Loan fiasco for bank customer

Jul 10 2011 by Ian Robson, Sunday Sun

A BANK has apologised for losing two separate payments made by a Mr Justice reader to pay a loan.

Pensioner Renee Mechen told me how she twice paid the money to Barclays ... and it went missing on both occasions.

Renee, of Ouseburn Park, Newcastle, said she could not understand what was happening.

She said: “I took a loan to pay for a new TV and paid £200 off it by cheque.

“I later received a letter saying I still owed the money so I went back to the branch and they admitted the cheque had gone AWOL.

“They put a trace on it and within seven days it was found.

“Later I decided to pay the loan off, or so I thought, and the same thing happened.

“I am worried because I might have to pay interest charges.

“I would like an apology for the incompetence and something in writing to say the loan is cleared.

“And I would just like Mr Justice to know what a shoddy, careless service Barclays Finance give to customers.”

Strong words, I thought, but Barclays admit they were wrong.

A spokeswoman told me Renee’s complaint had been upheld and a letter of apology and explanation was going out to her together with a gesture of goodwill.

She said: “We would like to offer our sincere apologies for any distress and inconvenience this matter has caused our customer.

“Cheque payments were received but we were unable to apply them due to insufficient account information.

“However, we were able to trace and match the payment immediately having being made aware of the situation and we would like to also thank Mr Justice for bringing this matter to our attention.”