New Cahoot claim - flatly rejected!

[dinger0001]

Hi all

I complained to Cahoot and completed an Subject Access Request a couple of weeks ago, details of the charges arrived promptly (yesterday - all things are relative).

I have had no physical response from Cahoot - all done by email with one person, I sent him details of the charges to be reclaimed last night (in the standard letter template from here) and got the following response this morning - talk about quick work they must have their own templates too!

to be honest I just wanted to get it sorted ASAP as have already have had charges refunded from Barclays so I'm not even that bothered about the interest so I did say in my previous letter that if they settle quickly then I wont pursue the interest, however they came back with following ..

"With regards to the charges you’ve incurred, we do not accept that cahoot charges are unfair under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. The object of these Regulations was not price control nor were they intended to interfere with people's freedom to agree the terms of their contracts.

It is well known that banks make charges and cahoot charges are in line with those of other banks. The terms and conditions of the account and the charges that apply are clear and fair and were provided to you at the time you opened it. You freely agreed to the terms and conditions and the charges when you opened the account. You were not under any obligation to do so and could have gone to another bank if you did not agree to the charges. Equally, you are free to move your account to another bank at any time if you do not agree with the charges.

In any event, we do not agree that the charges are disproportionate. The charges are reasonable and proportionate to the administrative costs incurred by cahoot.

I am therefore unable to refund the charges you've incurred fully appreciating the disappointment this may cause.

Please be assured I have carried out a full investigation for you and I hope you feel I have offered a fair response to all of the issues you've raised. I will keep your file open for the next 8 weeks and if I don't hear from you within that time, I will assume that everything is resolved and will close your file. If you remain dissatisfied though, you can find details of how to take your complaint further within Abbey at http://www.cahoot.com/legal/legal.html#importantInfo under the heading 'Complaints policy'. The complaints policy also explains your ultimate right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

If you need anything further please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely,

David Freeman"

As you can see they have binned off my complaint immediately however I have had no complaints leaflet and no letters from them. I've responded with the next template letter giving them 14 days to comply

- has anyone else had this where they are stuck with one person over email?

if so how did you escalate it from the numpty sat at his desk saying "computer says no"

Fingers crossed for a resolution!

dinger

[Tetsugaku-San]

If I were you I'd keep everything via physical letter - but that may just be me Sounds like they are doing what they do with all other applications, just send em the standard LBA I should think and get ready for court

Good luck!