Bank charge cycle I can't break

[chrisde1982]

Hi all,

 

I Had £90 of bank charges due out on the 19th of this month, after some negotiation with Santander they removed £70 of those charges but they said the unauthorised bank charge of £20 stands. Now, I have gone from being weekly paid to monthly which means I am not going to receive any more pay until the 21st June. The £20 charge which went out of my bank on the £19th has taken me over my overdraft by £20.

 

I have calculated at £5 per day that I will build up £140 of charges now before I get paid again and as my charges go out on the 19th I will be well over my overdraft by £160 by the time I get paid. I have tried talking to them about this and have explained the situation with my job change but they are not having any of it. I even asked if they could increase my overdraft just enough to cover the £20 which would prevent the £140 charges at the end of June.

 

I don't know what to do, last month I got a letter from them saying I had received £700 of charges in total for 2011, I can't get out of this vicious circle. A few months ago I purchased an app for my phone which too me over my overdraft by 6p and I ended up getting a £10 charge for making the payment and then about £20 for being over my overdraft for x number of days.

 

I have cancelled all my direct debits and standing orders now to try and keep the charges down to a minimum. I know it's my own fault in a way but the only reason I am over drawn now and am going to incur these huge charges next month are because Santander have taken me over my overdraft...

 

Help or suggestions with how to deal with this would be welcome..

 

Chris.

[rebel11]

Hi Chris

 

Welcome to CAG

 

Write a Formal Letter of Complaint, mark it as such. Explain whats happened, explain how they have let you down (the fact that you've changed jobs) and explain what you want them to do. Have a read of No.14 in my signature. In a nutshell, BCOB's means that your bank should not treat you 'unfairly'.

 

Send it to:-

 

Ana Patricia Botin, Chief Executive

ceo@santander.co.uk

 

Some tips:- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1242161/How--write-letter-complaint.html

[chrisde1982]

Thanks for your reply, Ill have a read of what you have got and then fire an email off to the CEO.

 

Cheers,

 

Chris.

[Discontented]

I've had exactly the same thing happen to me. On my two accounts with Santander, one which had a zero balance and was dormant for 6 months, have over the last 8 months attracted over £2000 worth of bank charges, most of it accrued as Santander would not instruct on my written intructings to stop paying direct debits as I'd changed my bank and moved my income to another bank.

I wrote a letter to Ana Botin, recorded delivery in September 2011 and have not had a reply, except for monthly statements mounting up.

I took it to the Ombudsman who ruled that I had no intention of ever moving my bank account and that Santander are fully in their rights not to respond to writen intrcutions as thats not their preferred means of correspondence, even though it's my preferred method.

I sent thempost dated cheques to pay off this massive debt, which Santander has refused to accept as they want the full amount in one lump sum,which I canot afford to do.

Santander are a law unto themselves and no financial watchdog is going to rule against them.

I wish you luck in getting a response from Ana, don't hold your breath.

[Birmo0803]

I am also in the process of writing a letter to Santander under BCOBS. At the moment I’m addressing 11 issues.

Quick overlay:2004 Opened a current account, throughout getting heavily charged in 2008 I walked into the bank who advised 'let’s start fresh, Close this down and open a new account' - (to which I now know was for commission/targets)

No letters received until 6/7 months later "DEFAULT NOTICE" there was £346 accrued in charges and going from that, they DEFAULTED me.

Took to the moon and back to resolve, they removed the charges... But not the default!4 years later, slightly strapped for cash and I go over 6p and get charged £50 to which leads to an on-going cycle of their charges taking me overdrawn every month for over a year (I could not stop as my budget was exactly my wages)

My card was then stolen. Was advised over the phone to go into the branch. The BANK MANAGER then ordered me a replacement 'CASH CARD?"!" so now, so any payments I had to make online/phone - I couldn’t do. So I March back into the branch "no apologies" and another card is ordered. Following week, Another CASH CARD is delivered!!!

I then go back (5th visit as 2 times I needed Cash / 3rd time about card) and again no apology and they order a new Visa Electron? (was debit) but to their surprise a Visa debit was ordered 4 days previously (even though I never called/visited the branch). So the recently ordered card would now replace the one currently in the post!! (Confusing I know)!And this is only 20% of the trouble with Santander, If my credit rating wasn’t so poor (thanks to them) I would jump ship... but no other banks will even take me on #RANTOVER