Bank made 170 calls to OAP over £75 debt
Cancer victim Ken, 69, 'terrorised' by Barclays
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By Keith Gladdis, 26/10/2008
A SERIOUSLY ill pensioner was bombarded with nearly 170 phone calls from Barclays Bank - including ELEVEN in one day - over just £75 arrears on a loan.
Part-time council worker Ken Dawson, 69, fell behind in repayments for a £1,000 loan after taking time off his job while undergoing tests for prostate CANCER.
But despite telling the global financial giant of his plight, he was badgered with 167 phone calls in just TWO MONTHS from bank staff chasing the debt.
The phone calls, some from call centres based abroad, started from 7.40am and often went on until 9pm.
Ken was in severe pain awaiting major surgery on his prostate and tests to see if it was cancer. He got in arrears after he offered to pay £40 a month off the loan, instead of his usual £56.
Driver Ken, who lives with wife Susan in Seaton Carew, Co Durham, then started getting the calls—and made a log of each one.
He said: “We couldn’t rest, it felt like we were being terrorised in our own home. I know I owed them money but it wasn’t thousands. I felt like a criminal.”
Ken—who ended up having surgery on an enlarged prostate after getting the all-clear on cancer—has now paid off the loan . . . and has been promised an apology.
A Barclays spokesman said: “We will be saying sorry to Mr Dawson and looking to see how this occurred.”
* Have you been hounded by a bank? Post your comments below or email us at newsdesk@notw.co.uk
source: My favourite Sunday Comic
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/article52702.ece
Cancer victim Ken, 69, 'terrorised' by Barclays
</IMG>
By Keith Gladdis, 26/10/2008
A SERIOUSLY ill pensioner was bombarded with nearly 170 phone calls from Barclays Bank - including ELEVEN in one day - over just £75 arrears on a loan.
Part-time council worker Ken Dawson, 69, fell behind in repayments for a £1,000 loan after taking time off his job while undergoing tests for prostate CANCER.
But despite telling the global financial giant of his plight, he was badgered with 167 phone calls in just TWO MONTHS from bank staff chasing the debt.
The phone calls, some from call centres based abroad, started from 7.40am and often went on until 9pm.
Ken was in severe pain awaiting major surgery on his prostate and tests to see if it was cancer. He got in arrears after he offered to pay £40 a month off the loan, instead of his usual £56.
Driver Ken, who lives with wife Susan in Seaton Carew, Co Durham, then started getting the calls—and made a log of each one.
He said: “We couldn’t rest, it felt like we were being terrorised in our own home. I know I owed them money but it wasn’t thousands. I felt like a criminal.”
Ken—who ended up having surgery on an enlarged prostate after getting the all-clear on cancer—has now paid off the loan . . . and has been promised an apology.
A Barclays spokesman said: “We will be saying sorry to Mr Dawson and looking to see how this occurred.”
* Have you been hounded by a bank? Post your comments below or email us at newsdesk@notw.co.uk
source: My favourite Sunday Comic
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/article52702.ece