To tell you all to check your bank accounts very carefully!

[SeaMagic]

... particularly if you deposit cheques in the automated machine thingy.

You know the one that bank staff encourage and cajole their customers to use as it means you will have less of a wait [and they do not have to employ so many actual people/counter staff].

Bloody Barclays. This has happened to me TWICE now. I usually use the counters to deposit cheques as I have previously had cheques to the value of £300 go missing and not credited to my account when I dropped them in the machine. Luckily I had a receipt and was able to prove that I had deposited the cheques... but it took Barclays forever to investigate and they were so blasé and non-apologetic

Now I have found it has happened again. Against my better judgement I deposited £400 worth of cheques in the automated machine about 2 months ago. I was in a rush, the queue was immense, I thought what's the chances of my cheques going missing again? Well, it appears that they have. I have just found the receipt tucked in my diary and thought I would check my statements to ensure it has actually been paid in... to discover I can't find it anywhere on any statement. Ring telephone banking, chap on the other end also can't find it anywhere. Has passed it on to the complaint team, will take 48 hours for them to investigate apparently.

I tell the telephone banking guy I want to make a complaint. He has given me a generic Barclays address to complain to. No thanks, I want a real person, preferably someone with authority to hear my story. Does anyone know who I should take my complaint to?

I am feeling mighty pissed off but also rather concerned as some branches are now fully automated, i.e. no counter staff just machines. These sort of mistakes are completely unacceptable imo. Yes, I probably should have checked my receipt earlier but in the general busyness of life it just got overlooked. It is also possible that my receipt might have gotten lost and then I would have struggled to prove I even deposited money into the machine! I have quite a few clients who pay me via cheque and I am now wondering if I need to tell them that I no longer accept this method of payment.

So please everyone, look after your receipts for depositing cheques and also make sure your money has actually been deposited into your account!

But I entered the details on the screen and got a receipt with scanned copies of all 5 cheques when I posted them in the automated machine!

There is a transaction number and everything! Just no record of the money actually entering my account

I would say most of my clients pay by cash but some prefer cheques. I prefer not to do bank transfers as the payments are week by week and some clients get muddled or forget to pay for the service one week and I then have to trawl through the accounts to work out if there is a missing payment and then contact said client to pay.

At least with cash and cheque I have the payment for that week in my hot little hand and I can then deposit it [or spend it] but I know we are up to date for that week.

Cheques have the lowest fraud rate of any payment mechanism actually, because they are now used less fraudsters can't be bothered to forge them.

Last week we had a cheque to refund a mortgage overpayment from when we moved to a new mortgage co. And I had a tax rebate by cheque.
A week before a small businesses I do some consultancy paid me by cheque. I probably get three business cheques a year.

The reason they won't die out is that, other than cash, they are the only way to pay someone where the payee does not have to give any details other than their name. In this world where data leaks seem rife, that will become increasingly important.

The Barclay's digital phone cheque scheme is only for their own cheques, so drawn on Batclays, paid into Barclays. Inter-bank imaging will be available from 2017.

“it's those of all ages who don't want to adapt to change.” given the nature and reason of this thread its far more likely (as with myself) that people have tried using the new tech and its FAILED! Why should people 'adapt' and trust the tech if IT DOESN'T WORK!

“Some people have disabilities which prevent them from using various methods.” This too! Eg there's only one ATM where I live that can be used by hearing/sight impaired. Next town 7 miles away and not easy to get to.

Ime I've never used a paying in machine and its worked! That's been with 3 different banks and a building society AND with assistants helping. So no don't trust them.

That said worst problem I had was with old bank last place I lived. Deposited a large cheque (I'm on a very tight budget so money desperately needed too), cashier cocked up (I'm still not convinced it wasn't an attempted theft as I've since learned this cashier had a habit of this) and cheque was 'lost' for 6 months BUT it was cashed! So presumably placed in 'wrong' account (see comment re attempted theft). As it was from tax man I had the advantage that they weren't happy and were chasing too, I think if that hadn't been the case it never would have been resolved. Bank even refused to confirm to tax man that it hadn't gone into my account as hmrc would have reissued cheque (but I'm guessing bank refused as that would have dropped them right in it with hmrc). It ended up a special dept of the ombudsman got it resolved. Cashier was suspended but eventually reinstated. But every time I was queuing there after I refused to be served by her and would say why! She should have been sacked imho not just because of my case but as I say it happened several times with her.

That is very worrying Bacon.

