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Hollanda1

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  1. The biggest problem will be faced by the people who cannot afford to pay off their overdraft and rely on it to live on. Which works out to a lot of people. Halifax KNOW this. Halifax are relying on the fact that we don't know what we're doing and will lay down and play dead whilst they get away with creaming all our hard-earned. Now I am just not willing to do this. Dunno about anyone else!!!
  2. Update. I called the branch yesterday, have got a meeting with them today. Have also posted a letter to the Manager detailing my concerns. Will let you know!
  3. It appears so. Maybe to prove to them how much they are stressing me out and making my illness worse, I should mail them an envelope full of yellow phleghm. That might bring it home to them or at least make them feel nauseated enough to think about the real impact they are having on real people!!!
  4. On the phone they told me it was £300 free overdraft or was that a lie, too? I find it increasingly hard to believe ANYTHING they tell me.
  5. Thanks for your help yourbank. It appears to me that only by making loads of noise, am I likely to be taken seriously. The banks just seem interested in screwing us over in the bad times, when it is their fault we are in this situation. Maybe the only way we can make ourselves heard is collectively. Why do we not set up some kind of protest group and actually actively protest against these scandalous practices of behaviour outside the Head Offices of these institutions. It revolts me that Halifax appear to be making it so easy for fraudsters by making it so difficult for us innocent customers to actually act on the situation and nip it in the bud. They are supposed to HELP us, not hinder us at every turn. It makes me sick. Last week, all I did was sleep and lay on the sofa, unable to get up because I felt so bad. I now have, as I said, severe breathing difficulties and an ongoing cough due to the flu, and the worry of this situation is certainly exacerbating my illness. I would like to take this opportunity to remind EVERYONE to be vigilant on their accounts, because it appears that the eejits in this establishment are unable to carry out the simplest of checks on people's accounts. What sort of bank allows 3 cheques (presumably for 3 different companies/individuals) to leave someone's accounts when the cheques were 2 years past the issue date without checking with the customer that this is in their knowledge?????????????????????????????????? Someone should have flagged that up as slightly unusual!!! Especially within a week!!!!! Sheesh, is everyone lacking common sense here?????????!!!
  6. Thanks. What about this for a template letter (i can amend if necessary) Dear (name of Manager, which I can find out) Re Account Number: xxxxxxx I have been a loyal Halifax customer for well over 10 years and, until recently, have been happy with the service you have offered me. As you are already aware (following our telephone conversation of Tuesday November 10), I am currently issuing a claim for a refund on all bank charges issued to me since 2002. I was grateful to receive a copy of all my statements to date as well as a list of charges incurred. The reason for my current complaint is, however, far more serious as it relates to potential fraud on my account. Having been unfortunate enough to have had my bag (containing chequebook and debit card) stolen twice in 10 years, I believed at the time that I had done everything right - I reported the thefts to Halifax and the Police and was assured that everything in your power (ie the power of Halifax) had been done to prevent further thefts using either my chequebook or my cards. Further chequebooks were sent to me, as well as new debit cards. In March 2008, I became aware that fraudulent debit card activity had been happening on my account. I am extremely aware of transactions I have made, so when something unexpected comes out, I wish to know to whom the transaction was made and when. On this occasion, the complaint was dealt with swiftly and it was found, following investigation, that the activity was fraudulent. My money was refunded. Imagine my distress to find, last week, that a cheque had left my account, to the amount of £110. I immediately stated I did not write this cheque - I am, again, vigilant to the point of paranoia about cheques, and ensure that I keep a record of every cheque I write. I was told, amongst other things, that it was my responsibility, the cheque was in my account, in my name and that cheques can be cashed up to 6 years after they have been written. I was then told I would be charged £5 to receive a copy of the cheque, which I would then need to issue to my branch, in order to have it investigated by the Fraud Department. As if this was