Hello all,

I am hoping to get some advice as to how to proceed with my complaint regarding barclays bank charges on my account.

My history:

Since my original account was upgraded to a First Additions account in 2006 with a personal overdraft I was under the impression at the time that increasing my overdraft limit incurred fee's onto the account and was paying initially £5 per month until upgrading in 2006 with a larger limit for £11.50 per month.

My account was upgraded again to £14.50 a month (additions plus), and i cannot recall if this was automatic or whether I was given an option at some point by a barclays staff member.

I can assure you that I did not need any of the packaged services on each of these account; did not use any of the services provided as I wasnt even aware of them until finding out on online banking which is when I phoned barclays to remove all of them, as I was unable to over the internet - upon speaking to an advisor at barclays I explained that all I wanted was an overdraft and I wasnt happy that I was paying for services that I didnt need... He then referred me to the complaints department and after many weeks I have been given a lengthy questionnaire regarding an 'initial investigation' conducted by Barclays.

I note in the questionnaire notes it states: "You held a non-fee paying account from July 2002, until you upgraded in July 2006 indicating you were aware of the account and that it was not necessary to pay a fee in order to have a current account"

I would like to note that this account was opened with my Grandad at the time, as he introduced me to Barclays originally and I was merely present and not fully understanding of the circumstances.

The investigation notes go on to say "You used your overdraft after you upgraded your account and this shows that you were aware that you had this facility as part of your packaged bank account".

"You previously had an overdraft which you used before you upgraded in 2006. This shows that you were aware of the benefits of this account and that it is not necessary to pay a fee in order to have a current account with an Overdraft".

The extent of the 'products & services' that were bolted onto these accounts were unknown to me at the time, and over the years bumped up the monthly fee's from £5 to almost £15.00 - I stress again that these services aside from not being disclosed to me, were practically useless for me in the circumstances that I was in and most therefore rendered useless.

I feel that the response from Barclays indicates that they feel I should have known about the cause of these charges, without entertaining the fact that I was not fully informed about the product I was being sold. I wanted an overdraft with an increased limit, that was all.

I really hope I can get some advice on how I should proceed with this case, do I fill the questionairre in and send it back? They have said they will proceed with the investigation using their information without me returning it either way...

Thankyou in advance for your help.

Jason

Hi Star and welcome to CAG

Have you read through this post - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?459427-Reclaim-Packaged-Current-Accounts-Deal-Fees&p=4855098&viewfull=1#post4855098

Having done this, and researched other threads that discuss the Packaged A/c issue, come back with further Q's if you need.

Thankyou for your kind welcome. I have completed the questionairre for posting tomorrow. At this time I have no idea what their verdict will be.

I wasnt offered another alternative account, certainly not a free one... I never used / registered the services available to me...

I was under the impression that the increased overdraft limit / preferential overdraft fee was the result of the monthly charge.. I feel stupid as a result that i didnt know about what I was paying for sooner...

It was only after seeing a couple of the products on my online banking management page that I phoned barclays (as it was the only way to remove them) and spoke to an advisor who listened to my circumstances and informed me I had grounds to complain and referred me....

I guess now i play the waiting game... :/

Hi Star,

We've seen so many cases here ranging from one end of the spectrum to the other.

Some folk knew they were paying for a service but didn't realise they didn't need to, or they had no use for the "benefits" offered ......................

............... to the other end where the bank (or staff) upgraded folk to Additions status without the customer knowing or agreeing.

You need to know where you stand in this spectrum, so you know if/how to fight the bank.

It doesn't matter if your grandad helped you open the a/c at that time really.

Update: I have spoken to the complaints team via phone about 4 days after returning the questionairre and was asked which account I would like to complain about (first additions, Additions, Additions plus) or would I like to complain about all of them. I stated that due to my request of an overdraft I was told that the First additions account was best for me. after a few years I was upgraded twice from First Additions to additions and then additions plus which I cannot remember agreeing to. None of the extra benefits of these accounts were disclosed to me, and incurred an extra monthly charge.

I even said to the lady on the phone "It's completely illogical that I would agree to paying more per month for the same account and overdraft"...

However I did make use of the preferential overdraft rate which I believe is unique to this account. I did let them know that over the phone as I frequently historically made use of my overdraft facility. Therefore I am concerned that this would be enough reason to reject my complaint and refuse any claim of a mis-sale due to the fact that I had a preferential overdraft rate that I had made use of, despite not knowing about the variety of other products that were bolted on that obviously I didnt make use of...

The lady stated that I would have a response to my complaint within 5-10 working days...

Can anyone shed any light that use of the preferential overdraft rate could diminish the chance of having a successful claim?

Hi SG,

You should NOT have dealt with this by phone unless you're recording every call.

You should have said, "I cannot deal with this by phone and require your written response."

If they call you again to discuss/dismiss the matter, tell them what I said above. You need their comments in writing so you can decide how to counter any refusal to refund.

Keep us posted.

Hi SG,

 

You should NOT have dealt with this by phone unless you're recording every call.

 

You should have said, "I cannot deal with this by phone and require your written response."

 

If they call you again to discuss/dismiss the matter, tell them what I said above. You need their comments in writing so you can decide how to counter any refusal to refund.

 

Keep us posted.

 

Thanks for your response.

I have checked my online banking this morning and I see that I have been credited £448.82 ref complaint no. Tate Camden....

But I have not received a text / letter yet from them notifying me of any action....

Also, 11 years of paying fee's would surely be more than this amount if they found in my favour? Undecided whether to contact barclays or wait and see what correspondance they send me... It could be that they deducted the money I would have saved by using the preferential overdraft rate versus a regular account w/ overdraft....

Give them the 5 - 10 working days they referred to reply, after which you should chase seeking a full breakdown of the refund.

If you have to chase them up for not replying, you should also tell them, "Until this matter is resolved, the amount refunded of £448.82 is only accepted as payment on account of the proper amount repayable."