HELP! Barclaycard unauthorised account closure

TheWhy

Hi Everyone,

I have been a customer of Barclaycard for around 9 years now and recently got a new credit card with them. I used my 0% offer on a balance transfer and put close to £5000 on to the card. I closed my old credit card, with a different card number and name (as I am now married and the card was quite old due to inactivity) on the automated system which then cancelled both cards and closed my account. Barclaycard have admitted that the automated system is at fault and has accidentally closed . 

I have been on to Barclaycard for 3 weeks now to no avail, I keep getting told to wait another 5 working days, or 24 hours, or the end of the day for my account to reopen. I keep calling back and get told one or the other. Due to my account being closed, my minimum payment due is the entire amount of the balance transfer! I have not made any payment yet on this credit card. The full payment is due by this Friday, 12th April. The customer service team have said they can change this minimum payment when the account is re-opened, however, again, it has already been 3 weeks, so not looking hopeful.

In terms of complaints, they do not seem to have an e-mail address for this, however I have tried to submit a complaint via the web browser chat, they either ignore my request to submit a complaint or not fully answer the question (I have evidence of this), for example, one response was 'I would request you to please wait. I will ensure your dissatisfaction is recorded to offer better services in future.' ... It has been 3 weeks, I have waited long enough!

What do I need to do if my account is not open as I am unable to make a minimum payment of £5000? 

If I have requested for the complaint to be submitted and they do not action this, is this illegal? Do I have a right to contact the financial ombudsman?

Any advice or help will be useful!!

Thank you all.

adamp87

Can’t help with the problem but for complaints write them a formal letter. They are absolutely horrendous with customer service & complaints in my experience. Aside from calling them, a letter is the only way they don’t have an email.

  

MattMattMattUK

TheWhy said:

Hi Everyone,

I have been a customer of Barclaycard for around 9 years now and recently got a new credit card with them. I used my 0% offer on a balance transfer and put close to £5000 on to the card. I closed my old credit card, with a different card number and name (as I am now married and the card was quite old due to inactivity) on the automated system which then cancelled both cards and closed my account. Barclaycard have admitted that the automated system is at fault and has accidentally closed . 

I have been on to Barclaycard for 3 weeks now to no avail, I keep getting told to wait another 5 working days, or 24 hours, or the end of the day for my account to reopen. I keep calling back and get told one or the other. Due to my account being closed, my minimum payment due is the entire amount of the balance transfer! I have not made any payment yet on this credit card. The full payment is due by this Friday, 12th April. The customer service team have said they can change this minimum payment when the account is re-opened, however, again, it has already been 3 weeks, so not looking hopeful.

In terms of complaints, they do not seem to have an e-mail address for this, however I have tried to submit a complaint via the web browser chat, they either ignore my request to submit a complaint or not fully answer the question (I have evidence of this), for example, one response was 'I would request you to please wait. I will ensure your dissatisfaction is recorded to offer better services in future.' ... It has been 3 weeks, I have waited long enough!

You will likely need to either call them, or write to them, they do not have an email option for complaints and as your account was closed you will probably not have the in app option. 
https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/help/customer-services/making-a-complaint

TheWhy said:

What do I need to do if my account is not open as I am unable to make a minimum payment of £5000? 

Make a minimum payment above what would have been expected had the account not been closed, do that now so it is there before the payment due date.

TheWhy said:

If I have requested for the complaint to be submitted and they do not action this, is this illegal? 

What do you mean by "no no action this", you can make a complaint, but they are not required to act immediately, or do you mean that they refused to accept your complaint?

TheWhy said:

Do I have a right to contact the financial ombudsman?

Any advice or help will be useful!!

Thank you all.

You have to give the business eight weeks to reply before you can take your complaint to the ombudsman, or at the point they issue a final response if that is sooner. The eight weeks starts from the point that you make an actual complaint, not just raise an issue.
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/make-complaint

Hoenir

Make a minimum payment yourself. Whatever the isues remain proactive. 

TheWhy

@MattMattMattUK In regards to my minimum payment, I have no idea what that would have been, as they closed my account one day after I did the balance transfer, so the only statement I have is to pay the minimum payment of £5000. If I make up a minimum, of say £100, will it still go down as a missed payment because I did not clear the funds? I am concerned the 0% interest on the balance transfer will then be void! Also resulting in a pointless transfer fee!

In regards to the complaint, yes, they refuse to accept my complaint and are not submitting it, despite asking numerous times on the chat! They just tell me to 'please wait until the account is open'. I clearly stated that I want to submit a complaint. I think as @adamp87 said, I need to send a formal letter.

daveyjp

You have enough evidence to know the problem is due to their incompetence, let them own it as at the moment any demand for payment is in dispute.

Don't confuse matters by trying to pay against the account if they have said it is closed, with their handling so far it may make matters worse as they may not know what to pay it against.   Put aside money so it is available when the matter is properly sorted out.

Write a formal complaint letter outlining the problem, that you don't expect any interest to be charged on any balance and you expect a payment for inconvenience in trying to sort out a problem of their making.

Martico

My BC minimum payments are 3% of the total debt - it may be different for others. So perhaps 3% plus some to take into account the fact that you may have been subject to a fee when doing the intital BT?

MattMattMattUK

TheWhy said:

@ MattMattMattUK In regards to my minimum payment, I have no idea what that would have been, as they closed my account one day after I did the balance transfer, so the only statement I have is to pay the minimum payment of £5000. If I make up a minimum, of say £100, will it still go down as a missed payment because I did not clear the funds? I am concerned the 0% interest on the balance transfer will then be void! Also resulting in a pointless transfer fee!

The 0% transfer is nominally void at the moment as the account is closed, which is why I would make a minimum payment.

https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/credit-cards/interest-calculator

TheWhy said:

In regards to the complaint, yes, they refuse to accept my complaint and are not submitting it, despite asking numerous times on the chat! They just tell me to 'please wait until the account is open'. I clearly stated that I want to submit a complaint. I think as @ adamp87 said, I need to send a formal letter.

Are you trying to submit the complaint via web chat though? If so that is the issue, you need to raise a complaint via the complaints phone number or in writing, as per the link I posted above. 

Kim_13

Any old statement for the card should say how the minimum payment is calculated, or if the BT was for say 2 years, then perhaps £210 as you would need to be making payments in this order to clear the debt before the 0% period expired. (£5000/24 - or whatever the interest free period is in months.)

I would attach cheque for this to your letter of complaint, explaining that you have done so so as to comply with your contractual obligations and that since their system was at fault, you should not be disadvantaged by it.

martinbainbridge1975

maybe worth considering making a payment and then look for another card to transfer the remainder, as above barclaycard are horrendous to get in touch with.

Rhubarb_Shed

OP, just to clarify, did you apply for the new Barclaycard (with your new surname) whilst the old account still existed?  AFAIK they do not currently allow this, and I wonder if this has muddied the waters?