not bad enough, this morning I received a letter from Halifax, stating that two further cheques had been presented but had been declined due to insufficient funds. These two cheques amounted to £700. In addition to the first cheque, that is £810, which is approximately one months' pay for me! I called Halifax again and was again told I need to pay £5 per disputed cheque and take it into the branch. Fortunately, on this occasion I spoke to a lady called Michelle who very quickly agreed to do what I was under the impression would have been done from the beginning, ie put a stop on ALL chequebooks other than the one I have in my possession at the moment. Incredibly this had not been done. I have since been on the Halifax website and read up about the supposed attitude towards fraud. To paraphrase, I understand that the Halifax will contact any customer immediately if fraud or suspicious activity is suspected. If this is the case, why would Halifax allow cheques of over 2 years old to leave my account? Does that not strike you as rather suspicious? I appreciate that it is possible for an individual/business to mislay a cheque or have some other reason for not processing it immediately; a week or maybe two weeks is acceptable. But to process a cheque which is years out of date appears to me to be a little questionable. Surely someone must have noticed this rather odd pattern in activity. I do not agree with this rather peculiar way of investigating possible fraud and will be doing everything I can to ensure my money (the £810 cheques that were fraudulently signed in my name, as well as the £70 fees incurred and the £15 I have been charged for the copy cheques) is returned to me. As a long-standing customer of Halifax, I wish to express my disappointment. I feel that all trust I had built up with you has now been destroyed and I fear I will have to move my custom to another institution. Many thanks for your speedy response to my first letter, I look forward to an equally timeous reply on this occasion. Yours sincerely Miss xxxxx
  7. LMFAO When I called to complain I was told it was my OWN fault for getting myself in this situation in the first place. In an icy tone of voice, I reminded the smug little toad that when I took out the account with Halifax, I accepted the Ts and Cs I was given. I pointed out that these have now changed, which amounts to them moving the goalposts, which amounts to a breach of contract. I went on to say, politely but firmly, that if everyone in the land behaved in such a manner, ie change the rules to suit ourselves and swindle others, then the country would be in the doldrums...oh dear that appears to have already happened. I advised the stuck-up twerp that this will not be the last that the Halifax hears from me, and I will be taking my complaints further. I ended the conversation by adding that I am in the process of changing banks...but I will keep my account with them open. Of course, I can't pay back the overdraft at any more than £5 a month. Being as I have no savings with them, they cannot make me. I know they are only doing their jobs blah blah blah. I am sorry but I have very little sympathy for the middle management in those call centres. They choose to accept a higher salary to make other people's lives miserable. The lower-paid call centre monkeys I do have sympathy for, after all a job is a job.
  8. Good evening all. I apologise if I have put this post on the wrong page. I just do not know what to do, I am in despair. I am already in the process of reclaiming my bank charges through hardship and have received all my bank statements free of charge. So that's one thing sorted...! However. I now have a new issue which is slightly more serious. A long time ago (2003?) I had my bag stolen from me in the street. It wasn't a mugging, I was not injured, some girl made off with my bag. I reported the theft, as my bag had my chequebook and my wallet which contained my cards etc. I reported to both Halifax AND the Police. I thought nothing of it, just put it down to bad luck. In February 2008 I was unfortunate enough to have my bag stolen whilst in the library of all places. Again, my bag held EVERYTHING including - you guessed it - my chequebook and my cards. Again, I followed all the procedures, cancelled all cards etc. I was shaken and upset, and reported the matter to the Police as well. I was under the impression that Halifax, as a precaution, had cancelled ALL chequebooks under my account and ALL cards under my account and sent me out a new one of each. Now. In March 2008 I noticed 2 individual card transactions which I KNEW I had not made. They were both to pizza places in areas of Nottingham that I had never been. In addition, they were both made on a night on which I had not used my card at all as I had been ill in bed that weekend. I was told that my concern had been passed to