Woolwich/Barclay's Unlawful Charges

[Charles]

I too suffered the same fate as others. The Woolwich tried to fine me for underpayments; total fines going back to 1999 amounted to £180 plus interest the fines plus interest amounted to £412.

I had constantly made enquiries regarding any possible arrears only to be told that there were no arrears, during one of my attempts to educate them I asked them to retrieve a recording of my telephone conversations with them, guess what? your right they couldn’t find any, now there’s a surprise considering that they say that all phone calls are recorded for training purposes etc. What I did not realise was that they did not count any money outstanding as arrears until the amount equalled one month's mortgage payment, is this sneaky or is this deliberate misinformation to enable them to boost their coffers

Anyway after prolonged and at times intense negotiations followed with threats of court action and reports to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, The Financial Services Authority and the Financial Ombudsman Service they finally gave up and cancelled the charges and interest that had been applied, making the point that they were only doing it as an act of goodwill because I had been ill and not for any other reason. If that is their excuse for the reimbursement then I suppose that I can look upon it as a therapeutic exercise for my bank balance.

	Record your calls Follow this link to read the review of the Truecall telephone recorder and call manager. This is the Rolls Royce of call recorders. It's a bit pricey but if you buy it with our special offer you will get it at cost: about 20% discount. How much do we make on the deal? - Nothing at all. You can also buy cheaper devices from Maplins. Truecall is the best - but the important thing is to record your calls.

	The Financial Ombudsman Service For the most part, don't bother. The Ombudsman is an industry arranged service which is under-resourced, takes too long, lacks clear transparency. You have no idea what evidence the FOS has received from the bank or how your complain has really been handled. The FOS is the preferred complaints route for the banking industry. The county court is to be preferred by consumers for its speed, openness, the quality of its awards and also because it will award 8% interest on top of any damages won by you. The Ombudsman should normally be used to solving little technical difficulties or customer service problems which you have expereinced with your bank.

	Are you letting your bank keep your money Are you giving away thousands of pounds?? Many people aren't claiming all of the money they are entitled to when they make their bank charges claims. You have been forced to pay unfair bank charges. Have you forgotten that your bank has charged you inteest on those charges? If you are overdrawn and the bank owes you charges - then your overdraft is made up of charges - money which you bank owes you. Yet you are paying interest to the bank - on your own money!!! Follow this link to see the discussions on this. You might even double th size of your claim.

[Bookworm]

Quite right too.

Welcome and very well done to you.