Following the sudden death of my husband, Barclays Partner Finance has been by far the worst and most unsympathetic company I have had to deal with.
We had an interest-free loan in my late husband’s name relating to a gas boiler. I wanted to settle the £2,252 balance but it took me more than a week, and more than eight hours’ holding on the phone, to get to talk to someone.
I then received a letter addressed to my husband which asked him to complete, sign and return a form, following his recent call about nominating someone to act on his behalf regarding the account. This caused me great distress.
Heartless: Barclays Partner Finance left a grieving widow on hold hold for a total of eight hours following the sudden death of her husband
I sent a cheque for the balance in the middle of May, asking for a receipt and confirmation that the loan was paid in full. The cheque cleared on June 3.
On June 16, I received a further letter, dated June 11, threatening that unless I responded in 30 days the firm would require payment of the account including interest. This was an interest-free loan.
J. P., Gillingham, Kent.
Once again a major bank treats a bereaved person with callous indifference. At this appalling time you needed understanding and support. Instead, you were met with incompetence.
When you finally managed to speak to someone, after many attempts, it failed to act on your requests and — as your full letter details — tried to push you down an automatic route via a third-party company. Its actions were indefensible.
Barclays blames human error for the fact that your payment was not registered. This led to you being chased for money you did not owe. Your account has now been registered as settled and closed.
Barclays has sent you a bouquet of flowers as a gesture of goodwill and credited your bank account with £150.
A spokesman says: ‘We have apologised to Mrs P for the level of service she experienced, which fell short of the high standards we strive for.’
Strive harder, Barclays. Much harder.
My wife has received a bill from O2 which includes a call for £111.32 plus VAT. The number was 001877 4542507.
She is very careful when she uses her mobile and is adamant that she did not ring it.
O2 told us it is a U.S. number, but would not tell us the person or company it belongs to, and insisted we must sort it out. This looks like a scam.
P. B., Prenton, Merseyside.
Yes. It’s a scam! Any number that starts 0018 is dodgy and returning the call will prove very expensive. The website Who Called Me ranks this prefix as ‘dangerous’.
Callers from 0018 numbers may also try to steal your bank or credit card details, perhaps by pretending to be from a legitimate company. Do not answer, do not call them back, and block them if you can.
Your wife’s phone was connected to this number for 44 minutes. It was made among a number of calls to international freephone numbers starting 00800. It is possible she hit the ‘1’ by mistake when dialling — though I think this is unlikely.
O2 has kindly cleared the bill as a goodwill gesture.
However, this is a warning to be careful when dialling any numbers outside the usual UK codes. Some costly ones are far too similar to free ones — an issue the telecoms industry should address.
Calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers are included in phone contracts, 0800 and 0808 are free, but 084, 087, 118 and 09 can cost an arm and a leg. Call an 070 number (notice how close this is to a normal mobile number) and you can throw in the shirt off your back, too.
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My wife and I are retired and over 70. We have more than 160,000 Avios points.
Due to health issues she can no longer fly. I have looked at transferring these points but there are limits and costs.
If I am reading the literature correctly, I believe I can only transfer a maximum of 27,000 in the year and will be charged £175 for this.
It would therefore take me six years and cost £1,050, if I am still alive.
P. W., Market Harborough, Leics.
I spoke with Avios, which offered some solutions.
Start by setting up an online account if you don’t already have one. You tell me you are not too great with the internet.
Perhaps a family member or trusted friend can help — especially when you explain the potential benefits.
You can share your Avios points with family who live at the same address as you, including children, by setting up a household account. That wouldn’t apply to you.
However, you can also set up a family and friends list. This will allow you to share Avios points with up to five people. I have used this option myself — and it doesn’t cost anything.
However, you need not give all your points away. You can redeem them at approximately 20,000 hotels in the UK and more than 100,000 worldwide.
While your wife may not be able to fly, perhaps you could drive or take a train.
You can also use Avios points to buy wine, or rent a car. Experiences such as trips to the theatre will also become available again in the future.
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