HSBC banking and overdrafts

[MoNkeE]

Right, so there's a lot of ho-ha over overdrafts and whether or not they [banks] can legally charge you for going overdrawn.

Basically, I had £1.12 in my account, but I was expecting £50 to be placed in there by my Mother (who owed me £50) any day. The transaction was being made from Lloyds TSB to HSBC (HSBC being my bank) on Tuesday, and I was expecting it in by Friday. Unfortunately, it never seemed to make it, and when my phone bill came through (£45), it put me £43.88 overdrawn.

Now, HSBC have reversed the charge, putting me £1.12 back in credit, but have also charged me for the reversal (well, charged me for being overdrawn). This has left me with a debt of £28.88, which means even with the £50, I can't get myself back in credit.

Yes, I should have managed my finances better, but when you consider I had the money for the phone bill going into my account any day, I didn't think it would be a problem.

Is there a process I can start in order to get the £30 back? It's stupid that I should be slapped with such a high fee for not having money in my account, which at the end of the day is only not there because their system's so slow.

Cheers for your help.

-RaZ

 

[TripleT]

Errr no, I wouldn't bother wasting my engery chacing it, you stand no chance.

You went overdrawn, everyone knows that it takes some time for money to be paid in

 

[MoNkeE]

You went overdrawn, everyone knows that it takes some time for money to be paid in

And I took that in mind when I was sorting it out - I've never had a transfer from my Mother taking longer than 3 days, yet this time...

They seem to be after revenge after I keep refusing their telesales calls

-RaZ

 

[Ev0]

Write a letter asking if they would refund the charges.

A mate at work baile dhis brother out recently, the brother ha da load of direct debits about to go out of his account, but due ot not having enough money and no overdraft all of them bounced so to speak.

Can't remember what the charge is for a dd that can't be taken, but he ended up with £400 worth of charges. So after my mate had paid the £400 for him he made his bro write a letter explaining the situation and also the fact that they thought £400 of charges was quite a lot, they got about £200 back I think.

Also had similar when the other half cancelled a dd to pay her credit card off every month but her card company still tried to take it and charged her, just called them up and asked for it to be refunded and they did lol.

Anyway, they can only say no

 

[Spuderoony]

You have half a chance of getting them refunded if it's your first time and you get someone nice.

Oh, and be very nice, apologetic, and courteous with whoever deals with you. This makes it significantly more likely that they'll refund you, as it's often their decision. This coming from someone who works for said bank.

 

[Brizzles]

It's stupid that I should be slapped with such a high fee for not having money in my account, which at the end of the day is only not there because their system's so slow.

Firstly , it's your fault and not the banks.

But , hey we all go overdrawn at sometime.

Approach your Branch Manager and explain what happened. Do this politely and you may get a pleasent result , but approach them with words like " It's stupid that.." and " such high fee's " and blaming the system will not get you very far.

It sounds like an honest mistake on your part , admit your mistake and don't blame the bank.

I did the same with NatWest sometime ago when overdraft charges kept adding to an overdraft and when i offered to pay some of the outstanding amount the manager wiped all of the charges.

Be polite and honest , remember banks want to keep you as a customer.

As posted above the worst that could happen is they say no.

But there are banks that like to say Yes ( Sorry , cheap pun )

Good Luck.

Mark

 

[Borris]

If all else fails (and only if), you could always file a small claim in the county court, as the charges are undoubatbly unlawfal and unreasonable (unless your bank can prove otherwise).

Although to do so would cost you more than you might recoup.

Check consumeractiongroup.com.

 

[Kabaala]

I have to agree, banks aren't as unaproachable as some people seem to think. If they can help you out they will, well thats from my experience with Lloyds TSB. I find making an appointment to go into the branch gets me what i want so much easier than calling the Indian chaps that see the word "The" on their Q&A sheet in front of them so answer you with something to do with mortgages rather than overdrafts

 

[bigredshark]

you haven't really a hope, transfers offically take 5 working days usually (despite how long it might normally take) and you went overdrawn without giving notice. Thats just the way it goes..

 

[TripleT]

^ Correct, most if not all banks will state a timescale of how long transfers take, usually around 5 days. Desipte them being able to do it quicker they always add on a few days for instances, like this, were they may actually need a bit longer so that they're covered.

 

[starscream]

Tell them unless they reverse the charge, you'll take your overdraft elsewhere

 

[Spuderoony]

Depends what type of transfer it was. A normal one (called a Bill Payment) takes the same amount of time as a cheque - the day you pay it in plus 3 more days. If the payment is sent on Monday, it's cleared on Thursday.

Obviously this is completely separate to EFTs, etc. But the above is the most common type of one between banks (for <£10k).

 

[Kabaala]

I've never had a bank transfer thats taken more than 3 working days. Just last weekend i was paid for an ebay item through bank transfer from someone from Belgium on the Saturday, it appeared in my bank on the Wednesday.