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Barclays Bank "Reserve Usage Fees"; refund refused
leftfoot
Posts: 14 Forumite
I was opted into Barclay's Personal Reserve Usage scheme without my knowledge or consent earlier this year. Apparently I was sent a letter - telling me about the scheme and advising me I'd need to actively request they remove me from it if I didn't want to be included - but I can't find a record of it. The first I knew was I'd been charged £66.00 in total for accidentally going overdrawn by a very small amount for a couple of days or so. It's the only time I've ever been overdrawn with Barclays in some six years or so banking with them, and the amount was piffling - under a tenner before they started adding charges every week.
When I realised what was happening I went into my local branch and removed myself from the scheme. I then wrote to Barclays asking that they refund the charges taken from my account as I felt they'd no right to effectively include me in a credit agreement without my knowledge, permission and signature. I also requested a copy of the letter I was supposed to have been sent. My letter was very polite and friendly.
However, I got a shirty reply from a Customer Relations Advisor who told me, basically, that there was no way they were going to give me back my sixty six quid - and that if I wanted to see an exact copy of the letter originally sent out to me concerning their Personal Reserve scheme they would only provide one if it was requested by a solicitor and if I planned to take the matter to court!
Now, I wouldn't be surprised if this issue has been discussed here before, but I'm new to this site and haven't seen anything regarding it. Has anyone else had any success getting these charges refunded from Barclays - or any advice at all for me? Obviously I can't take them to court over £66.00, but I just feel the whole thing is totally unfair. Would it help if I tried going over this customer advisor's head to someone higher up in Barclays - and, if so, who should I write to?
Cheers
When I realised what was happening I went into my local branch and removed myself from the scheme. I then wrote to Barclays asking that they refund the charges taken from my account as I felt they'd no right to effectively include me in a credit agreement without my knowledge, permission and signature. I also requested a copy of the letter I was supposed to have been sent. My letter was very polite and friendly.
However, I got a shirty reply from a Customer Relations Advisor who told me, basically, that there was no way they were going to give me back my sixty six quid - and that if I wanted to see an exact copy of the letter originally sent out to me concerning their Personal Reserve scheme they would only provide one if it was requested by a solicitor and if I planned to take the matter to court!
Now, I wouldn't be surprised if this issue has been discussed here before, but I'm new to this site and haven't seen anything regarding it. Has anyone else had any success getting these charges refunded from Barclays - or any advice at all for me? Obviously I can't take them to court over £66.00, but I just feel the whole thing is totally unfair. Would it help if I tried going over this customer advisor's head to someone higher up in Barclays - and, if so, who should I write to?
Cheers
0
Comments
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ALoha sorry but you just have to joing the rest of the country and ''hurryup and wait'.
You/we are all having to wait a few months longer until the house of lords confirm their ruling that these fees are illegal.
(Its been going on for nearly 3years now, through the crown court, through appeal court, through fsa review, and now through House of Lords).
All the courts have ruled in our favour and that banks were acting illegally, and house of lords have done the same, but just havent declared it yet as they like to take their time as to not work too hard.
Only a few months left now though then you can claim it back once the floodgate opens.0 -
Many thanks for that, Angel. My OH is currently waiting on that very decision regarding regular bank charges - and should be quids in once it's finally sorted!
However I'm not sure that this Barclay's Personal Reserve system I've had forced upon me falls into that particular case load. In fact I get the feeling the scheme was set up precisely to try and get around the very real possibility that regular charging gets found to be illegal. That would certainly explain why they're so defensive of and about it!0 -
Actually, perhaps I've posted this in the wrong category...? Is there a more appropriate heading I could've put it under?0
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ALoha sorry but you just have to joing the rest of the country and ''hurryup and wait'.
You/we are all having to wait a few months longer until the house of lords confirm their ruling that these fees are illegal.
(Its been going on for nearly 3years now, through the crown court, through appeal court, through fsa review, and now through House of Lords).
All the courts have ruled in our favour and that banks were acting illegally, and house of lords have done the same, but just havent declared it yet as they like to take their time as to not work too hard.
Only a few months left now though then you can claim it back once the floodgate opens.
