Not upheld: Complaints handling failures complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC, trading as Barclaycard

Decision detail

Summary

Mr G complained that Barclaycard mismanaged the appeal process when notifying him of a pending credit limit decrease from £10,500 to £250. The bank failed to brief its customer service team on the new appeal procedure, and later provided Mr G with an incorrect phone number, resulting in approximately 90 minutes of wasted time attempting to lodge his appeal. Although Barclaycard acknowledged these errors and offered £200 compensation, Mr G sought a higher amount, arguing the failings were systemic and caused distress to him and his elderly mother. The ombudsman found that while Barclaycard's service fell short, the £200 compensation was fair redress because Mr G suffered no financial loss and successfully appealed the limit reduction before the deadline, and the complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman acknowledged that Barclaycard's service fell short of acceptable standards and that the firm made multiple errors including failing to brief staff on the new appeal process and providing an incorrect phone number. However, the ombudsman found that the £200 compensation was fair redress because: (1) Mr G suffered no financial loss; (2) he was able to successfully appeal the limit reduction before the deadline; (3) the issue did not cause daily inconvenience such as preventing access to funds; and (4) the theoretical impact on his elderly mother's access to credit never materialised as the limit was never actually reduced. The ombudsman also noted that systemic issues and complaint handling complaints fall outside the FOS remit.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website