Banking with smile

annadibath · 21st February 2006, 15:20

Hello, everyone - New here and soooo glad I found you, thanks to the Motley Fool site.

I bank with smile and I have had the same problems with exceeding the agreed OD and being charged ridiculous penalties. So far I've always been able to get the money back by calling and telling them that I did not accept their charges because no attempt was ever made to notify me of the fact that my account was OD. Given that we also run a savings account and two ISAs with them, it would have been easy to switch funds, had I been informed. If they charge Â£5 a day for "admin. charges" why can't they send an automated warning e-mail as soon as you overstep the limit? Or do they seriously expect people to log in every day?! I chose smile because I wanted flexibility!!!

Anna

annadibath · 21st February 2006, 15:20

Hello, everyone - New here and soooo glad I found you, thanks to the Motley Fool site.

I bank with smile and I have had the same problems with exceeding the agreed OD and being charged ridiculous penalties. So far I've always been able to get the money back by calling and telling them that I did not accept their charges because no attempt was ever made to notify me of the fact that my account was OD. Given that we also run a savings account and two ISAs with them, it would have been easy to switch funds, had I been informed. If they charge Â£5 a day for "admin. charges" why can't they send an automated warning e-mail as soon as you overstep the limit? Or do they seriously expect people to log in every day?! I chose smile because I wanted flexibility!!!

Anna

sunseeker · 21st February 2006, 19:31

Hi annadibath,

Understand your issues. Smile recently stopped all our DD's and Standing Orders as they were of the belief that 'we were not running our account correctly', as we kept going slightly over the OD limit. Due to this the charges rack up.

This includes when retailers take a debit card payment then only debit the account 7-10 days later. I stated to Smile that the money was in the account when the transaction took place but they have stated that the retailer has up to 6 months to claim the cash (similar to a cheque it seems) so if you do not have the balance to cover this then that's not our problem and 'if you continue to run your account this way we may have to recall your cards and we do not want that to happen'!!!. They then told me not to rely on the balance stated at the cash point but to log on every day and possibly to call them also to determine the value of transactions yet to be processed!! Phone bills would run into hundreds as the last 2 times I have called I have waited 25 mins and 15 mins.

This is an internet bank for crying out loud. Surely their systems for processing payments and dealing with customers can work faster than in the middle ages.

Send them the letter in the library. I have and await their reply though have been away on a break for the last 7 days so unsure if they have replied yet. Hoping to recover over Â£3,500 from last 5-6 years. Will keep all informed.

Sunseeker.

sunseeker · 21st February 2006, 19:31

Hi annadibath,

Understand your issues. Smile recently stopped all our DD's and Standing Orders as they were of the belief that 'we were not running our account correctly', as we kept going slightly over the OD limit. Due to this the charges rack up.

This includes when retailers take a debit card payment then only debit the account 7-10 days later. I stated to Smile that the money was in the account when the transaction took place but they have stated that the retailer has up to 6 months to claim the cash (similar to a cheque it seems) so if you do not have the balance to cover this then that's not our problem and 'if you continue to run your account this way we may have to recall your cards and we do not want that to happen'!!!. They then told me not to rely on the balance stated at the cash point but to log on every day and possibly to call them also to determine the value of transactions yet to be processed!! Phone bills would run into hundreds as the last 2 times I have called I have waited 25 mins and 15 mins.

This is an internet bank for crying out loud. Surely their systems for processing payments and dealing with customers can work faster than in the middle ages.

Send them the letter in the library. I have and await their reply though have been away on a break for the last 7 days so unsure if they have replied yet. Hoping to recover over Â£3,500 from last 5-6 years. Will keep all informed.

Sunseeker.

BankFodder · 21st February 2006, 19:34

Note that the library letters have been changed.

Data Protection Act request and letter before action are now separate.
If you know what you are claiming then letter before action.
If you don't then Data Protection Act first.

BankFodder · 21st February 2006, 19:34

Note that the library letters have been changed.

Data Protection Act request and letter before action are now separate.
If you know what you are claiming then letter before action.
If you don't then Data Protection Act first.

Docubot · 21st February 2006, 19:34

Quote:

Hello, everyone - New here and soooo glad I found you, thanks to the Motley Fool site.

Sorry, can you give me a link to where you heard about us?

Docubot · 21st February 2006, 19:34

Quote:

Hello, everyone - New here and soooo glad I found you, thanks to the Motley Fool site.

Sorry, can you give me a link to where you heard about us?

annadibath · 21st February 2006, 20:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave

Quote:

Hello, everyone - New here and soooo glad I found you, thanks to the Motley Fool site.

Sorry, can you give me a link to where you heard about us?

Sure, Dave. Here it is:

COMMENT
Lenders Face Challenge Over Penalty Fees
By Jane Mack (TMFJane)
February 20, 2006

http://www.fool.co.uk/news/comment/2...oodftxt0010007

The BAG is mentioned and finding you with Google was a doddle!

Great site too, the Fool!

Anna

annadibath · 21st February 2006, 20:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave

Quote:

Hello, everyone - New here and soooo glad I found you, thanks to the Motley Fool site.

Sorry, can you give me a link to where you heard about us?

Sure, Dave. Here it is:

COMMENT
Lenders Face Challenge Over Penalty Fees
By Jane Mack (TMFJane)
February 20, 2006

http://www.fool.co.uk/news/comment/2...oodftxt0010007

The BAG is mentioned and finding you with Google was a doddle!

Great site too, the Fool!

Anna

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