Smile Introduce £20 Overdraft Fee

johnllew

I have just received an email confirming the renewal of my £2k overdraft on my Smile account - no mention of any fee but I was referred to their schedule of charges. On checking, I could see reference to an overdraft fee of £20 for anything in excess of their fee-free £500 o/d.

I contacted CS who confirmed a £20 fee would be applied this time. Very sneaky and just about the final straw. After years of being a loyal Smile customer and watching interest rates decline, I've decided to take my business elsewhere. Coventry BS do a nice CA.

Hazzanet

johnllew wrote: »

Very sneaky

Not really; I've had about three e-mails off them warning that the t&c's will change and the schedule of charges have been updated. Are you sure they have your current e-mail address?

soolin

I haven't used my 'free' overdraft with Smile as yet, but I have still had all sorts of emails warning about changes to the fee structure. Worth checking to see if these emails are hitting your spam box instead of your inbox.

joon79

I noticed something about this overdraft fee on these boards, and with having a £1.5k overdraft, messaged Smile to ensure that I could avoid the charge if possible. They said the fee would be charged on the renewal date, which is in June, so I'll be reducing back to £500 before then to avoid it...

Much like you Johnllew, I have been a loyal Smile customer for years, pretty much since they began, but I'm thinking about moving elsewhere too at the moment... like you say the interest rates are declining faster than other banks and are no longer competitive, and the introduction of these charges all over the place seems to be penalising us loyal long term customers... Halifax or First Direct here I come!

StretfordEnder6899

johnllew wrote: »

I have just received an email confirming the renewal of my £2k overdraft on my Smile account - no mention of any fee but I was referred to their schedule of charges. On checking, I could see reference to an overdraft fee of £20 for anything in excess of their fee-free £500 o/d.

I contacted CS who confirmed a £20 fee would be applied this time. Very sneaky and just about the final straw. After years of being a loyal Smile customer and watching interest rates decline, I've decided to take my business elsewhere. Coventry BS do a nice CA.

These changes were introduced on 05-12-2007 and all customers were e-mailed prior to this.

johnllew

StretfordEnder6899 wrote: »

These changes were introduced on 05-12-2007 and all customers were e-mailed prior to this.

I did receive the email. What I thought was sneaky was the fact that when offering to renew my overdraft, Smile made no mention of a fee. Why couldn't they be upfront about it rather than just referring me to their T&Cs?

By contrast, my mother received a message from Smile advising her £500 overdraft was being renewed and making great play that there wouldn't be a charge. Notice the subtle difference?

johnllew

johnllew wrote: »

I did receive the email. What I thought was sneaky was the fact that when offering to renew my overdraft, Smile made no mention of a fee. Why couldn't they be upfront about it rather than just referring me to their T&Cs?

By contrast, my mother received a message from Smile advising her £500 overdraft was being renewed and making great play that there wouldn't be a charge. Notice the subtle difference?

BTW, Smile made a complete hash of renewing my overdraft and my wife's; they reduced both overdrafts before they were due to be reduced and at one stage removed my OD completely. My wife has received £15 compensation and my complaint is still being considered.