Reserve - Have you checked your online statements recently?

[Crazy Diamond]

I think Barclays may be up to their old tricks, or should I say a new trick, which may be pocketing them a lot of fees.

 

Background: I have 2 Barclays account, one with a small o/d of £200 + Reserve of £300, one with a massive mortgage-linked o/draft.

 

Because the household income & outgoings fluctuates, never twice the same date or amounts, I check my current account every morning, without fail. If the money coming out takes me into the Reserve, I immediately transfer some money from the mortgage account to put me back under so I don't incur the dreaded £22 Reserve fee. Bear in mind that Barclays says that if you go back under the Reserve before the end of the working day they won't charge you the fee, this is important.

 

This has worked beautifully for years now and apart from a maybe once-a-year blip where I couldn't get to the account in time (illness, travel etc), I have had no charges whatsoever.

 

However...

 

For a few weeks now, I seem to have slipped more than usual, straying and staying in the Reserve, not because I haven't paid money in, but because somehow I seem not to have put enough to bring me back under. Odd, right? but ok, I am no maths genius, and I am on heavy medications, so I thought it was me losing it, swore at myself and thought of tackling the unfairness of the charges at some point in the future but nothing urgent, kind of thing...

 

So I got more careful and still it happened. By then, my suspicions got worse, but again my memory can play tricks on me. Last week, I was certain I had put enough and I still ended up over when I checked the next day.

 

So yesterday, I took a screenshot in the morning, which shows I was just over the £200 limit and I've transferred £20 over to make it under. That's it, no other transactions. (Remember that card transactions, cheques, d/d etc, ALL get taken out at about 2 am that day, which is where they used to get you with o/d charges that even if you went in at 9am to pay money in, the'd already have bounced the transactions?).

 

This morning, screenshot. THREE card transactions have appeared on yesterday's date, putting me in the Reserve by nearly £100. BUSTED!

 

Soooooooooooo....

 

I'm going to give it a few days, do a few more screenshots proving that Barclays are being very naughty, and then get the whole lot back, even the ones where it may have been me at fault then again it may not have been, who knows how long they've been doing this, hoping that most people wouldn't cotton on and blame themselves instead?

 

I will of course keep you updated, but meanwhile if you too have thought Alzheimer's was setting in early, you might want to double-check your statements. For me, it will be easy as I can show where I transferred money every time and still somehow managed to not pay enough to put me back under the line.

[slick132]

Hi CD,

 

Well spotted !! I wonder how willing they are to respond to you with details of how and why they justify their actions.

 

I look forward to hearing of your progress in getting this resolved.

 

[gettingsorted]

Hello - we have noticed the exact same thing - like you we check without fail each morning and have now noticed that card transactions (even ones which are not showing onthe cleared balance) can go through at any thime during the day. We have now started checking two or three times a day and have noticed at least two occasions transactions the have gone through after 6pm .........

I know this is the Barclays forum but we also have a Nat West account and last month as usual we check every day; I checked at the weekend and we had around 11.00 cleared balance by Monday morning (4th) we were £6 overdrawn because of charges dated the 31st January. There is absolutely no way that these were showing at the weekend I even rebuilt the account to the balance it had shown. Of course when we rang the bank they said as far as they were concerned it went out on the 31st Janaury.

Its people like us to try their level best to keep their accounts in order that they don't like because they can't make any money out of us.

GS

[Crazy Diamond]

Absolutely. Any way they can to screw us over.

[GothBoy]

They did EXACTLY the same to me and to make it worse they'd wait until I was just above the reserve and then decide to issue the account fee, reserve fees and interest all at once. It seemed almost strategically timed to be between my mortgage going out and benefits going in.

 

I complained and got all reserve fees back and the reserve cancelled. It just took one letter. They still refused to believe I was in Financial Hardship though as I'd spent on things I 'didn't need', like a phone contract (I live alone and am disabled).

[Crazy Diamond]

Well done! It's one on the back burner for me right now, but glad to see someone called them on it and got their money back, brilliant!

[GothBoy]

Aaaaand the **** bags have just done it again. £42.83 interest applied which pushed me OVER my agreed overdraft. As I have no Reserve anymore I'm interested to see what happens. If they take my benefits away on Friday I will launch into one heck of a hissy fit! Time to call the DWP and get the bank details switched over... been trying for two days mind!

 

Put it this way, if anything important bounces while they can happily apply interest without it bouncing then I think they'd have a serious case to answer.

[GothBoy]

They've done exactly what I was expecting. Bounced a PayPal payment from earlier in the day and prioritised their interest instead. Well, that's the last I use you Barclays.

[jackieandwayne]

RBS the same. Doesn't show deposits on the same day anymore or items pending. I too thought I was going mad, rang them and this is what they told me.