First Direct unforgiving over charges
A customer that recently joined the Internet bank, First Direct, which is a part of the HSBC Group, was appalled by the way that she was treated over her account going over its limit. The customer joined First Direct in August last year after hearing about its success and its popularity amongst consumers in the UK, with claims that it was the UK’s most recommended bank. However, just seven months after her account was opened, she has been charged two lots of fees for her account going over its limit – despite the fact that it was not her fault on one of those occasions – and has been threatened with withdrawal of banking facilities when asking for a temporary overdraft increase for a period of two weeks.
The customer, who did not wish to be named, said that in February her account went over its authorized overdraft limit as a result of one of her utility suppliers taking out a payment on the wrong date, at which time the funds were not in the account. After receiving a charge of £30, she called First Direct and asked whether, under the circumstances and because it was the first time that it had happened, could the charge be removed. Despite the continuing row over these unfair charges, First Direct would only refund half of the charge. However, a couple of weeks later, the customer forgot to change the date on a standing order, and because the payment went out early another direct debit could not be paid. As a result, the bank contacted her and infirmed her that the direct debit had not been paid and she had been charged nearly £40 for a returned payment.
Admitting that this occasion was her own fault, the customer called First Direct and spoke to the credit services team in order to request a temporary authorized increase on her overdraft for a period of two weeks. She had around £1500 going in to her account every month, but the date could vary due to being self employed. However, rather than helping out and applying the increase to avoid further charges, the bank simply threatened to withdraw banking facilities altogether because the customer was not managing her account properly. To avoid further charges the customer said that she ended up having to cancel all her future direct debits and re-set them up for a later date with the individual companies.
She stated: "I can't believe how unforgiving the bank was. It seems that if you go over your limit you get slapped with a charge, and if you try and get it sorted out by speaking to the bank you get threatened with account closure. You just can't win."
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