Thread: smile overdraft???

Hello,
just received this secure message from smile:

17th June 2008
Hello jellybabe

The overdraft arrangement that you have with us is due to end on 17/07/2008.

After that date, any overdrawn balance will be subject to our informal overdraft service charges as published in the smile tariff of charges.

For details of the terms and conditions and account charges that apply to your overdraft, please go to www.smile.co.uk/general/terms. Please note that we reserve the right to vary our charges at any time, but we will always let you know before they change.

If you wish to discuss the matter further, our Customer Service Advisers are available to assist on 0870 241 1068 between 8.30am and 7.30pm Monday to Friday, and Saturday 9.00am to 1.00pm.

Thanks

smile

Does that mean they cancelled my overdraft???I won't be able to pay it all back in one go??

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could be either way, they are cancelling it completley or they wish to see if you still need it, nice of them to offer an 0870 number to call

Only way to find out would be to call them

Thanks PGH7447,
i sent them a secure message back asking for clarification.
If they cancel it completely, i'm stuffed.
Haven't got the money to pay £500 off that quick. And the informal charges are horrendous! £20 for the month and then on top of that £20 a day for a maximum of 4 days a month. That takes me a £100 further into it each month!

If they won't put it back up suggest a debt reduction plan - Smile actually aren't too bad with this - although they're flaming terrible with a lot of things.

Thanks ellenp,
will see what their answer is to my message.And if they don't put it back i will have to try what you suggested.
Thank you

Just had an answer to my question

Thanks for getting in touch about your overdraft.

The overdraft limit you have has a maximum expiry date of 12 months. Your overdraft is near the expiry date when our
system review to check if we can continue the limit.

I'm afraid as your there's hardly been any changes to your overdrawn balance over the past months, we're unable to renew
your overdraft limit at this time.

If the withdrawal of the overdraft limit cause you financial difficulty and you're unable to pay off the overdraft be the
expiry date, we may be able to offer a 'Reducing Overdraft'. Due to FSA requirements we'll need to speak to you to tailor
this for you. Please call our Account Management department on 0870 241 1068 between 8.30am and 7.30pm Monday to
Friday, and Saturday 9.00am to 1.00pm.

Thanks

yeah, did you notice the MAY in....we may be able to offer a reducing overdraft.
My luck and they won't.
Will give it a go tomorrow anyways

You were right, they are quite good at that. Just rung them and got a reduced O/D now for the next 3 month and then i have to ring them again to review and see if i can pay it off then, or renew the whole thing for another 3 month.
Phew....panic attack over! :o
Thanks to all of you for the advice.

ps.: Turnitaround......have you changed your name??Or why did i call you ellenp. I'm confused...me thinks.

Anyway well done on getting their reducing overdraft

Thank you

I take it this includes no interest charges?

Oh damn it! Never thought about that.I'll just wait until my next statement is out and check it.I'm trying to pay a bit more than they asked me to (£20) anyway. That should cover that bit of interest then.

Smile did that to me too! unfortunately, due to their charges I was £600 - £700 overdrawn....

Without knowing for sure, I'd say it's a case of the marketing department pretty much working solo. Part of the lure towards signing up to a Smile account is a £500 'FREE' overdraft.....they fail to mention the time limit and the fact their system probably only allows an overdraft to be entered with a time limit....hence, you end up getting a customer service advisor pick up on an expiry, which then follows a secure message, followed a few months later by a nasty debt collection letter....they weren't very co-operative with me.

Hi Jase1982,
so far i haven't had a problem yet. I am paying a bit more than they asked me too right now to get the overdraft reduced quicker. And they just reduce it by £20 a month. But i have to ring them every 3 months to rearrange it.

I also had a secure message as follows...

The overdraft arrangement that you have with us is due to end on 27/09/2008.

After that date, any overdrawn balance will be subject to our informal overdraft service charges as published in the smile tariff of charges.

For details of the terms and conditions and account charges that apply to your overdraft, please go to www.smile.co.uk/general/terms. Please note that we reserve the right to vary our charges at any time, but we will always let you know before they change.

If you wish to discuss the matter further, our Customer Service Advisers are available to assist on 0870 241 1068 between 8.30am and 7.30pm Monday to Friday, and Saturday 9.00am to 1.00pm.

After asking them to renew it, I got this....

Thanks for getting in touch about your overdraft.

I'm afraid we can't renew the overdraft on your account. If the withdrawal of the overdraft limit will cause you financial difficulty we may be able to offer a 'Reducing Overdraft'. Due to FSA requirements we'll need to speak to you to tailor this for you. Please call our Account Management department on 0870 241 1068 between 8.30am and 7.30pm Monday to Friday, and Saturday 9.00am to 1.00pm.

I use the overdraft regularly as they well know and it is always paid back in full (and then some) each month, albeit I sometimes go over the limit by about £20. I think this is their pound of flesh due to my complaining about them harassing me by phone for the £20.

In fact, they even hounded me for about £100 in February, 2 days before I got paid (the same day of the month on which I was always paid) enough to clear the overdraft and put me well into credit.

