Overdraft chaos

I have an interest free overdraft with a bank. Now that I’m in Holland, and because I’m deaf, I cannot telephone the bank to renew it over the phone like most people could do. It’s due for renewal in three days’ time.

So I got my mum to go into a branch and ask them to renew it, explaining that I’m out of the country and unable to renew it myself over the phone. She pointed out it would not cost me anything to keep it on as it was interest free, and I’ve had this for a long time now, so it’s just really to extend the status quo.

The bank staff, unusually, obliged to the request but then got a denied request (for the first time in six years), and then took my overdraft off and replaced it with half that amount and now accuring interest. I am now also being charged for being “over the limit” of the new limit plus extra high interest rates.

My mum pleaded with them to extend the original terms for just a week, so that I can come in.

They wouldn’t even extend the courstey to do that, and rather let me accrue my debts VERY rapidly whilst I am unable to do anything about it. They said it was “head office orders, you will need to ring head office to resolve this” whilst embarassed that head office would not acknowledge that I could not phone them. I was not best pleased.

As mysteriously as the overdraft being denied, it was reinstated without further intervention five days later to its original terms, and all charges refunded. It’s a strange one.