Barclays Stockbrokers stealth fees

[abigsmurf]

In my foolish younger days I thought I'd try to support the UK gaming industry by becoming a shareholder for Argonaut (Looked like they were EA's choice long term for the Harry Potter games... Seemed a safe company to go with...). After being burnt the account sat inactive.

Fast forward 8 years later, the account is still active, only, looking at my bank account I've just discovered they've been charging me fees. Obviously at some point they decided to start charging monthly fees and I didn't receive a letter from them saying this (moved house since I created the account). I'd previously assumed the fee was part of my student loan payments because of the payment reference being similar.

I've complained to them and asked them to close the account. Any chance of being able to claim the fees back? As far as I'm concerned they've taken payment for a service not used without my knowledge.

[On The Edge of Insanity]

Not 100% sure on this, but having worked in a similar industry I think it'll come down to the wording of the initial contract you signed with them. I presume when you first signed up they only charged on a per transaction basis? If the initial contract says that they just need to give you written notice of any fee changes then I don't think you've got much chance of getting the fees back. You are responsible for informing them of a change of address and therefore non receipt of their correspondence regarding the fee changes is not a valid reason for them to refund the fees to you.

[abigsmurf]

Suspected it's a long shot.

It's incredibly underhanded though, googling the direct debit code returned a few forums with people having no idea about these charges. I find it incredibly wrong that they're profiteering over inactive accounts that they know people will have stopped paying attention to.

Imagine if someone like Paypal suddenly started charging fees to anyone who'd signed a direct debit too. All the people with accounts they've not used for years, maybe registered under email addresses they can no longer access or maybe they deleted the email because they get nothing but adverts and phishing attempts from paypal.

Incidentally, what would be the best financial watchdog to complain about this to? It may be technically legal but it's immoral and wrong.

[On The Edge of Insanity]

Have you had a response to your complaint as of yet? When you do you should also get an FSA leaflet explaining the complaints process. As I understand it, you can escalate your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman if you are dissatisfied with the complaint response you receive from Barclays.

Are the others you have found on the internet in the same situation i.e. have they moved and not informed Barclays of their change in address? If customers that haven't changed their address still haven't been informed of the fee change then you would have a better case. Just to clarify, were fees charged on a per transaction basis previously or had you always paid a monthly fee?

[abigsmurf]

Haven't received a response yet but I only had a moan yesterday so it'll be Tuesday before they can be classed as taking too long to respond. I'll see what my options are, if it's a case of me being stupid/negligent I'll just let them know I'm pissed and leave it at that. If it does seem like they've been really underhanded in the way they've introduced the fees, I'll escalate it as far as I can (until it costs me money or requires me to attend a hearing or something).

Haven't been able to find if the other people changed address or not, all I know was that they were unaware that they were going to be charged on a monthly/quarterly basis. I remember picking Barclays because they did offer dealing fee only accounts (I wasn't investing a huge amount thankfully, any monthly fees would've meant I stood no chance of making anything but a loss).

I'm just annoyed that Barclays have taken anywhere between £300-£900 from me just for keeping my details on a PC that say I own 1000 or so shares in a company that doesn't exist.

[On The Edge of Insanity]

Such a significant change in their fee structure should definitely have been communicated to you in writing. If they say they did that to the address they held for you on file then I doubt you'll have much of a case as it is the customer's responsibility to ensure their details are up to date at all times.

I believe they'll only have to send you a holding letter saying they are looking into your complaint by Tuesday. They have four weeks to offer a proper response, but can even extend this for a further four weeks provided they send you written confirmation explaining why the additional time is required. In this case I'm imagine you'll get a proper response fairly quickly though.

[Brats]

Edge of Insanity is right, you should follow this up. Note that Barclays have five working days to acknowledge the complaint, so if you complained on Friday, they have until this coming Thursday to respond.

I think that if you just say 'you didn't tell me' then you'll be lucky to get anything, they will just point to a clause in the contract saying that they have the right to change the fee structure providing they give notice in writing to your last known address. Instead, I would argue that that they have failed to Treat their Customer Fairly (i.e. you) because they would have known from their computer system that your you had no shares and they were giving you no advice, therefore it was unfair to continue charging you for the period that they did.

They may still disagree, but if you then go to the ombudsman after receiving their final response. The ombudsman will consider any complaint on the grounds of 'fairness' rather than a pure legal test and here, as a consumer with limited knowledge, I think you could successfully argue that they have not been fair, regardless of any clause in the contract.

Note that if they don't respond to you by the timelines, you can go straight to the ombudsman. Also, any ombudsman claim costs Barclays around ?400 (whether you are successful or not) so it's worth knowing that as a potential bargaining chip with them.

[abigsmurf]

Would an Ombudsman require me to make a personal appearance or can it all be done through letters and phonecalls?

[Brats]

Phone and in writing is fine. Once Barclays have made their final response, if you are still not happy, simply complete the form on their website and send it to them. The Ombudsman will then requests the complete files and records from Barclays, request any more information from you and then make a decision. It's pretty painless for you, but a massive hassle for Barclays.

Here's a link to their website on how to make a complaint:

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm

Note that if you aren't happy with the Ombudsman's decision, you don't have to accept it. However Barclays must accept any proposal they put forward.

[abigsmurf]

Partial success. Got a phonecall, they refunded 1/4 of the fees I paid, said it was goodwill, possibly it could've been them admitting they should've closed the account but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

Better than I was expecting really.

Just really wanted to make them know it was very questionable endlessly charging fees for an account that was clearly inactive and abandoned and that they shouldn't profiteer off of idiots like me who don't pay close enough attention to their bookkeeping.