AIBU to suggest that Barclays customers check their overdraft charges carefully?

[GrandadGrumps]

Three times this year Barclays have put charges on my account when there haven't been any due. Two of these were for overdraft fees when I haven't been overdrawn.

According to Barclays I was overdrawn 5 times last month, attracting a daily fee of 75p each time. Actually I wasn't overdrawn at all, I never am. Because I know I'm never overdrawn the charges catch my attention straight away but I imagine that if I did tend to go overdrawn a few days a month I might not notice if they added a few extra days charges.

I can't imagine that my account's being singled out for a computer glitch so I assume this must be happening to other people as well.

[harderandharder2breathe]

75 PENCE???

Not really worth the cost of the phone call to complain !

[Sooverthis]

I disagree it's a principle I never go overdrawn and I don't want to pay 1p in charges for a facility I don't use

[FeliciaJollygoodfellow]

It's 75p a day. And it accrues if you're into an OD after 6pm even if you move money in after that. I would say it's extremely unlikely that there has been a technical issue five separate times in a month and more likely you have missed the cut off. Also pending transactions would be included in the balance.

Have you spoken to them yet?

[GrandadGrumps]

Not really worth the cost of the phone call to complain !

It's actually 75p per day so I was charged £3.50 last month for not going overdrawn. I agree it's a trivial amount but where do you draw the line?

[ilovetoloveyoubaby]

I agree on the basis that 75p isn't a lot of money but if they do that to every customer then they're making a pretty penny.

Plus if you weren't overdrawn then I would be on the phone to them

[GrandadGrumps]

Felicia

I complained about it last month and they agreed with me and refunded. I've spoken to them again this month and they've agreed with me again and refunded.

You say that pending transactions are included in the balance? So an ATM transaction on a Friday night that appears on the statement with Monday's date on it could have a fee charged for Saturday and Sunday even though the account's in credit at the end of each banking day?

[cozietoesie]

The more things I check, the more errors or 'strangenesses' I usually find. I suspect that many of them are just straight oversights or mistakes but there seems to be little appetite for overhauling their systems when the mistake is to the organisation's advantage.

BT and British Gas are stormers in that regard.

[FeliciaJollygoodfellow]

No, if your account has a tenner in it and you take the tenner out at 10pm on Friday, it's at a nil balance so providing you don't then use your card it won't go into debit.

However, if you taking the tenner out on Friday takeing you into the OD and you correct it on Monday, the next working day, then yes, you are charged for the weekend days when you were in debit.

[FeliciaJollygoodfellow]

Holy christ, please ignore the spelling and grammar mistakes there! I must need more coffee!

[GrandadGrumps]

Well that's something new isn't it? It's always been the balance at the end of a banking day in the past hasn't it?

That's probably what's happened here then - makes you wonder why they refunded (or didn't explain it) if that's the case.

[dementedpixie]

Surely it's the balance at the end of each day rather than working day that counts? So if you have debit card transactions that come out at the weekend taking you overdrawn and then a credit is paid in in the Monday then you would be charged for the weekend overdrawn days

[FeliciaJollygoodfellow]

Anything taken out of an ATM shows on your balance immediately, but may show on your statement the next working day if it's after 6pm. This is the case with most card transactions as well, although I have seen contactless payments not show in the balance and just all of a sudden pop up. If you use mobile banking, that will show you an up to date balance with everything potentially pending coming out. ATMs are not updated as regularly so I personally have seen my balance not reduce on the ATM balance screen even though I have just withdrawn money!

To ensure you don't get any more charges, make sure your balance is nil or above before 6pm every day, including weekends. It's not new that they take into consideration the balance at the end of the working day, that's be going on for years, it is fairly new that they take into consideration the balances over the weekend.

I do think though if someone on the phone can't identify this issue and explain it to you then they're not doing a very good job. I'll be generous and say maybe they're new