Barclays personal reserve

willo65

jadex wrote: »

How can it be an 'opt-out' service if I have never ever requested it?
I expect for paid service to be opt-in rather than opt-out....

but when you start to use it surely you are then opting in? If you don't us ethen its free.

jadex

willo65 wrote: »

but when you start to use it surely you are then opting in? If you don't us ethen its free.

am not convinced

Extant

Uncertain wrote: »

There is a regular poster on here who claims to be a former Barclays branch manager and now something much higher up. I seem to recall (s)he has claimed that this scam (sorry reserve) has been taken to the FOS in the past and found to be proper!

I am not much higher up. I have a senior role, but I do not set policy. If you really must know, I count as a B7 pay grade which places me in the "UKRB Top 400."

That's hardly high up. I'm no board member.

Perhaps even if the Barclays chap(ess) is speaking the truth, which seems unlikely if s(he) is something senior in a Bank, we can all put our heads together to find a slant to this disgrace which will interest the FOS.

The FOS is already more than aware of the Personal Reserve Service.

Also, considering the fact that I've posted enough information about what my job involves/what part of Barclays I work in/my employment history to identify me to the Bank, why on Earth would I lie?

Extant

jadex wrote: »

How can it be an 'opt-out' service if I have never ever requested it?
I expect for paid service to be opt-in rather than opt-out....

Except you have. By opening the account, you agreed to a set of terms and conditions which included the facility to request informal overdrafts.

Under the old set of terms and conditions, you did not know how much you could request in terms of the informal overdraft or how much you would be charged.

We have simply formalized this section of your terms and conditions, making it fairer and transparent.

myners

I didn`t want an overdraft as I have never gone OD, all I wanted was if I used my debit card and the funds were not available to be denied access, I would go home and xfer some money across and it would be there with no charges, but with this latest scam as I don`t have an OD and didn`t see the opt out choice it automatically kicks in depriving me of £22 for the use of £4-44p for 1 day.
If I had opted out I would have done the above.
If I had an OD I would have been either charged pennies or nothing as it was under a fiver. This stinks, I`m visiting my local branch tomorrow then a letter of complaint to the FOS and account closed..

bankemployee101

myners wrote: »

I didn`t want an overdraft as I have never gone OD, all I wanted was if I used my debit card and the funds were not available to be denied access, I would go home and xfer some money across and it would be there with no charges, but with this latest scam as I don`t have an OD and didn`t see the opt out choice it automatically kicks in depriving me of £22 for the use of £4-44p for 1 day.
If I had opted out I would have done the above.
If I had an OD I would have been either charged pennies or nothing as it was under a fiver. This stinks, I`m visiting my local branch tomorrow then a letter of complaint to the FOS and account closed..

Hi, the reserve can prove handy as you said - so you can use your debit card then transfer the funds at a later point on the same working day - if you cover yourself on the same day, you're fine (and under the old system the charge would have been even more). I'm sure if you explain the situation to the branch, it wouldn't need to be escalated to the Ombudsman - make sure they remove the reserve (as I'm sure you will) if you really need not even the shortest-term borrowing facility from the bank. (Be aware that removing the reserve means the account is subject to £8 returned transaction fees and £8 guaranteed transaction fees [ie guaranteed cheque or card payment])
Just to point out that if you know you're nearing a nil balance, quickly check the automated telephone banking service because the balance it gives has deducted your outstanding transactions, to prevent overspending (not all banks have this).
Hope this helps, and doesn't come across as preachy!

bankemployee101

jadex wrote: »

How can it be an 'opt-out' service if I have never ever requested it?
I expect for paid service to be opt-in rather than opt-out....

The reserve was opt-out because at some point in the past, many customers exceeded their overdraft; the reserve can prove useful to ensure big bills such as mortgage direct debits and loan payments are met - as an employee for the bank, more customers complain when their bills aren't paid than when they are paid and then charged, so it was opt-out. Realistically, if you feel you don't need it, but have availability for an overdraft, then go for the overdraft - it takes two seconds for an advisor to click a button to remove it (see my other post for the then applicable charges), and the overdraft is free to set up (many banks charge to do this!) so it's worth weighing up the pros and cons. I like to think of an overdraft as cashflow, and the reserve as emergency.

Extant

myners wrote: »

I didn`t want an overdraft as I have never gone OD, all I wanted was if I used my debit card and the funds were not available to be denied access, I would go home and xfer some money across and it would be there with no charges, but with this latest scam as I don`t have an OD and didn`t see the opt out choice it automatically kicks in depriving me of £22 for the use of £4-44p for 1 day.
If I had opted out I would have done the above.
If I had an OD I would have been either charged pennies or nothing as it was under a fiver. This stinks, I`m visiting my local branch tomorrow then a letter of complaint to the FOS and account closed..

Two mailings were sent in July of last year in the run up to the August launch, as well as being advised in every channel we have (telephone banking, online, etc.)

Inactive

BarclaysManager wrote: »

Two mailings were sent in July of last year in the run up to the August launch, as well as being advised in every channel we have (telephone banking, online, etc.)

But that doesn't make any " opt out " system fair or right to customers, the only fair system is an " opt in " system, clearly this looks very much like yet another case of the Banks knowing what is best for customers, is it any wonder they are so hated amongst the long suffering British public?

Extant

Inactive wrote: »

But that doesn't make any " opt out " system fair or right to customers, the only fair system is an " opt in " system, clearly this looks very much like yet another case of the Banks knowing what is best for customers, is it any wonder they are so hated amongst the long suffering British public?

See the below post, outlining why it was an opt-out rather than an opt-in:

BarclaysManager wrote: »

Except you have. By opening the account, you agreed to a set of terms and conditions which included the facility to request informal overdrafts.

Under the old set of terms and conditions, you did not know how much you could request in terms of the informal overdraft or how much you would be charged.

We have simply formalized this section of your terms and conditions, making it fairer and transparent.

The average customer now pays less than they ever did before, and can have complete knowledge of what we'll allow them to spend - or, if they'd prefer, simply choose to have the Reserve removed and we will either decline payments or return them as unpaid where appropriate.

If anything, we've made the system fairer for the "long suffering British public."