First Direct Woes

ARN92_

I have been a member with them since at least 2021. Until recently they have restricted my card from online transactions and froze my online and mobile banking so that I cannot make any modifications such as delete Direct Debits/Transfer Money. Anything I want to do like that, I have to phone them up which defeats the object.

I have been in touch with the Customer Care Team who placed these restrictions on who tell me it is protect me from any future scams and fraudulent transactions as they have noticed I am a heavy user of TikTok who spends a lot of their money on there - however I have took matters in to my own hands by contacting them by asking them to put a total block in TikTok, preventing me from making any future payments to the retailer, which they were happy to do.

I then asked if they could remove all the restrictions on my account once doing so but no, “We have a duty of care to protect our customers if there is a cause for harm”

I raised a complaint with the Customer Relations Team, even then that response was unsatisfactory as they sided with the Customer Care Team, so I have had no choice but to escalate it to the Financial Ombudsman Service to look at as their stopping me from using my money freely and feel like there is a hidden agenda they are not telling me about.

I have a number of diagnosed conditions including autism and learning difficulties which they are aware of, and have apologised any upset this has caused me but I feel it’s not enough for the distress it is causing me as ‘change’ like this does do that to me.

I know that I should hold out for what the FOS say as they are meant to be unbiased, but I don’t know what to do in the short term - switch banks or hold it out.

cymruchris

I wouldn't class this as 'woes' - more like they are being a responsible institution based on your recent history. 7 months is way too short a time to 'demonstrate' that you're trustworthy to make your own decisions again. Missed payments/defaults/fraudulent payments/scams - anything like that, particularly if there are several of them, need to be way, way, way in the past (I'm talking 3 years plus) for them to reduce in importance on your credit history.

If you're not happy with what they're doing, you're free to close the account and open one elsewhere - but it's likely that it won't be straightforward to do so based on some of the things you've previously discussed. Any new account provider will look at anything under 3 years old that's negative, and will see the red flags, and potentially decline your application as a result.

You won't know for sure of course unless you apply, but be prepared to receive a 'no' as a worst case scenario. Each hard search as an application of course will also potentially go against you if you start applying here, there and everywhere, so be mindful of if you do apply, and get rejected not to start popping applications through like smarties. 

As much as the current process might be a pain in the neck - you might need to demonstrate to them over a period (longer than 7 months) that you can manage your account again without risk of repeating any of your previous challenges. I know that's not what you want to hear right now, but that's the reality from what you've said both here and your other threads.

Ergates

ARN92_ said:

...feel like there is a hidden agenda they are not telling me about..

It's not hidden and they're very clearly telling you what it's about.   They believe you are at risk of being exploited and they do not want to risk being asked to repay money you get scammed out of.