Barclays ‘personal reserve’ overdraft system goes live for millions of customers next

[Amy]

Re: Barclays ‘personal reserve’ overdraft system goes live for millions of customers

Hi Maz,

I would be inclined to write to them and spell out what you've just said above ie. that you were not aware of this personal reserve change to your account and were therefore unaware that you could/should opt out and that the charge is unfair.

Ask them to refund you the money charged and that you now wish to opt out. Sometimes you get a lot further in writing than you do speaking to some call centre 12 year old.

[Maz]

Re: Barclays ‘personal reserve’ overdraft system goes live for millions of customers

Thanks Amy..

I actually just rang Barclays back about this and spoke to one of their call-center chimps..

I am now opted out of this, but have been told the charges stand and "under no circumstances will they be refunded".

In response I lodged a complaint and am awaiting a call back from the relevant chimp regarding the charge. I am not holding my breath for the call but I will certainly post up the outcome.

Of course I am still going to persue the past six years charges no matter!

Maz

[wildmanmatt]

Re: Barclays ‘personal reserve’ overdraft system goes live for millions of customers

Sorry that this is a slightly aged post, but I've had a 'wonderful' experience with this new Personal Reserve system. It is a farce and Barclays blatantly flaunting the system.

I removed all of my direct debits from my Barclays Account and made sure that there weren't any regular card payments (and that I didn't use my card) but I missed cancelling one card payment and went Ł6 over my overdraft limit ( a payment that obviously would have either been refused or taken me over with a single charge under the old system).

Before I knew it, the charges had added up to Ł88 (I couldn't get out of this because I don't have the money to clear out this personal reserve until my student loan comes in, hence why I wasn't using my card).

It seems that I was given a personal reserve of Ł1000 - certainly not ethical for a Student account I would have thought...

What Barclays are really saying is that they want me to go into the personal reserve so that they can charge whatever fees they like. Sounds like exploitation to me.

I wrote the following letter to Barclays:

Thursday 11th September 2008

Dear Mr Harris,

I have recently returned from being overseas for 4 weeks to find 5 letters waiting for me from Barclays.

One about your new 'Personal Reserve' scheme and four telling me that I have been charged Ł22 (totalling Ł88).

I am appalled that under your new system you have managed to charge me Ł88 for being Ł6 over my overdraft limit whereas under the previous system either my card would have been declined or I would have been charged a single fee.

Your 'Personal Reserve' removes any form of safeguard that was in place for my current account and makes it a lot harder for someone without a steady income to manage their finances.

Now, a simple miscalculation (on how much I have spent from my account) where my debit card would have been declined in the past will result in a Ł22 fee without me even realising.

This system seems unfair and unethical. Especially as it has been setup as an 'opt-out' rather than an 'opt-in' scheme.

Having been away, I had not had the opportunity to opt-out from, what seems to me, to be a new way to line Barclays' shareholders' pockets.

Please turn off my 'Personal Reserve' and rest assured that at my first opportunity of repaying my overdraft, I shall be closing my Barclays account and moving to a bank that seems to be introducing schemes to actually help their customers rather than bring them further into debt. (For example, Lloyds TSB with 'close to limit' SMS messaging and no charges if you bring your account back into order on the same day.)

It saddens me that, as a Barclays customer since I first opened a bank account, I am now looking at options of leaving Barclays.

Yours sincerely,

Matt Wildman

I received a response today that, in short, says:

"Sorry to hear that you are unhappy with the bank charged"
"We sent you a letter"
"You could have opted out"
"The reserve has now been turned off"
"Because there was no bank error, your request for a refund has been declined."
"Complaints are important to us"

I would dearly love to leave Barclays, but sadly do not have the credit rating to be allowed another account with another bank (I've tried!).

Where should I go from here?

[enaid]

Re: Barclays ‘personal reserve’ overdraft system goes live for millions of customers

Well Im sorry about your experience with Barclays but not surprised.
You can get a basic account, that will mean though no overdraft and no DD's. Best in the long run IMO Enaid x

[Amethyst]

Re: Barclays ‘personal reserve’ overdraft system goes live for millions of customers

I think people who suffer more because of the new system should get letters in to the OFT/FSA about it. If we don't tell them, they don't know. They are looking at the new reserve system at the moment so is a good time to get your complaints noticed.

[Tools]

Re: Barclays ‘personal reserve’ overdraft system goes live for millions of customers

Taken from the updated waiver terms

Changes to charges:
(21)
the firm must not make any change to the level or structure of its unauthorised overdraft charges. If the firm proposes to do so, then it may apply (in confidence) to the FSA for a variation of this condition. The FSA would expect to grant the variation if the firm satisfied the FSA that the proposed changes are not materially adverse to its customers. In advance of any such application, the firm must conduct an analysis of the proposed changes to identify the extent of any adverse effect on customers and share the analysis with the FSA. The firm must pay particular attention to the impact on customers who are unable to modify their behaviour in response to changes to unauthorised overdraft charges.

also from the FSA

Barclays has introduced a new approach to overdrawn accounts and the fees paid when a customer overdraws.
Barclays' new charges will not be covered by our waiver on unauthorised overdraft charges.

What does this mean for Barclays' customers?

If you want to complain about charges incurred on your personal account on or after 18 August 2008?
If you make a complaint about the new personal current account charges - ie those that are incurred on or after 18 August 2008 – Barclays will deal with your complaint in line with our complaint handling rules.
Barclays does not think that its new charges are “unauthorised” overdraft charges. As such, it does not think the outcome of the test case process will be relevant to the new charges. This is the reason why Barclays has not sought a waiver to cover the new charges. For information about the test case process see Background to the test case.

If you want to complain about unauthorised overdraft charges incurred before 18 August 2008 which are covered by the waiver
You can complain now or you can wait until the test case process has been resolved. If you complain now, your complaint will be recorded and stored. Barclays will still have to acknowledge your complaint promptly and keep you updated on developments in the test case process.
Barclays can continue to put these complaints on hold in accordance with the waiver. For more information see the waiver.

If you do not accept a decision taken by Barclays about a complaint
You can take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. However, if the complaint relates to a charge incurred before 18 August 2008 the Ombudsman is unlikely to progress the complaint until the test case process is resolved (apart from financial difficulty cases). If your complaint relates to personal current account charges incurred on or after 18 August 2008, the Ombudsman will consider the complaint.
Barclays must let customers know what it is doing about a complaint. This is a requirement under the terms of the waiver and our complaint handling rules.

[Amethyst]

Re: Barclays ‘personal reserve’ overdraft system goes live for millions of customers

Think the message there is to complain.

[Tools]

Re: Barclays ‘personal reserve’ overdraft system goes live for millions of customers

Think the message there is to complain.

Indeed, I have posted that excerpt for wildmanmatt to use.

[eschaton]

Re: Barclays ‘personal reserve’ overdraft system goes live for millions of customers

Add me to the list of inadvertent users. Had no idea they'd just imposed the service, chose not to apply for a reserve when I heard about it - didn't realise I had until I opted out.

Now heading to FOS - also, have a facebook page to spread the word

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=51555175769

Gives more detail and opinion.

Good luck to all

E