They have lied to me, telling me that they are entitled to chase me as much as they like since I owe the money, even though the law states they cannot harass you, especially when you tell them how and when they will be paid back.

They are Un-Cooperative, Un-ethical, and definitely make me Frown rather than Smile. It seems that the type of people that work in the debt recovery teams are universally obnoxious and love the thrill of the chase regardless of the ethos of their organisation.

mmh....i only just renewed my reducing overdraft with them yesterday morning without a problem.

It seems that the type of people that work in the debt recovery teams are universally obnoxious and love the thrill of the chase regardless of the ethos of their organisation.

Know what you mean. They do everything to get the money no matter what they have to do.
I didn't use the account no more, just tried to repay the O/D and then wanted to close the account. So i can understand in there eyes why they withdrew my O/D.
But in your case it's probably like you said.....

I think this is their pound of flesh due to my complaining about them harassing me by phone for the £20.

You just can't win.

You just can't win.

Perhaps, but I am going to do everything I can (legally) to make trouble for them.

I am just starting a new thread titled "WARNING: Co-operative/Smile lie about their legal obligations" as I've noticed a few people are being told a pack of lies regarding their legal rights or about legal advice given by various web sites (all of which are consistent with legal advice given by the Citizens Advice Bureau and other legal sites). So I thought I'd start of a thread specifically about their lies which may be so bad that their sorry butts can be hauled up in front of whoever is the best agency to deal with such things.

We can but hope. Power to the people is what I say anyway!

Good Luck and loads of fun with that one! LOL!
I will keep my eyes on your thread.

Every additional message I send to them results in a response like this:

I can confirm your complaint was passed to our managed accounts team on 4/9/08 and you will receive a written response. Please be aware this may take upto 4 weeks in line with the Financial Services Authority regulations, although we aim to respond much faster.

Even though the complaint was made around July 10 and the date they refer to is of the last message I have sent them. Are they resetting the date of complaint each time I send them a message I wonder.

I have put this issue into a separate thread: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...ling-slow.html

I have had loads of problems with Smile. I initially became a smile customer in 2000 enticed by the high interest on the current account. I changed all my bills and pay to go into this account.

First thing I did was send them a message saying " I dont want a £500 overdraft, can you remove this facility please and make the account so that it will not go past £0"

Their reply was "sorry sir. £500 is the minimum overdraft on this account and we are unable to put a limit that stops you accessing the money"

Contradiction 1 - £500 is the minimum???
The fact is that recently they said that they wanted to reduce the overdraft from £760 (I had used it due to unemployment) to £280 1 month from the date of the secure message they sent me, to which I replied that this would bankrupt me. Fortunately the next day I had a back payment from tax credits of £1100. I sent them a secure message "Can you reduce the balance to £0, I no longer need it" to which they replied " Yes of course we can". They didnt though they reduced it to £280 as they had suggested. This is still contrary to their initial statement that forced me to have a £500 overdraft.

Contradiction 2 - We are unable to put a limit that stops you accessing money
When I am at the overdraft limit, I go to an ATM and guess what. "You have insufficient funds for this transaction." So they can stop me from accessing my money?

Why could they not put my limit to £0 and stop me taking money out past this. They obviously can do it for an overdraft limit so why not for a zero balance.


The next problem I have with them is their stupid arguments about cancelling direct debits due to insufficient funds.

If I have a direct debit going out and am being paid the same day, then they both show up at the stroke of 2am on the said day. If the balance before 2am was insufficient then later in the day they remove the direct debit and charge me a commission charge of £30 stating insufficient funds. How can this be. Both the direct debit and the wages payment are automated I assume therefore if someone manually removes payments later in the day why can they not just see that the funds are there and pay the DD without charging me £30 per cancellation?

I am next going to opt out of smilemore. I originally signed up for it for the travel insurance and green flag service. Green flag service is good but then its only £40 a year to go direct. First time I tried to use the travel insurance (see thread in holidays about BMI leaving me and my family stranded in Lisbon) they said "theres nothing we can do for you on this occassion. the insurance doesnt cover this.

What exactly does this useless @10 (soon to be £12) cover. certainly in my case I am paying £120 for a service that I can get for £40.

Rant over but as soon as can get into a positive and remove the credit card debt I shall be switching banks to someone who CAN stop me going over £0 and CAN provide accounts without OD facilities being mandatory.

Andy

Hi supercoley1,
I went for the Smilemore account when i openend my accoutn with smile, but i soon after signed out of it. Those 10 extra a month weren't worth it for me.
Why pay...when you get no benefits for it?!
As soon as i payed my O/D back i will close this account.

I am starting to wonder why they are called Smile because it sounds like a number of their customers are Frowning and as for Smile More.......It is such a shame as the principles of the Co-op itself do appear to be a breath of fresh air in our excessively capitalist world, but for them to behave so unethically towards some customers flies in the face of those apparent ethics.

It would be interesting to hear from an employee of Co-op Bank/Smile as to how they think their behaviour can be justified, notwithstanding the nature of those who manage credit and debt throughout the financial sector.