the Fraud department and they would get back to me. They did get back to me and my money was refunded, my card cancelled (again) and a new one sent out. This was fine by me as the agent I spoke to on the phone said it may have been that my card had been cloned and as a precaution I would need a new card. (I asked for this from the word go and was told this was "not the way they did things" and to "bear with them whilst they go through the process"). Fast forward to last Wednesday. I had been in bed with suspected Swine Flu since Sunday night and therefore had not had chance to look at my bank details online as I usually do on a daily basis. Imagine my shock and disbelief when I find that a cheque for £110 has been cleared on my account. I immediately contacted them and was told that in order to find out if this is fraud, I would need to pay £5 for the copy cheque to be sent to me so I can verify it is not my signature and then the fraud can be investigated. I agreed to this. I asked whether ALL Chequebooks bar my current one (the ONLY one I have in my possession which is very rarely used, particularly not for high sums of money and when I do use a cheque, I am very careful to whom I write it and when it goes out of my account). I was told brusquely that it is "my responsibility" to ensure that I cancel any lost/stolen chequebooks. Fair enough. I asked, with some temerity, what the cheque was for and all the lady could tell me was the cheque number. I said this was NOT from my chequebook as the number was far lower than my chequebook starts. I was told that cheques can be legally cashed up to 6 years later and it is my responsibility to take more care with my chequebooks. Anyway. I agreed the charge and await the copy cheque to be sent to me. This morning I received a letter from Halifax and nearly had an asthma attack (not good as I now suffer from respiratory complaints as a complication from H1N1) as it said that 2 cheques, one for £400 and one for £300 have been declined from my account due to insufficient funds. I have been charged £70 for this. I managed to ask the number of these cheques. I was told that these relate to cheques from 2007. Now I KNOW I did not write those cheques. I was again told that all I can do is accept copy cheques, take them into my branch etc etc. So now I am £15 out of pocket as we speak, and on 27 November I will be £70 out of pocket!!! I had to call 3 times on a mobile before I spoke to a girl who was sensible enough to talk me through my current chequebook serial number and put an IMMEDIATE halt on ANY other cheques going through in my name other than those of my current chequebook. So that is in total £810 that someone has tried to withdraw from my account! What I want to know is what Halifax are playing at. On their website they make a huge issue out of treating fraud seriously, and actually says that they will contact customers if "suspicious activity" is noted on their account. Why in the blue blazes did someone not contact me to let me know that 2 cheques, adding up to a heinous amount of money, were being processed nearly 2 years after I had apparently signed for them???? I am sorry...I am not big on this but as I understand it, cheques are valid for up to 6 years after they have been issued but few banks process them after 6 months. Why did someone not contact me to ask me about this activity???? I am not in good health at the moment and this is not helping me. I would like to know my best course of action other than embarking on a full nervous breakdown, to which I feel perilously close. i thank you all for your help on this situation...:-?
  9. Thank you. I have written to Allied International to advise I will not be speaking to them by telephone and anything else needs to be put in writing to me. I refuse to be intimidated. From what other people have said on this Forum, my best way to proceed would be to try and get my account sent back to Lloyds TSB. I feel positive I can do this if I send them a copy of the default letter from February, therefore proving that Lloyds TSB had my correct address all along. I also feel I have grounds to complain to OFT about Lloyds TSB's conduct in this case. Allied International are not acting within the boundaries of the OFT and have resorted to threatening and aggressive methods of collecting debt, and Lloyds TSB need to take responsibility for the people they sell debts on to. One thing I will NOT do is lay down and let this happen to me. I am going to stand up and be counted. I am also going to reclaim my credit card charges from Lloyds TSB and all my other creditors, which will take about 8 weeks apparently. This could potentially be worth thousands for me, which will reduce the amount of debt I actually owe. I need really a template of the correct letters I need to send if this is possible? Thank you very much for your prompt reply.
