Alliance and Leicester

scubaangel

Thanks I thought my RBS account was FP enabled but apparently it isnt, so hopefully should show up sometime today or tomorrow.

bigrichuk

I have bank with alliance and leicester for a few years now never been over my overdraft or any problems with them.

Last month i did my wages was updated on my account just after midnight so i was online and made a few standing orders etc sorted my monthly stuff out.2 days later i recive a letter say £25 charge not enough funds for transaction blah blah blah.

I rang them to explain that my wages had come in and my account had updated the balance before i made this payment and was very annoyed buy this etc.The staff on phone was actually quite helpfull and they said the payment was made to close to midnight and there computer hadnt updated i challenged this and all the charges was refunded.I have lost faith in the bank now.

emc

bigrichuk wrote: »

I have bank with alliance and leicester for a few years now never been over my overdraft or any problems with them.

Last month i did my wages was updated on my account just after midnight so i was online and made a few standing orders etc sorted my monthly stuff out.2 days later i recive a letter say £25 charge not enough funds for transaction blah blah blah.

I rang them to explain that my wages had come in and my account had updated the balance before i made this payment and was very annoyed buy this etc.The staff on phone was actually quite helpfull and they said the payment was made to close to midnight and there computer hadnt updated i challenged this and all the charges was refunded.I have lost faith in the bank now.

Alliance and Leicester are very bad in the way they deal with transactions (they reorder and change the posting of transactions, so that the account details shown to the customer online are misleading or later revised, take longer than other banks to clear cheques, delay processing cheques that are deposited into their ATMs another day by not starting to process such deposits until 3 pm, etc) and customers are often caught out by such shenanigans, and are stung for 'overdrawing' even though their account was never in the red for the days concerned.

Complaining to Alliance & Leicester hard enough can get the fees refunded, but is hardly worth the time, telephone costs, and stress, and certainly leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

Lansdowne

bigrichuk wrote: »

I have bank with alliance and leicester for a few years now never been over my overdraft or any problems with them.

Last month i did my wages was updated on my account just after midnight so i was online and made a few standing orders etc sorted my monthly stuff out.2 days later i recive a letter say £25 charge not enough funds for transaction blah blah blah.

I rang them to explain that my wages had come in and my account had updated the balance before i made this payment and was very annoyed buy this etc.The staff on phone was actually quite helpfull and they said the payment was made to close to midnight and there computer hadnt updated i challenged this and all the charges was refunded.I have lost faith in the bank now.

I would disagree with this. There are many stories on these pages about banks that mess up in a much more serious way, but your report is that you queried the situation, had it explained in an honest way and got the charge revoked. I had the same issue with Nationwide and when I phoned their agent also cancelled the penalty instantly. They even had a standard name for it, something like 'mistimed credit'.

If we are happy to deal with computers not humans (and there's no choice these days), then we deserve to have computer glitches looked at by humans and we deserve the consequences of those glitches to be put right. Those banks who refuse to even do this are the ones to lose faith in.

Surfer

Either way A & L Online banking experience leaves a lot to be desired!

emc

Lansdowne wrote: »

If we are happy to deal with computers not humans (and there's no choice these days), then we deserve to have computer glitches looked at by humans and we deserve the consequences of those glitches to be put right.

Incorrect posting and reordering of statements and unfair charging of customers are directly the fault of Alliance & Leicester, not 'computer glitches'. Computers cannot make mistakes - they simply carry out what they are programmed to do, in this case apply the A&L business rules.

A&L should not operate such bad business rules that show customers the wrong account details and charge customers unfairly, so that the customers have to spend the time and effort to complain to A&L humans in order to get their unfairly charged fees refunded.

rm84

emc wrote: »

Incorrect posting and reordering of statements and unfair charging of customers are directly the fault of Alliance & Leicester, not 'computer glitches'. Computers cannot make mistakes - they simply carry out what they are programmed to do, in this case apply the A&L business rules.

A&L should not operate such bad business rules that show customers the wrong account details and charge customers unfairly, so that the customers have to spend the time and effort to complain to A&L humans in order to get their unfairly charged fees refunded.

I recently had a similar experience which ended up with me being charged £30 for apparently going over my overdraft, because of this. I was beginning to think I was going mad, and had made a big mistake, but this makes me realise that the mistake was probably theirs after all. Having realised this is a fairly common thing, I am going to write to them to challenge it, so wish me luck.

emc

rm84 wrote: »

I recently had a similar experience which ended up with me being charged £30 for apparently going over my overdraft, because of this. I was beginning to think I was going mad, and had made a big mistake, but this makes me realise that the mistake was probably theirs after all. Having realised this is a fairly common thing, I am going to write to them to challenge it, so wish me luck.

Good luck!

You need to recheck your statement balances for the days on which A&L claim you exceeded your overdraft limit. A&L take longer than other banks to clear cheques and sometimes even cash transfers like salary payments, so look at the available balance after each transaction, which is the cleared balance plus your allowed overdraft.

rm84

emc wrote: »

Good luck!

You need to recheck your statement balances for the days on which A&L claim you exceeded your overdraft limit. A&L take longer than other banks to clear cheques and sometimes even cash transfers like salary payments, so look at the available balance after each transaction, which is the cleared balance plus your allowed overdraft.

Thanks for the tip... I will post back with the outcome!

noah271007

Can anyone confirm if A&L are strict in their criteria when people apply for their bank accounts/credit cards?

Or are they relatively easy to have an bank account with them?