Thread: New Drama with the Abbey

Whilst not directly related to unlawful bank charges, its a pity we cannot apply penalty charges when the banks get things wrong!!!

Letter sent today.

Dear Sirs

I Write further to our telephone conversations last week in respect of my above-mentioned business reserve account and I am surprised and disappointed to have received no admittance of your error or even an apology from you.

You are aware at 0915 hrs on 7 March 2006, I instructed a CHAPS transfer, a procedure I have followed many times previously, to my nominated account with Halifax PLC. Following your security checks you accepted the instruction and advised that the transfer would be completed, with funds available in the receiving account no later than 1500hrs. At 1515hrs funds had not been received and I telephoned you again, asking you to investigate. On this occasion I was assured that the transfer had most definitely been completed, but occasionally it can be as late as 1730hrs before funds show. I need hardly remind you of our subsequent and distressing conversations during early evening of 7 March 2006 when you advised me that the transfer had not been completed as instructed and you were unable to correct the position that day.

As you are aware, the transfer was to ensure I had sufficient cleared funds available to meet immediate cash requirements as well as direct debits due the following few days. Your failure to complete the transfer placed me in the impossible situation of being more than 100 miles away from home, with absolutely no access to cash or credit (apart from £1.28 in my pocket) and unable even to purchase petrol to facilitate the drive home. This left me with no option, despite freezing conditions but to spend the night in my car. Furthermore, as an insulin dependant diabetic, I was also placed in the highly dangerous position of having to adjust medication against a lack of carbohydrate in order to prevent hospitalisation through a hypoglycaemic attack. You also placed my wife in the embarrassing position of having to borrow money from a family member in order to attend a job interview the following morning.

You will see from the above that your failure to complete this transaction resulted in a catastrophic chain of events with far reaching consequences. On no less than 2 occasions during the day, your staff had assured me that the transfer had been instructed and was in progress, even though I was subsequently advised that this was not the case. Had you not repeatedly mis-informed me until it was too late to correct, it is possible that much of my inconvenience may have been avoided.

I now draw your attention to my telephone conversation of today with a member of your call centre staff. When I asked how Abbey intended to compensate me for my inconvenience I was informed that Abbey would only refund my additional bank charges for 2 failed direct debits. When I outlined the above, he remarked and I quote:

“It was an unfortunate experience, but that experience is now over so put it behind you”

In view of the circumstances, I do not believe that this is an appropriate response and I feel particularly aggrieved that the Abbey are not prepared to address my complaint seriously. Whilst I accept no direct financial loss, apart from bank charges, I do not believe it unreasonable to expect the Abbey to admit their mistake and to compensate me to a level that reflects the seriousness of this error.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully

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“It was an unfortunate experience, but that experience is now over so put it behind you”

The word f*&kwit is barely adequate to describe this guy.

Yes Indeed.

The worst part is that this particular account is a business account which has always been conducted in credit and never had a penalty charge applied in the 7 years I have been operating it. Unlike my personal finances!!!

I wonder if thats the problem? They clearly havent made enough money out of me so have no incentive to keep me happy!! Once again a classic case of banks making a mistake and then not being responsible for their actions.

Originally Posted by seminole

“The word f*&kwit is barely adequate to describe this guy.

lol

Originally Posted by Natasha

i have heard of people charging banks for making mistakes too!

How do you think this would go down then?

Dear Sir

I refer to my previous complaint which so far you have failed to acknowledge despite my letters and telephone calls.

I have considered my position very carefully and would suggest that to settle this matter, you consent to my charging the bank for my inconvenience. I have based the calculations loosely on your own charging structure.

As you are aware, you failed to transfer by CHAPS, the sum of £1,500 to my current account. I note that recently you levied a charge to my current account with yourselves in the amount of £35 for returning a direct debit in the amount of £17.50. Furthermore you then charged me an additional £28 for my use of an unauthorised overdraft facility.

Taking these charges into consideration, I calculate a fair and justifiable charge to you in the amount of £3,000 for the failure to transfer, plus £1,200 for failing to clear my overdraft. As I say, I have calcualated these amounts on the same multiples used by yourselves. That is twice the sum of the failed transaction plus a further three quarters of that to cover sustaining my overdraft. Please rest assured that I would never levy more than three of these charges per day.

However, I do feel that I should bring to your attention the forthcoming month end. Should you fail pay my charges before 31 March 2006, I will be forced to charge you a further £1,200 to cover the month of April.

I look forward to hearing from you shortly.

yours faithfully




YEAH RIGHT...... If only life really were that simple!