BANKERS EXPLAIN CONS TO UNDERCOVER REPORTER
RHIANNON EDWARD, SCOTSMAN - Managers at Barclays boasted to an
undercover reporter that bouncing a check or stopping a direct debit
costs the bank as little as L1.50 or L2 to administer. The revelation
comes as hundreds of thousands of bank customers attempt to reclaim
"illegal" current account charges of up to L40. By law, the banks are
not allowed to make a profit from these charges, only cover expenses
such as sending a letter. . .
Amanda Egbujo, a journalist, spent two months working for a Barclays
call centre near Sunderland and at a branch in Guildford. One angry
customer was filmed complaining about how she was charged L90 for going
L100 overdrawn despite being a long-standing customer.
A bank trainer named Simon said that most customers who complained about
the charges would not get their money back. "My attitude was, well I
don't know you, I don't care." Only wealthy customers were likely to be
refunded because the bank was worried about losing their business, he
said.
Other practices revealed in the program included:
- "Upgrading" customers to Barclays' Additions account, which charges a
fee of L14 a month, without their agreement. Bankers get a L10 bonus for
every Additions account sold and one was quoted, saying: "If we've got
four million customers paying L14 a month, another L60 million comes in.
Thanks very much."
- Consultants from call centers who mislead customers by claiming that
they want to talk about their accounts when really they are trying to
sell a financial product. One even details how women with Liverpudlian
accents are easier to sell to because they have lots of debt or "want a
new kitchen".
- Bank workers who access the account details of famous people without
their permission.
A spokeswoman for the bank said the scenes filmed for the program were
not "in any way representative of the way in which Barclays does
business".
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=442452007
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RHIANNON EDWARD, SCOTSMAN - Managers at Barclays boasted to an
undercover reporter that bouncing a check or stopping a direct debit
costs the bank as little as L1.50 or L2 to administer. The revelation
comes as hundreds of thousands of bank customers attempt to reclaim
"illegal" current account charges of up to L40. By law, the banks are
not allowed to make a profit from these charges, only cover expenses
such as sending a letter. . .
Amanda Egbujo, a journalist, spent two months working for a Barclays
call centre near Sunderland and at a branch in Guildford. One angry
customer was filmed complaining about how she was charged L90 for going
L100 overdrawn despite being a long-standing customer.
A bank trainer named Simon said that most customers who complained about
the charges would not get their money back. "My attitude was, well I
don't know you, I don't care." Only wealthy customers were likely to be
refunded because the bank was worried about losing their business, he
said.
Other practices revealed in the program included:
- "Upgrading" customers to Barclays' Additions account, which charges a
fee of L14 a month, without their agreement. Bankers get a L10 bonus for
every Additions account sold and one was quoted, saying: "If we've got
four million customers paying L14 a month, another L60 million comes in.
Thanks very much."
- Consultants from call centers who mislead customers by claiming that
they want to talk about their accounts when really they are trying to
sell a financial product. One even details how women with Liverpudlian
accents are easier to sell to because they have lots of debt or "want a
new kitchen".
- Bank workers who access the account details of famous people without
their permission.
A spokeswoman for the bank said the scenes filmed for the program were
not "in any way representative of the way in which Barclays does
business".
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=442452007
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