  10. Hello there people. I believe I have fair grounds to complain about Lloyds TSB to the Financial Ombudsman: - A number of years ago (5 years ago) I owed Lloyds TSB 3,000 on a credit card. I found myself in difficulties making repayments and went to see my Bank Manager to discuss my options. - My bank manager used several technical terms which I did not understand, and offered me a loan of roughly twice the figure I owed. I felt pressured and scared by this and asked if I could go away and think about it. I was told I would not be able to do this as they would not be willing to offer me the loan at those rates at a later date. The Manager was intimidating in manner and I agreed to the loan as I thought it was my only way out. - I fell victim to compound interest. The more I borrowed, the bigger the interest and the less I was able to pay back. Over the years I have had a number of health issues probably brought on by stress and worry of the situation. - On several occasions, I have had agreements with Lloyds TSB, using standing orders and Direct Debits. On each occasion, either the DD has been stopped or I have received a default notice stating the amount was unacceptable. - Each time, I resolved the issue, only for it to happen again in the future. - I joined Kensington Finance who were a fat lot of good, they ripped me off with extortionate admin costs and didn't do what they said they would, ie freeze interest rates whilst I paid back a reduced sum. - I received a substantial number of harassing and intimidating phone calls from Lloyds TSB about this account, on one occasion I received 20 calls in a day. I also received court letters and solicitors letters. Each time, I advised I was with Kensington Finance, which they ignored. The calls were always UNKNOWN (number withheld) and always left an automated message so I knew it was them. - I moved house at the end of October LAST YEAR and ensured I advised all my creditors including Lloyds TSB. They took my new address and confirmed my phone number. I was making monthly payments to them at this time and had not received any threatening calls from them so I assumed all was well. - In February this year I received ANOTHER default notice from them to my new address. I contacted Kensington who said they will deal with it for me. I did not hear anything back from either party. - In May this year, following advice from CAB relating to Kensington, I decided to leave Kensington Finance and contacted my debtors to advise my payments will remain the same but I would be working independently from then on to make the payments. This was accepted. - I continued to make the payments and heard NOTHING from Lloyds TSB. No phone calls or anything. - On Wednesday of last week, I decided to look back through all my financial paperwork to check everything was in order. I am glad I did as I realised, much to my horror, that I had not received ANYTHING from Lloyds TSB relating to this account since February this year, although they had confirmed an arrangement on the credit card side of it. I called Lloyds and when asked to confirm the first line of my address I was told they did not have that address for me. I explained they DID have as I had a letter in front of me dated Feb this year!!! They disputed this and said the account has been passed on to Debt Recovery. - I was put through to them (on an 08457 number on my mobile!) and was advised by Debt Recovery that they had passed my account on to Allied International. I was furious by this time and wanted to know why as I had heard nothing from Lloyds TSB at all. I explained they had my new address and my phone number, as I had received several threatening calls from them and my number has not changed. I was told they cannot speak to me and I need to call Allied. - I called Allied and was told someone would call me back in 10 minutes. - THREE HOURS LATER, Allied called me back. I spoke to a MR GALLACHER who was extremely rude to me. He ignored me, spoke over me and when I eventually asked him politely to let me speak, he did so. He then dismissed my complaints against Lloyds TSB as spurious and said they will not hold up in a Court of Law (his precise wording). He then told me that I was "showing my ignorance of the law" when I tried to speak. He demanded to know where I work and when I refused to tell him, he said it was "in my best interests and might be taken against me in a Court of Law". I said I had done nothing wrong, he said I had ignored a number of official Court summonses. I said I had not ignored them as I had not received them!!! He said they would have been sent to my old address. I asked why, since they had my new one. He said they did not. I pointed out that my former landlady would have forwarded me any Court Summonses as she forwards any mail including junk to my home address. I was again called ignorant and told that "in a Court of Law, Miss *******, your complaint would be dismissed immediately". - I tried to make an offer to him, explaining what I can afford on a monthly basis, but I was advised he couldn't accept this and it would be going to Court. I said fine, I will turn up to Court then. He blustered a bit and said it was in my best interests to "comply with him and pay in full". I asked where am I supposed to find over 5 thousand pounds (what they are now saying I owe!) and he said that is for me to consider. He advised me to consider another loan or a credit card??????? I said "ARE YOU FOR REAL???????????" He then said the calls are recorded and he would use it against me in "a Court of Law if necessary". - Eventually, he agreed that I could send a copy of the letter sent to my new address in February 2008 as proof that Lloyds did in fact have my new address, and therefore I could possibly have an upheld complaint that Lloyds did not give me any notification of my debt being passed on. He said the Court would grant me a "stay of execution" if these grounds were proven. He sounded smarmy and told me "not to hold my breath". - Basically, having looked at the OFT guidelines, I believe Lloyds TSB missold me the loan in the first place (and missold me the PPI), used harassment and intimidation by phone to try and make me pay more than I could afford, and lied to me (I have proof that they had my address all along and I believe they knew my phone number although this cannot be proven). They sold my debt to an outside agency without notification. I feel angry and confused by what has happened to me. Are Allied correct in what they said to me? Can they take me to Court and make me bankrupt?? I am terrified. Please help. The worry is making me ill (I suffer anxiety attacks). Thank you.
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