Charged for being a victim of fraud!

[pward33]

An unusual one....

I and some friends are setting up a charity. We opened a co-op account because of its allegedly “ethical” policy. We received a paying in book and card, but no chequebook; we assumed it was on its way.

Instead, we received a letter saying we had bounced a cheque and would be charged. We wrote immediately saying we’ve not even had a chequebook and had not used the account in any way shape or form, so either the bank was in error or the chequebook we were waiting for had gone astray and had landed in the hands of fraudsters, in which case we demanded the police be called or their fraud department should launch an investigation.

Our letter was ignored and a while later we received a statement; we had been charged a daily fee and the account was about £300 in the red. We sent a further letter, saying we would look at referring the matter to the Ombudsman if they did not reply and refund all the charges. This letter, too, was ignored.

Eventually, after several unsuccessful attempts, I got through to them on the phone, got an apology and a verbal assurance that the charges were refunded and the balance was zero. We received a chequebook and assumed all was well. We were about to make our first deposit when we received a letter saying the account was inexplicably £2 in the red (remember this account has never been used!!) and we have now received a letter telling us we are incurring daily charges again!

We have had to delay the launch of the charity because we don’t feel we can use the account until this is sorted. Is the Ombudsman now the way to go, and can anyone give an indication as to how long they take to investigate?

[pward33]

Anyone?

[dx100uk]

i would not worry with them.
recontact the co-op on 01857 212212
they have sorted the problem once, why should they not do it again?


dx100uk

[half ax I]

Personally I would seriously question whether I wanted to do business with this bank irrespective of their ethical policy and look elsewhere.

[pward33]

Thanks to you both; I'll give them one more chance and if they don't get it sorted, will move elsewhere. Just hoped the Ombudsman might give them a speedy kick up the backside, but maybe not.

If one - just one - bank acted with competence and integrity, and treated its customers with respect, it would make a bloody fortune!

[Bolton1]

Maybe we should set up the CAG Bank!

[pward33]

Now there's a thought Bolton1 - many a true word spoken in jest .....