A DISABLED man, who withdrew £2,000 to pay for life-changing surgery only to be robbed on a Croydon tram, is still fighting for compensation three years on.
Karol Posluszny blames Barclays for leaving him vulnerable to robbery, by making it obvious to a packed bank that he was withdrawing a large amount of money.
The 63-year-old had planned to use the money for an operation on his spinal chord but just minutes after he left the North End branch on September 30, 2010, his money had been swiped.
Despite being ordered by the banking ombudsman to pay compensation to Mr Posluszny, Barclays have so far refused to give him a penny.
The New Addington resident's complaint against the bank centres on their refusal to serve him at the lower hatch usually provided for disabled customers.
Mr Posluszny said being served at a regular counter left him in a very vulnerable situation.
He said: "I can't turn my head up or down, right or left. The man at the counter wanted to show me what he was counting. He stood up so that I could see what he was counting, and 30 people behind me could see it too.
"The gentleman at the hatch was very loud. I already felt very worried about leaving."
Mr Posluszny believes a spotter at the bank tipped off a gang who then surrounded him on a tram to Wimbledon and stole his savings.
Following a two-year wait, the Financial Ombudsman Service recommended Barclays pay Mr Posluszny £100 for the "upset caused" and for falling short in their service, writing that "the branch should reasonably have dealt more appropriately with Mr Posluszny when he made the withdrawal in order to ensure his privacy".
However, the bank, which last year paid more than £2 billion in bonuses, has refused to pay up.
A spokesman said: "The bank was informed by FOS in their letter of October 30 that Mr Posluszny had not replied in writing to the letter issued on September 28. Therefore, FOS advised Barclays that in accordance with their rules, the decision may be treated as having been rejected. The case file was then closed by FOS.
"In circumstances such as this, neither the customer or the company are bound by final decision issued by FOS."
Mr Posluszny would like to take his complaint to court, but he cannot afford a lawyer to represent him and is no longer entitled to legal aid.
Cyrus Mansouri, a lawyer who advised Mr Posluszny, said, "Had my client been served at a disabled counter, as he requested himself, or better still in a private room, he may well have avoided being robbed of his life savings.
"This is clearly a David & Goliath situation and more and more people like Mr Posluszny are being denied an opportunity to seek redress through the courts."