Sorry to have to correct you but the House of Lords decision will NEVER make the bank charges illegal(since they would be deemed unlawful if they were). The House of Lords is about whether the OFT can assess bank terms for fairness. It is the half way mark in the case.0 -
Actually, perhaps I've posted this in the wrong category...? Is there a more appropriate heading I could've put it under?
My personal opinion is that you need to ask for a final response from Barclays and threaten them with the FOS, To me, I think you are organised and do not throw mail away without opening them so I would say if Barclays say no then you need to argue the point that the Reserve Useage Fee was not an opt in service, you didn't sign for having the account and you have never received notification that you had the reserve or could opt out until you had been charged and rectified it immediately you were aware of it. For £66 and no previous history of charges with Barclays I think they will cave in a refund it.0 -
Hi there,
All Barclays staff have been told that in no uncertain terms are any reserve usage fees to be refunded unless it was a bank error that caused the charges in the first place. I have worked for Barclays for a couple of years and even when I worked in a large branch, the highest level branch managers aren't even allowed to refund them unless they can prove that the charges are caused by a bank error.
I appreciate this probably isn't the answer you wanted but I just wanted to let you know about the Barclays policy in relation to Personal Reserve Usage Fee's
Regards
LG x0 -
louboutingirl wrote: »Hi there,
All Barclays staff have been told that in no uncertain terms are any reserve usage fees to be refunded unless it was a bank error that caused the charges in the first place. I have worked for Barclays for a couple of years and even when I worked in a large branch, the highest level branch managers aren't even allowed to refund them unless they can prove that the charges are caused by a bank error.
I appreciate this probably isn't the answer you wanted but I just wanted to let you know about the Barclays policy in relation to Personal Reserve Usage Fee's
Regards
Very much as I suspected then!
Cheers for this bit of inside info, Lou. However - given that I never quite know when I'm beaten - can you point me at Barclay's 'numero uno' so I can try writing to him/her for a bit of a whinge? I don't really have anything to lose by so doing, and at the very least I'd like that snotty little Customer Relations Advisor's attitude brought to the attention of a higher authority; I mean it's bad enough being robbed by your own bank, but then having insult added to injury in the way this officious little cretin did is really TOO much to take lying down! LOL
Many thanks0 -
Barclays have been charging me £88 every month since february. As soon as i'm on my way to being out of my reserve they charge me again.
Now i'm £400 into my reserve with no way of paying £500 in to be in credit! They know my income as it has been the same for 2 years, IS and tax credits, and they know i don't get big lumps of cash in one go. They have allowed me to slip further and further and offered no help at all!
I'm now going to switch banks and see if i can get the CAB to freeze the balance so i can pay it off without them stealing everything i get in the future as they have been all this year!Mum of several with a twisted sense of humour and a laundry obsession
:o
0 -
Barclays have been charging me £88 every month since february. As soon as i'm on my way to being out of my reserve they charge me again.
Now i'm £400 into my reserve with no way of paying £500 in to be in credit! They know my income as it has been the same for 2 years, IS and tax credits, and they know i don't get big lumps of cash in one go. They have allowed me to slip further and further and offered no help at all!
I'm now going to switch banks and see if i can get the CAB to freeze the balance so i can pay it off without them stealing everything i get in the future as they have been all this year!
Get rid of the personal reserve from your account 0 -
louboutingirl wrote: »Hi there,
All Barclays staff have been told that in no uncertain terms are any reserve usage fees to be refunded unless it was a bank error that caused the charges in the first place. I have worked for Barclays for a couple of years and even when I worked in a large branch, the highest level branch managers aren't even allowed to refund them unless they can prove that the charges are caused by a bank error.
I appreciate this probably isn't the answer you wanted but I just wanted to let you know about the Barclays policy in relation to Personal Reserve Usage Fee's
Regards
Very much as I suspected then!
Cheers for this bit of inside info, Lou. However - given that I never quite know when I'm beaten - can you point me at Barclay's 'numero uno' so I can try writing to him/her for a bit of a whinge? I don't really have anything to lose by so doing, and at the very least I'd like that snotty little Customer Relations Advisor's attitude brought to the attention of a higher authority; I mean it's bad enough being robbed by your own bank, but then having insult added to injury in the way this officious little cretin did is really TOO much to take lying down! LOL
Many thanks
John Varley is CEO of Barclays Bank,0
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