I know I got quite irate with DH one day because he dropped a significant amount of cash in the automated machine, with only his handwritten receipt as proof! I am not sure if Barclays still have these envelopes with handwritten receipts, I think they do..?

Anyway, it was money his DF had given him and it was around £2k. I said what happens if the cashier miscounts it or pockets all or some of it or some of it blows away on the breeze... He would have no proof that his father had ever given him this amount of money or that he had deposited it at the bank! We had an anxious few days but luckily the full amount was deposited into his account.

However I am surprised really that money could potentially be misappropriated in this way. Surely there are checks and balances, i.e. two members of staff emptying the machine and having to check amounts deposited and enter these on the records, CCTV, etc?

Actually -just remembered the only time I've used one of these machines to deposit a cheque...a birthday cheque from my mum...
I'd actually posted on MN... should I open the card or not?
I knew there would be a cheque in it and I had to go to town the day before my birthday (its a bit of a trek) and I could bank it whilst I was there or open it on the day and make a special trip later...
Consensus was it would be ok and off I went to deposit the cheque at the counter - but she couldn't take it cos my mum had dated it with my birthday date! But she told me to put it in the machine cos it wouldn't be emptied until the next day at the earliest so would then be in date...
So another reason to avoid them - cheques will take longer to clear...

Barclays have been shutting all the local branches near me. It is now a royal pain in the arse to try and get to one in their stupidly short opening hours that seem designed only to cater for those who don't work or have a life in general (10am to 2pm 3 days a week at my local town branch) so I too was happy to hear of the cheque scanning deposit scheme you can do on your phone. Except that when I was accepted for the trial I found out that you can only use it for people who pay you with Barclays cheques. Which isn't any of my customers who mostly (probably wisely) bank with Lloyds. The only reason I haven't moved banks is because I can't be arsed with the ballache of the inevitable cock ups and numerous long phone calls that will no doubt be required to sort out said cock ups.

Sorry, haven't read the whole thread.

I was seconded to Complaints briefly for a FTSE 100 company after a MASSIVE cock up meant the team was seriously overworked. I discovered that if you address your complaint to the CEO of the company it is fast-tracked through the system, and handled by an "elite" team. DH worked in Complaints for another FTSE 100 company and said the same thing happened there.

So it might be worth complaining directly to John McFarlane?

I went to a HITW the other day, put my card in and it didnt even ask me for my PIN- just took me straight to the options screen. I cancelled it, went home and called the bank only to find there was already £250 missing from my account.

Fortunately it is sorted but ill be getting cash out over the counter from now on!

Hello all, just wanted to give you an update.

Well the branch where I deposited my cheques rang and left a message. Apparently the cheques weren't deposited because they were written with an abbreviation of my first name, i.e. if my name is Jennifer Jones these cheques were written out to Jenny Jones. I am only known as the abbreviated version of my first name and have never had issues with cheques addressed to 'Jenny' before. He went on to say they have now deposited the funds in my account, it will take 5 days to clear, good-bye.
No apology or explanation as to why the bank have held onto this cheques for 4 months and done nothing with them, not even notified me to say there was an issue and that the cheques needed re-issuing or whatever!

So I filled in the on-line complaints form on the Barclays site. Around an hour later I had a call from whoever Barclays contract their complaints out to [the chap said he did not work for Barclays per se]. He agreed that the above situation should never have happened and that the branch should have notified me if there was an issue, not just held on to my cheques and done nothing with them! He paid £50 compensation into my account and around £7 interest. Oh, and he was also going to inform the branch manager of my complaint.

Not sure if I feel completely satisfied with the above response tbh. It just feels a bit glib and like they are potentially brushing this under the carpet. I am also concerned that this sort of mistake occurs more often than people realise and money basically goes missing all the time with no-one being made accountable for this.

Someone up thread [sorry, I can't remember who] said something along the lines [if I remember correctly] that the on-line complaints form at Barclays also gets sent to the FSA... Does anyone know if this is correct?
I know my missing £400 is probably small change as far as Barclays are concerned but it is a lot of money to people like me!

Probably they called you back ASAP and offered you the money because if they resolve it before the end of next working day they don't have to tell the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority, formerly FSA) that there was ever a complaint. Did you tell them you were satisfied with their response?

Ah that's interesting Grouchy, no I never said I was 'satisfied'.

I thanked the man for calling and that I was pleased he planned to take up the issue with the branch manager.

Is it possible for me to raise this with the FCA myself?

