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I've just had a letter from Dawn Hoyle saying it's taking more than the originally anticipated four weeks to reply to my "complaint". In previous correspondence she's been described as "Head of Customer Satisfaction". She's now metamorphosed into the "Head of Complaints"!
Perhaps they've given up on customer satisfaction...
Don't give her the 4 weeks. Stick to your targets. They have the money to get extra help if they want it. They don't seem to realise that they are goig to need extra help long-term!
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Don't worry. The DPA expiry date is 26 March. If they haven't let me have the information by then, then it's off to the Information Commissioner and I'll be suing on an estimated basis. I've made this very clear to them.
And include a claim for their breach in failing to supply you with the data
Please don't pm me about specific questions unless you have posted and it has not been dealt with or unless the matter is confidential. Please include a link to the post you want me to look at. If you have received a defence, contact me.
Advice & opinions of BankFodder, The Consumer Action Group and The Bank Action Group are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Use your own judgment. Seek advice of a qualified insured professional if you have any doubts.
I'm suggesting this on the basis that there must be an implied term that they will comply with UK law. This measn that there must also be an implied term that they will comply with resonable customer request which invoke their statutory duties. Therefore it must be a breach of the duty to fail to comply with their statutory duty.
So there is the breach. You are right, you have to identify a loss. It could be the cost of chasing them on it plus your £10 fee which presumably they have not returned to you (I hope that you have paid it) and in the extreme scenario youcould get an injunction without too much fear of it leaving the small claims track.
However, I think that once their lawyers saw the breach included in the claim, the word would go out pretty smartish to comply.
Please don't pm me about specific questions unless you have posted and it has not been dealt with or unless the matter is confidential. Please include a link to the post you want me to look at. If you have received a defence, contact me.
Advice & opinions of BankFodder, The Consumer Action Group and The Bank Action Group are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Use your own judgment. Seek advice of a qualified insured professional if you have any doubts.
After yesterday's letter saying that they needed another four weeks, I have today received a response to my complaint.
Mrs Tracey Valentine produces the usual spiel about how they believe that the charges are fair. A couple of interesting points though:
1) "I note you say you are unhappy with the charges you have incurred over the last six years. If you felt at any time the charges were unfair or incorrect, then the matter should have been raised at that time". I don't think I've seen this before so I'm wondering if it's an attempt to develop a new line of defence.
2) "Abbey's Current Account is good value and our charges compare fairly with other banks. For most people banking is free and they do not incur penalty charges" Oops.
3) "If the complaint escalates into a claim in the county court, we will review each case individually and if we feel that our relationship with our customer has broken down completely, we may decide to give notice to close the account unfrt the Terms and Consitions" As the account is already closed I'm not exactly quaking in my boots but this seems to me to be a pretty desperate threat.
After yesterday's letter saying that they needed another four weeks, I have today received a response to my complaint.
Mrs Tracey Valentine produces the usual spiel about how they believe that the charges are fair. A couple of interesting points though:
1) "I note you say you are unhappy with the charges you have incurred over the last six years. If you felt at any time the charges were unfair or incorrect, then the matter should have been raised at that time". I don't think I've seen this before so I'm wondering if it's an attempt to develop a new line of defence.
2) "Abbey's Current Account is good value and our charges compare fairly with other banks. For most people banking is free and they do not incur penalty charges" Oops.
3) "If the complaint escalates into a claim in the county court, we will review each case individually and if we feel that our relationship with our customer has broken down completely, we may decide to give notice to close the account unfrt the Terms and Consitions" As the account is already closed I'm not exactly quaking in my boots but this seems to me to be a pretty desperate threat.
Can you send a copy of this letter to research@ please. Thanks
Please don't pm me about specific questions unless you have posted and it has not been dealt with or unless the matter is confidential. Please include a link to the post you want me to look at. If you have received a defence, contact me.
Advice & opinions of BankFodder, The Consumer Action Group and The Bank Action Group are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Use your own judgment. Seek advice of a qualified insured professional if you have any doubts.
Looking at the rest of the letter I may have a DPA problem. The original letter I sent was the draft which included 7 days notice and the DPA request. I didn't send £10 as I believe that this is not required unless they ask for it. I have sent them two reminder letters about the ticking clock on the 40 days and the deadline is 26 March.
Abbey's latest letter of the three I've received is the first to acknowledge the DPA request. They've enclosed their form and have asked for £10. They are either hopelessly incompetent or they are hoping to delay things further.
My inclination is to send them £10 but demand that they provide the information by the 26th. I think that this is reasonable as they failed to acknowledge the application until now despite being reminded about it. If they don't provide the information by the 26th, I propose to complain to the Information Commissioner and sue on an estimated basis. In some ways this might be the best outcome as I think they owe me in excess of £5k and I will sue for £4.9k now and look at using their non-compliance as the basis for negotiation or even a second action.
Technically the 40 starts when they have payment, but you could argue that because they wre so dilatory and time wasting that it should start from the date of your reminder. I don't know if it work but might be worth a try.
