Bank Charges..

Hi all,

Just looking for some advice for my folks!

My dad is 66 and my mum is 65, both on the state pension. Dad recently showed me a bank statement that they rec'd with 19e worth of charges on it!!

I told him that I dont pay charges etc and that I'd ring their bank and enquire....

Turns out that my parents should have been exempt from any bank charges once my dad turned 60!!! I explained that we never got any notification to this effect. The girl I spoke to rectified the situation straight away. So its sorted now..

But then I asked about a refund for the last six years... to which she replied that because my dad didnt notify them that he had turned 60, he was not entitled to a refund. I said surely you would have his dob on record etc, why should he have to notify you..

long story short, she said no to the refund, but I could write to the manager if I wanted, but not to hold out any hope!!

Any advice? I think I will write to the manager anyway, it cant hurt!!

Thank you

Newbie2009

Write to the manager or better meet him - say your Parents will close a/c if they dont get a refund - if your with same bank tell them you will also close your a/c - apply all the pressure you can -sadly the only way you might get a positive outcome in this great Country of our's.

Ring the branch and ask for customer service and run amok. They'll soon play ball. I did it when they started applying charges to my student account a few years ago and they refunded everything.

Ok so, all feedback welcome.... Im not very good at writing official type letters... so feel free to change.... thank you!!


Dear Mr XXXX


I am writing on behalf of my parents, Mr and Mrs xxxx in relation to bank charges incurred by them over the last six years.

I recently contacted AIB in relation to the excessive bank charges incurred on my parents accounts, and was told by a Customer Service Representative that my parents should not have been charged any banking fees when they reached 60 years of age onwards.

I explained that my father will turn 67 in December of this year, and my mother will turn 66 in November, and that they were never notified of this. The Customer Service Represntative updated the accounts accordingly, so from this day forward, my parents will not incur banking charges.

I then enquired as to how I recoup the banking charges paid in error by my parents. I was advised that as I had only notified the AIB this week, that they would be unable to refund any charges paid by my parents over the last six years.

I find this high irregular and possibly illegal. My parents paid charges in error and should be entitled to a full refund. I would be grateful if you could arrange this refund as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely


Ms XXX XXX

newbie2009 said:

Ok so, all feedback welcome.... Im not very good at writing official type letters... so feel free to change.... thank you!!


I then enquired as to how I recoup the banking charges paid in error by my parents. I was advised that as I had only notified the AIB this week, that they would be unable to refund any charges paid by my parents over the last six years.

I find this high irregular and possibly illegal. My parents paid charges in error and should be entitled to a full refund. I would be grateful if you could arrange this refund as soon as possible.

Click to expand...

I would change all 'paid by my parents' to 'charged by AIB'. The former suggests an error on the part of your parents, whereas the latter places the error at the feet of the bank.

Hi,

I don't see how it is illiegal.

This is from AIB's T&C's

AIB ‘60 Plus’

If you are aged 60 or over, or are a joint party to an
account held by a customer aged 60 or over, you are
eligible to apply for ‘60 Plus’.
As a ‘60 Plus’ customer, you can enjoy banking free of
maintenance and transaction fees on your personal
current accounts*. For further information on what
maintenance and transaction fees are, please refer to
page 3 of this booklet.
In addition, you are eligible to avail of the following
transactions, undertaken at an AIB branch, free from
service/commission charges**:

• Purchase and sale of foreign currency notes

• Purchase of foreign currency cheques and euro
international cheques

• Sale of domestic euro, international euro and foreign
currency bank drafts

• 20% reduction in commission charges for In Branch
Share Dealing, above the minimum charge of €100
(excludes Online Share Dealing)***
To avail of these additional benefits you must advise staff
at the time of each transaction that you are a ‘60 Plus’
customer.

Click to expand...

To avail of these additional benefits you must advise staff at the time of each transaction that you are a ‘60 Plus’ customer.

The customer has to opt in, as per [broken link removed].

You could write and complain about the fact that your parents were not noitified, and maybe they might compensate you somewhat, but I would be surprised if you get it backdated.

Redbhoy, different situation to yours, you signed up for something and they did not provide the full service. You were entitled to the refund in your case. The two are not comparable in my opinion.

​

Thank you for all the replies... I thought maybe I was stretching it with the "illegal" comment... In fairness though, my parents have these accounts for over 20 + years... and would probably have read the T&C back then, but would never have rec'd a copy of them since...

As for them checking out the T&Cs on line... not a hope, my poor auld fella would lose his life if he had to even involve himself in telephone banking, let alone internet banking!

I will draft up something to the manager and see how I get on..... if ya dont ask, ya dont get etc etc

Keep the feedback coming!!

Thank you!!

Someone in the branch should have mentioned it imo.

Their may have been an issue with regards notifying your parents by phone or mail due to consents on direct marketing (your parents may not have given any).

Since they have been with the branch for so long, the manager should do something to recognise that fact.

Does anyone knows of any bank providing free banking to business?