I bank with First Direct.
I 30 years I have only had one problem.
You can ring them any time, day or night and speak to a lovely person who will sort everything out.

Nationwide are also good, but their internet site isn't quite as easy and straightforward as FD.

They will help you if you want to move your Barclays account to them OP.

I don't think you can, no. Barclays should send you information in letter form when they reply to your complaint. In that, you should be told that if you're unhappy with their response you can complain to the financial ombudsman. (I think there should be details at the back of your Important Information document you were given when you opened the account, and they're supposed to send out updated documents when they arise. There have been many changes recently so you should have fairly up-to-date documentation, if they've sent it and you've kept it. If not, you might be able to find it online.)

From my training, I think that your complaint should be FCA reportable because they essentially kept your money for 4 months without telling you what was going on. They've failed in Treating Customers Fairly (if that's still a thing; I left financial services a few years ago) by not keeping you informed. You could try mentioning TCF next time they contact you?

I work for a large building society, our ATMs have to be emptied every morning by two staff, who have to record on a sheet some info, including the amount of each cheque and then dual sign the sheet. Everything then gets paid in over the counter and the total checked against the sheet, and again signed off. Not saying we never make mistakes but they are very rare. The ATM is covered by cctv. We are about to trial cheque imaging and more sophisticated in branch machines to complement, not replace, the counter staff. Sounds like the PLCs have abandoned dual control in favour of cost cutting, at the expense of customer service.

From my training, I think that your complaint should be FCA reportable because they essentially kept your money for 4 months without telling you what was going on

No Grouchy, that's not correct.
When dealing with complaints, they are reportable to the FCA if a response is not issued to the customer by close of business on Day 2 (Day 1 being the day you raise the complaint). It doesn't matter if the issue itself happened 2 days or 2 weeks ago, what matters is when you make the bank aware of your complaint.

Is it possible for me to raise this with the FCA myself?
No, you can't.

If you are not satisfied with your response, your only escalation is to raise the matter to the Financial Ombudsman. BUT...IMO you would be wasting your time. Barclays have found the missing money and the reason for it not crediting your account and corrected it. Your complaint about the service/delay/lack of explanation was dealt with quickly - an appropriate apology was given, an assurance that this would be picked up with the branch in question and dealt with and an appropriate amount of compensation was given. The Bank are under no obligation to expand on what action they take internally.

What else would you like to happen?

It just feels a bit glib and like they are potentially brushing this under the carpet

And to be frank - they will be. No massive internal investigation or shake up will happen off the back of one branch mistake. If there is a history of problems with this branch particularly, it may prompt an internal audit - but you wouldn't be told about that either way. In huge organisations mistakes can and do happen, regularly - shit goes missing, stuff gets shredded or misfiled due to human error or carelessness. And very often the trail goes cold and you can't actually even find out which individual cocked up.

The branch manager will get an email/phone call from the complaints rep and told the details and to make sure it doesn't happen again. What the branch manager then does (or doesn't do) is down to them.

But realistically that's as much as you can hope for.

I fucking hate Barclays.

1. Froze joint account 6 months after DH was made bankrupt - when they finally read the notifying letter from the accountant in bankruptcy. Wouldn't give me the £180 left in the account because it was a joint account - I could have been planning to run off with DH's money, don't you know.
2. Lost 2 loan repayments and then refused to give the money back. This was a joint issue with Bank of Scotland - the BoS man wrote down the wrong account number, and the money apparently went into a Barclays holding account. Then both Barclays and BoS insisted that it was the other's problem to sort out. I spent 6 months phoning them both in turn and got nowhere. They put it on my credit record too. I never got the money back.

3.Were unable to calculate the amount I had to pay to pay off said loan early. This was because I would have continued to accumulate interest in the 3 days it would take for a bank transfer/cheque to clear. I just wanted to pay the fucking thing off but they couldn't give me a figure.

And I lost a cheque in one of those pay-in machines in Bank of Scotland too. I now refuse to use them even though it was in 2001 and only for a tenner.

Summernights I thought there were complaints that were FCA reportable simply because of the reason for the complaint, not just about response time. But it is a few years (it was still the FSA back then) since I did any of that so I may be conflating a few things.

No, it's definitely just based on the timescale (was doubting myself so just checked the FCA website!).

For a complaint to remain unreportable, the complainant must indicate acceptance of the response within the two days - which in this case (I thanked the man for calling and that I was pleased he planned to take up the issue with the branch manager) the op did.