Looking forward - my diary!

marc.faulkner

Sig updated.

marc.faulkner

Barclays are getting on my nerves at the moment! :mad:

I'm still waiting for a new Debit Card, as the fools decided to cancel it and send an "upgraded" one to my old address without notifying me. All credit to the local branch, they've been amazingly helpful - but the telephone banking centre is a joke!

marc.faulkner

Having a bit of a Barclays nightmare at the moment.

About 8 weeks ago, Barlcays sent me a Pinsentry device, which I was able to use successfully with my existing Visa

Connect Debit card. Shortly after receiving this device, I moved house and informed Barclays of the new address. I

was able to continue using my card as normal.

About 3 weeks after moving, I presented my card to pay for petrol, and it was declined 3 times in a row. (And I knew

this wasn't due to lack of funds - as it was a couple of days after payday). Extremely red faced, I tried the cash

machine outside the petrol station - which advised me that my request had been refused! I had to speak to the

manager of the petrol station, who eventually agreed to take a cheque although he was not at all happy.

I called telephone banking, and was advised that my card had been "upgraded", and that a new card had been sent out

to me some 2 weeks earlier - to my old address!! I was furious, as this was over a week after I supplied Barclays

with my new address details. They placed an immediate block on the card at my old address and ordered a new one for

me to my new address.

I waited nearly 2 weeks for this to arrive, after which time I took time off work to visit my local branch and was

advised that no card had been ordered. They then ordered a new card for me, and assured me it would be with me

within a week. This card finally turned up yesterday - almost 3 weeks after being ordered in branch! I also received

a new pin number, which had not been requested.

I successfully used my card to pay for a purchase yesterday afternoon, and also to obtain a balance from an ATM, so

I assumed it was all okay. I then arrived in work this morning, and tried to log into my online banking. I entered

my membership number as usual and then the Pinsentry code, and was advised that my details were incorrect. It gave

me a number to call, which I called. I was then advised that a block had been placed on my NEW card, and was

transferred through to the fraud prevention team.

The lady in fraud prevention wanted me to answer some additional security questions, which I was happy to do. Her questions were as follows,

1) Which online gambling company did you use in September 2007? (How the hell am I supposed to remember, it could have been any?)

2)Which supermarket petrol station did you use in December 2007? (Again, how the hell can I be expected to remember this?)

3)How much did you spend in Tesco on January 14th 2008? (By this stage, I'm getting a bit miffed with these questions!)

AS I was unable to correctly answer these questions (I was able to guess, and I reckon I was fairly acurate) I was advised that they would have to terminate the call and that I need to take 3 pieces of ID into my local branch (one of which must be photographic) before they can remove the block from my card...

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

Ellidee

Marc :mad: - :grouphug: Can I recommend First Direct - never had any probs with them and have banked with them for years. XX El

P.S. They are paying £100 to anyone who opens a 1st account.

marc.faulkner

Ellidee wrote: »

Marc :mad: - :grouphug: Can I recommend First Direct - never had any probs with them and have banked with them for years. XX El

P.S. They are paying £100 to anyone who opens a 1st account.

Thanks,

I think I'm going to start looking around as it's getting ridiculous at the moment.

I could understand being asked to supply ID if I was a new customer etc. however I've held my Barclays account for 6 years now. I guess I'm fortunate that I withdrew quite a bit of cash when I was in the branch last week (again taking time off work to go) so I don't actually need my card at the moment!

zippygeorgeandben

Hi Marc,

I have just spent a good 30-40 minutes reading through your diary from page one. It really is an inspiration and for you to post virtually every day, sometimes more than one message a day, is fantastic!! :T I know sometimes you probably have low days where you can't be bothered posting but everyone really appreciates it.

it seems that you have a real 'go getter' approach to life. Moving 100 miles didn't bother you (I know it would have bothered ALOT of people I know) and it seems that any hurdle you have reached, possible redundancy, Identity Fraud, you have been able to overcome all of these...
Are you still doing the AQA? Regarding AQA, if you get an incorrect answer, can you request that you don't get charged for the information provided? I'm curious that's all as it happened to me last Saturday.

Keep it up pal (a good old fashioned northern word there!) and keep us updated.

Ben :T

Verbatim

can I second what zippy said? Also read thro' for the first time. Wow, a real can-do approach to life!

how are the debt repayments to family going?

marc.faulkner

Aww, fanks guys, your kind words really mean a lot to me.

It's hard to believe that just a few short months ago I was saying pretty much the same to Benben, who inspired me so much when I was first starting out - ands continues to do so now...

Anyway, I'm unable to do AQA at the moment as I don't have an internet connection at home (I'm staying with relatives this weekend) so my account has been suspended. Once I am able to resume working again, I will do.

I'm pretty sure that if you email them regarding the incorrect answer they will refund your money or give you a free question or something.

My final repayment to my Aunt is due in July, and then I can officially say that I'm debt free! (I could pay it off now, however my aunt is happy for me to keep paying monthly - which means I can keep a bit of money in reserve for emergencies).

As it's Bank Holiday weekend, I'm going to go and get myself a couple of beers and make the most of having internet access - by spending the night on here! :beer: I'm going to sit and do a new SOA (as muc has I can anyway) and also try and rejig all of my finances a bit so that I can see exactly where I am with everything. I'm also going to catch up with the OS board...

zippygeorgeandben

Keep up all the good work Marc!!
Ben

:j

benbenandme

Hey Marc, nice to "see" you, haven't seen you here much recently? Keep posting