Hi, just to let you know I went into the branch and they decided to remove the charges. Guess I'm getting better with the old jedi mind trick! Thanks for the advice anyway. Tom.

Not Natwest, my bank is RBS (for now!) I did phone them but had no success. I think I might go in and see them in person... sometimes that makes it harder for them to be b*****ds. I'm not sure if reclaiming my charges is worth it either as I have had very few during the last 6 years. For all I know I may only have these - which amount to just under £80. Also, several of the threads on this site suggest that unpaid item charges are legal (and therefore less easily refunded) - is this true? Best wishes, Tom.

Hi, I am also new to this site and had a trawl through the relevant info I could find. However, I was wondering if someone could answer my advice on some unpaid item fees have received. These all occurred on the same day for 2 direct debits I had set up (both to the same company). As I knew these were due around this period (they are not on the same day every month) I checked my account daily through internet banking. On the day these D/Ds were coming off I transferred money into the account to cover the costs. This happened instantaneously. However, a few days later I received a letter saying that these items were returned as Unpaid Items Fees. I checked my balance and, sure enough, the money had not come out of my account. I phoned up the bank about this and they told me that as D/Ds take a few days to ‘go through’ the money had to be in the account a few days in advance. They also informed me that if I’d phoned up the bank on the day they could have prevented these charges. However, there were unwilling to remove these charges. Charges which would amount to 2 x £38, almost 4 times the D/D amount. To me, this makes internet banking pointless. One of the reasons I have it is because I thought that instantaneous transfers between accounts would prevent me from accruing charges. Aside from this issue, I do not see what the charges are actually for. I could understand it if it had taken me overdrawn but the D/Ds were not paid (the service these were to pay for has been temporarily withdrawn due to non-payment, proving that this is the case). As far I can see the bank has provided me with no service for this (apart from sending me a letter). On this basis I do not see what the charges are for... I am hoping that someone could explain the bank’s reasoning behind this (if there is any) and whether this is legally fair? Also, was the response I got a particularly likely one or was I just unlucky? If so would it be worth speaking to them again, perhaps going in person? Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated. P.S. I normally have sufficient money in this account to cover direct debits in advance, this month was something of an exception. Also, I have never received a charge for this account. I had one revoked for another account but that was a while ago now – not exactly sure when.