Sure its been done to death but, Bank Charges!

[Fleurdebleurgh]

Ive just been hit by my bank with £270 charges in the space of a week.
I am aware i am at fault for not checking the account sooner and realising i had overspent.
They continued to authorise payments from my card for 6 days after the money ran out, my purchases totalled about £70 in that time.

Previous to this week i have never had a single charge on my account and it is always in credit

I realise that the case against charges was upheld last year, but £270 in a week?
I only pay £500 into that account in a MONTH.

I have been into the bank who have said they cannot reverse the charges and can only escalate my problem as a complaint.

Does anyone know how likely it would be they would refund these outrageous charges, and also how long it usually takes?

Any advice greatly recieved.

If it was your first charge and you had only just gone over your limit, then they would likely reverse the charge. If you made several transactions that your account could not cover then they are likely to be harsher.

blimey, which bank do you use? i've noticed santander now charge 50p per day on authorised overdrafts until you're back in credit

Give the complaints office a call.

I had an account with Santander that I used just for a couple of DD(old account). The returned a DD because I was 20p short. They charged me because I couldn't go overdrawn on that account. Yet 2 days later they took the charges out and made me overdrawn, and because it was them it was allowed

It ended up that the charges would total £90 for my error of going 20p overdrawn.

I went into my branch but she was only willing toremove one £25 charge, I rang the online banking, as bank worker suggested and they would only do the same.

In the end I rang the complaints line and after explaining he wiped all the charges and refunded the £11 the had originally taken back into my account.

It's worth a try, and as Happy said usually if its the first time they will refund 1 charge- doesn't help there's more than one charge on your account tho.

Yep Santander.
Never had any problems when they were AbbeyNational.

I had a £25 charge for every transaction i had made in the space of 1 week.
Spent £3.58 - £25 charge
Spent £7.97 - £25 charge.
Small purchases with huge charges.

They have offered to refund me 1 £25 charge out of 11, which is fine.

I am a little miffed they were happy to keep taking money that wasnt there for such a long period (1 week) and then expect such a huge amount in return.

Give the complaints line a ring- they gave me all that spiel but the guy I spoke to in the complaints dept was very helpful, and wiped them all.

They've really gone downhill since Santander took them over and they get a lot of bad publicity.

Tell them that the charges are disproportionate to the amount you went overdrawn and the costs incurred by the bank. As a first time 'offender' they should refund as a gesture if good will. Speak to someone in charge, very often the general staff have no peer to refund and are told to just repeat bank policy.

Thanks ladies.

Spoke to my bank manager who has said all she can do it wait for the complaints dept to make a decision.

Meh.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges
xx

Well a small update- the complaints dept have said they stand by the charges and wont be refunding any of them.

Have called the ombudsman and theyre sending a claim form.

Just such a huge ballache. :(

Santander seem to be the 'tightest' of all the banks at the moment.

I have a car finance agreement with them, and I rang to change the date of my direct debit (to after payday)....£25 charge!
It was free with Black Horse who I used previously. Not impressed!