co-op, a premier store, a card shop, chippie, greengrocer, wholefoods shop, tea room, butcher and chemist. None of these places accept credit cards and won't even take debit cards unless the balance is over a certain amount and many places only take cash. We don't even have a post office anymore apart from a van that comes 3 times a week.

I presumed that I would eventually use the card again if I booked a holiday or something. I didn't realise there was a time limit!

[Deleted User]

fallen121 wrote: »

Presumably you all live in cities where there are plenty of Banks and shops that take credit cards.

You presume wrong. You appear to have double the number of retailers that we do.

You could have used the cards on one of the rare occasions you ventured outside of the village over the last few months, if you never shop online.

Wellard_Mann

fallen121 wrote: »

Secure messaging is one option I suppose. There is a character limitation so presumably you have to make it fairly short and sweet.

From memory, it's a couple of thousand characters so not too difficult. I find it far better than waiting to get through to their call centre and then dealing with the people at the other end of the line, who I don't doubt are trying to assist but whom I occasionally find difficult to understand. The couple of times I've secure messaged them they've got back to me within 24 hours and resolved the issue.

fallen121

We will lose a lot of our remaining retailers if we cannot keep our ATM. They are removing it soon because the old closed RBS branch where it is presently located has been sold. Summer visitors need access to cash to keep spending.

I thought about going to into St Andrews and buying £30.14 of petrol at one point and then paying off the £30. Unfortunately buying stuff is how I ended up in credit in the first place.

I bought petrol, paid it off, then the direct debit came off as well and I ended up in credit (this must have been a timing thing as I thought when you made an internet payment it was supposed to reduce or stop the DD). Next time I tried to buy more petrol for the exact amount that I was in credit, not realising that the unmanned petrol pump I used late at night (which DID take credit cards) only dispensed in round amounts and then shut off. Hence the 14p credit. So everytime I've TRIED to use the card and then pay it off quickly to avoid paying interest or tried to use up a credit that I didn't intend having in the first place I've always somehow been outfoxed.

dresdendave

fallen121 wrote: »

Next time I tried to buy more petrol for the exact amount that I was in credit, not realising that the unmanned petrol pump I used late at night (which DID take credit cards) only dispensed in round amounts and then shut off. Hence the 14p credit. So everytime I've TRIED to use the card and then pay it off quickly to avoid paying interest or tried to use up a credit that I didn't intend having in the first place I've always somehow been outfoxed.

This confuses me. If you are 14p in credit, buy any amount of fuel, let the pay in full DD clear the balance. The machine only dispensing round amounts wouldn't affect this.

For example: Balance 14p (in credit), buy £20 fuel, new balance £19.86, wait for DD to collect, new balance £0.00.

fallen121

That's because it's not a pay in full DD. I set it to minimum payment ages ago after I booked a holiday, forgot to transfer money into my current account and came home to a very sizable overdraft and bounced mortgage/electric bill/insurance/car tax/council tax payments 'cos I'd gone over the unauthorised O/D threshold agreed with my Bank. Caused so much stress it completely negated the effects of the holiday. I now have my Bank text me if I go overdrawn but it happens so rarely I didn't have that option setup at the time and I was in Africa and the internet access was patchy.

Now the DD pays the minimum payment if there is one and if necessary I do a second payment manually to clear the balance. Mostly the card is empty so no payment is taken. I was late clearing the balance one month after I used it to pay a restaurant bill and the minimum payment still came off, leaving me in credit. I tried to rectify the situation as above, but the petrol pump only dispensing round amounts left me 14p in credit when my intention had been to spend enough to bring it back to zero. I wasn't all that bothered as it's just 14p and there wasn't anything I really wanted to buy and with all the good weather I've been walking and taking the bus. Clearly the 14p was causing Barclays a major headache though!

beckysheffield

Was it because you didn!!!8217;t use the card for a long period of time?