Well done Micky Great result- hope you have a fantastic holiday

Pam

Well done micky, a result at the end of what must have been a nightmare As you know from my posts I was worried that they wouldn't give it all back, so am really pleased for you! So, where are you going on holiday now then? Enjoy every minute

Thanks madsue and keepupwith, Off to Cuba so very very happy about that I can tell you. Think I need a rest now!lol!

Phew ! That must be a weight of your mind Micky. So glad that it's sorted and that FC faced up to their rather large mistake. Enjoy your holiday.

Doe

Mickey
Delighted to hear that you now have a total refund with the promise of your costs being met as well as a goodwill gesture for how much who knows. I may have sounded a bit harsh in my post but it was not that I wanted to be critical of you.I was concerned that you were exhausting yourself in dealing with FC and not also taking your bank to task at the same time.

We have all learned something from your experience and yes small people can change things they just need the will to do so.

Over the years I have taken a lot of different people to task over various issues and the one thing I learned early on was to never give up. When they tried to trick me as in the case of the Hoover free flights I was always one step ahead of them. I was I am sure the only person in the Uk who got a free shuttle to Heathrow paid for along with the free flight. There was a loophole which they closed after this. I bought the tickets myself and sent the bill to them for immediate payment.

I have had some run ins with Travel Companies and always achieved my goal. I have only done this when I knew I was totally in the right as your were with this matter. I still think the Bank were culpable in this case although they won't want to admit it. I would write to the CEO of Barclays rather than speak to some lowly clerk in a small office. It is Barclays major who are guilty.

Glad to hear that you have another holiday booked. ENJOY!

Hubby, phoned bank again today and got through to customer complaints dept. They say (as I thought they would!) that as it was a reputable tour company they thought nothing was wrong although they did check through the amount themselves (dont know what that means!) and they should have phoned us to check the amount noone ever did! They offer us nothing although accepting their share of responsibility. I shall be taking my business elsehwhere and have told them this. They couldnt care less.

the problems at the bank and the response are because you are being dealt with by a call centre.unless you can get past the first line of defence you will get nowhere.
you need to speak to someone who may actually care. that person is your local branch manager. make an appointment and ask them to explain to you what actually happened. ask them to refund all the charges to your account, which would not have arisen if they had made the phone call they should have. if you do live in a small community the local branch will not want any bad publicty, and they should be more ameniable to helping you.also ask for some compensation for time off work etc. you may be surprised at their attitude.
if all else fails i would go to your local paper and tell them the story, emphasising how helpful the T/A was in giving you full refund(you would be trying to make the bank look like the bad b******s) and how lousy the local bank treated you.
hope you enjoy your new holiday.

micky
that sounds like a pretty good suggestion from jimd-f, the bank really should give you an acceptable explanation why they DIDN'T ring you to check that the transaction was OK - especially as they say they SHOULD have done so.

However, I can fully understand that you may just want to be done with the whole sorry mess, close your account and look forward to your holiday.

Polly

Really glad to hear you have got this sorted out and as others have said your bank are partly to blame as well and should be helping you. As jimd-f has said, the fact you are dealing with a call centre they couldn't care less. Threatening to close your account will not get you anywhere, beleive me. I used to work for a bank for 20+ years and you used to get customers saying that all the time and to be honest at a staff level, nobody could give two hoots whether you stay or go. Harsh that may sound but sadly it is a fact. In fact you ask any bank workers what they would love to say to a customer who threatens to close their account??? The answer I could not post on here, but at times you really felt like saying "well close your account then I don't care"

The only way you will get some Customer Satisfaction is by dealing with the top people. For a start I would write (recorded delivery) a polite factual letter (no threats) to their Head Office Customer Relations dept. Detail the situation, the events, who you have spoken to, their action and point out the effect of this huge error, how it has affected you and your family. Better still if you can obtain a name for a CEO or someone on the board of directors, aim your complaint there.

I can tell you from working at the bank, complaints that came from our Head Office carried a tad more weight than the ones that came direct from Customer as the bank I worked for, Head Office followed up all complaints and copies of any correspondence had to be sent to Head Office.

Good luck

FC made a big mistake. Goodness knows what would have happened to me in your position with a £7000 OD
However I wouldn't of canceled your holiday. You should write to FC complaining about this error and listed the A/ charges to your OD Limit (Say it has cost you as they took you over your arranged limit), B/Incompetence of the CSR who took your seat bookings and C/ you have lost faith in FC and will not be booking with them in future.
Sure your mad, but a polite letter stressing your disappointment in the usual FC standard, hopefully will get you a nice discount or vouchers.

Glad you got it sorted with FC.

With regard to your bank, you need to send a letter of complaint and address it to the MD/CEO whatever - I did this to an unrelated bank within the lats 6 months and not only had a letter praising my wonderfully set out letter, a full apology, an acceptance that the problems I encountered should NEVER have happened and a nice cheque by way of an apology was enclosed.

They have said they SHOULD have contacted you. They didn't. You have every right to complain and seek reimbursement for any fees incurred!