Charged by BOI for "Facility" I never sought.

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Padraigb

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I recently got a statement from BOI and spotted a charge of €30 for "O/DRAFT FACILITY FEE".

I don't do overdrafts and did not ask for a facility. So I phoned the bank and was told that it was a renewal of a facility for €254. I pointed out that that I had never asked for it and never overdraw. The advice given to me was that they would not reverse the debit and that I should notify them in writing that I wanted to cancel the facility.

That led to some angry words, and the branch representative called back to tell me that the charge would be reversed but that they still required written notice that I wanted the facility cancelled.

I'm not happy about this. In effect, I was hit with a charge for something I never asked for and don't use, and they now want me to cancel a request that I never made. In effect, that would be validating the bank's action when my basic position is that the bank's action is entirely wrong.

Have others here had any similar experiences?
 
They have a facility of €254 on your account.
This is a very old facility as it is exactly IR£200.

Banks like to have a written record from customers regarding instructions.

It's annoying, but the simple thing is to write to them to cancel this facility as you never requested it in the first place. You are cancelling the facility and not the request.
 
It would be very interesting to know how many others have had this charge applied and have not even noticed nor done anything about it.
 
Yes, I know that it has the appearance of being there since pre-euro days. But it is still the case that I never asked for it or used it.

They put it there without my knowledge; they charged me for it; if I write asking them to cancel it, it is tantamount to acknowledging that I accept some responsibility for it.

My read on it is that is what they want so that their ass is covered. If any regulatory body becomes interested, they can suggest that I went along with the arrangement.

They have no written record of my asking for a facility.

I will probably write to them to emphasise that I never asked for the facility, and they should remove it; I see that as being nuanced differently from my asking them to cancel it.
 
Padraigb said:
They have no written record of my asking for a facility.
Click to expand...

It was quite common for people to ring the bank and be given an overdraft facility over the phone. So it would not be unusual for them not to have a written record. I am not suggesting you ever asked for it. I suspect that they gave everyone a small facility at some stage.

It wasn't a problem when there was no facility fee. Now it's a problem that they are charging and as Sueellen says, there are probably many others in the same situation.

I will probably write to them to emphasise that I never asked for the facility, and they should remove it; I see that as being nuanced differently from my asking them to cancel it.
Click to expand...

Seems the right way to do it.
 
Have only just asked my "relationship manager " about the €25 annual fee AIb charged me for "facility" since 2006.

It's one thing to cancel it - of course OP can do this. But do I and OP and countless others have the right to demand a refund on the basis that we never asked for it.?

This should be a scandal that more consumers should be aware of. Millions could be unwittingly paid by consumers to the banks.

Time for an article from Charlie Weston!
 
Yes and wait until Ulster Banks monthly €4 charges starts, I am like the O.P. I've had a small facility with UB that I don't use, it was historic, I got no facility letters about it, UB e-mailed me to tell me about the charges and I wrote to the Branch and had it cancelled and confirmed back to me in writing, simples ! but how many people will neglect to do it...
 
In pursuing this matter, I made it clear that I was sufficiently angry to escalate all the way to the Financial Services Ombudsman.

Yesterday I got a phone call from BOI complaints department to tell me that the facility was being cancelled with immediate effect and that the €30 would be credited to my account.

There was no direct or implicit acknowledgement that BOI was wrong - not that I would have expected in these days of hard-nosed corporate culture. But neither was there any expression of regret over my being inconvenienced and annoyed. I regard that as a failure in customer service.

After 40+ years of a relationship during which BOI made money from me, they have blown away all my goodwill by trying to extract €30 from me by what I consider to be sharp practice. And they didn't even get the €30!

I was speaking to a family member about this episode, and found that he is also in dispute with BOI about a €30 "facility renewal". Again, the main outcome is the destruction of goodwill.
 

Well make sure you change banks so, that's the only way the goodwill will be actually destroyed and inform them that this is the reason you're changing banks.
 
I am minded to change, but I don't want to switch from one unsatisfactory bank to another unsatisfactory one.

A bit of research is required, and I am curious to see what KBC comes up with.
 
Funny I just noticed this today for the first time too. I probably did have an overdraft way back in the 1980s but I've never noticed the fee before.

I've about 3 other issues with them at the moment so can't face phoning them - think I'll start with a stiff letter.
 
It seems like all of the banks have brought in this overdraft charge. Ulsterbank are charging €25pa for having an overdraft facility. I cancelled mine this week by writing to them and it was cancelled a couple of days later.
The posters above might have legacy agreements. Maybe you didn’t sign up to anything but it could have come with the account and may have been in the T&Cs when you opened your account?
I have also moved some savings around a couple of accounts to avoid the UB €4 a month charge. Wonder what’s next for them to try?
 
Heard back from BoI that I had been charged for a number of years (unspecified) until 2009 when the charge stopped (perhaps owing to the amount I had lodged) but it restarted this year even though my balance is higher than ever. He confirmed the charge has been cancelled for the future but has not waived the charge for this year. I told him I'm going to write and complain again. I think if they stopped the charge in 2009 it was reasonable for me to expect that it no longer applied.
 
I think your case might be stronger, putsch, if you have not overdrawn since 2009.
 
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