The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.
I have a separate thread for my action but just as a matter of interest I have had a letter from Dawn Hoyle today saying currently investigating complaint raised 4 weeks ago (I didn't write to her nor has she been in touch with us before so couldn't understand it). It sounds pretty much the same as the letter in this thread. I notice that the signature is printed and I took the view it was a standard letter and probably one of many. The wording is not quite right for my complaint.
Looks like Abbey are in a flap and possibly inundated with correspondence.
Technically the 40 starts when they have payment, but you could argue that because they wre so dilatory and time wasting that it should start from the date of your reminder. I don't know if it work but might be worth a try.
I made a DPA request to Abbey's DPA department, they sent my cheque back and said they are passing it to complaints department and that they try not to make access requests if its not needed they will provide the print outs/ statements free of charge.
so how comes they request some people to pay the £10 and others not to? we are all reqeusting the same information??
Natasha
Abbey-received DPA letter on 13/03, received some breakdown till 2004 waiting for the more recent ones(where most charges occurred)
sent reminder email on 17/4/06
called abbey on 19/04/06 to remind them
sent another email on 26/04/06
Approx charges £2500
received £500 refund in dec 06
sent LBA Capital one- sent DPA letter 17/03
Sent prim letter for charges of £260 14/04
Received a refund £109 awaiting further refund of £151
Settled IN FULL Barclay card- Sent DPA letter 17/03 sent reminder 14/04
received info claiming £120
settled in FULL
They may be trying to avoid giving a full disclosure because it will show that there have been no manual interventions - which has been the piece of wreckage the banks have been hanging onto recently.
The choice is yours: take the free statements or insist on full DPA disclosure(which may or may not be useful later).
I'm sorry, I cann't give a more definitive answer thatn this.
I made a DPA request to Abbey's DPA department, they sent my cheque back and said they are passing it to complaints department and that they try not to make access requests if its not needed they will provide the print outs/ statements free of charge.
so how comes they request some people to pay the £10 and others not to? we are all reqeusting the same information??
They are not entitled to do this. If you are satusfied with their response and are content to receive statement alone then fair enough. however, if you have asked for full disclosure including evidence of manual intervention then you should return the cheque with a stern letter saying teling them that they are acting in violation of the DPA and that the clock is ticking and that if they do not comply that their refusal will be included in any claim and that their letter of refusal (which I hope you still have) will be shown to the court as part of your evidence and to the IC to whom you will be makng a complaint.
Please don't pm me about specific questions unless you have posted and it has not been dealt with or unless the matter is confidential. Please include a link to the post you want me to look at. If you have received a defence, contact me.
Advice & opinions of BankFodder, The Consumer Action Group and The Bank Action Group are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Use your own judgment. Seek advice of a qualified insured professional if you have any doubts.
Thanks Guys i dont have a scanner but if you pm me your address i will send a copy to you.
Natasha
Abbey-received DPA letter on 13/03, received some breakdown till 2004 waiting for the more recent ones(where most charges occurred)
sent reminder email on 17/4/06
called abbey on 19/04/06 to remind them
sent another email on 26/04/06
Approx charges £2500
received £500 refund in dec 06
sent LBA Capital one- sent DPA letter 17/03
Sent prim letter for charges of £260 14/04
Received a refund £109 awaiting further refund of £151
Settled IN FULL Barclay card- Sent DPA letter 17/03 sent reminder 14/04
received info claiming £120
settled in FULL
Looking at the rest of the letter I may have a DPA problem. The original letter I sent was the draft which included 7 days notice and the DPA request. I didn't send £10 as I believe that this is not required unless they ask for it. I have sent them two reminder letters about the ticking clock on the 40 days and the deadline is 26 March.
Abbey's latest letter of the three I've received is the first to acknowledge the DPA request. They've enclosed their form and have asked for £10. They are either hopelessly incompetent or they are hoping to delay things further.
My inclination is to send them £10 but demand that they provide the information by the 26th. I think that this is reasonable as they failed to acknowledge the application until now despite being reminded about it. If they don't provide the information by the 26th, I propose to complain to the Information Commissioner and sue on an estimated basis. In some ways this might be the best outcome as I think they owe me in excess of £5k and I will sue for £4.9k now and look at using their non-compliance as the basis for negotiation or even a second action.
Nothing in the post today and I'm not expecting them to courier it over.
Unless you're in a big hurry I suggest you start again by sending them £10 with a standard dpa request letter (don't fill in their stupid form). Legally, they're entitled to get £10 from you before they carry out your request. When you make your claim against them it's definitly best to go in with exact figures if you can.
said they are passing it to complaints department and that they try not to make access requests if its not needed
If they said that aren't they shooting themselves in the foot? Whether it is needed or not is irrelevant - it was requested and therefore a mandatory task, ar at least I would have thought so.
Alecto, Magaera et Tisiphone: Nemesis on Earth is come.
All advice and opinions given by Spiceskull are personal, and are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.
Is the pressure getting to Abbey?
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Originally Posted by seminole
