Doesn't surprise me. I think they really started to get scared about not being able to rely on making nice juicy profits from charges. The new T&Cs coming only go to prove this. I'm only glad I got rid of this lot 3 years ago... and suggest everyone else does too. Remember they might have friendly customer service, but they're still part of HSBC who are making sickening ££bns profit every year. God forbid the directors losing a few thousand in bonuses.

You CAN claim these I am 99.9% sure. Unless you remember agreeing to paying £30 a month - I don't think anyone would do that! IF by very very remote chance I'm wrong, FD will explain this in their first response (we are unable to consider because...). I claimed for one charge which they reckon they already refunded and they just told me in the letter... doesn't affect the rest of the claim.

This is confusing a LOT of people. You claim BOTH... the overdraft fee is a penalty and not an arrangement fee. I don't think any bank would charge £30 a month just for an overdraft arrangement, and certainly not FD! I have a horrible feeling people are missing out on getting a lot of THEIR money back by not claiming this.

With reference to being a "thief"... in the vast majority of cases the bank can stop you exceeding your limit. They choose to allow you to go over it (thereby turning themselves into thieves by charging you an unlawful penalty). The top bods that make these decisions must think that we're really stupid - yes they have been getting away with it for years, but not anymore.

Good Luck!

Yes, this is what they call the first fee they take each month for going over your limit. Claim it too, don't worry about your previous prelim, just send another one saying you have discovered they have taken more unlawful charges than you previously realised. Don't let them get away with it!

Responded my LBA offering the same amount as before. Assuming I hear no more beforehand I'll be issuing MCOL for the extra 8% + court fees on top of the previous claim. Don't they realise they'll lose more by not being reasonable at this stage?

Send another prelim letter stating it replaces the original. Something along the lines of "I refer to my letter of XX/XX/XX. I have now discovered that there are further charges with you have taken from my account unlawfully... blah blah" Obviously you need to give them 14 days from your new letter, but other than that it should progress fine.

You're right you can't claim for an overdraft fee, if it's an arrangement fee, but First Direct call their charge for going OVER your overdraft an overdraft fee. You would only pay an arrangement fee once every six months or a year (unless you increase your overdraft) and as far as I know they haven't charged arrangement fees for smaller overdrafts for a while (anyone else correct me if I'm wrong here). So, if it's a monthly charge, it's almost certainly for going over your overdraft. The excess overdraft fee is charged the 2nd and subsequent times you exceed your limit in any one month. Hope this makes sense, but let me know if not!

Claim back the lot, INCLUDING the £30 overdraft fee. This is NOT standard, it's an unlawful penalty charge. You are costing the bank a couple of pence at most, and they're chaging you interested for that. Don't let them get away with it. Good Luck!

I just waited 14 days then sent the LBA, with the paragraph adding that I accept the amount as partial settlement only blah blah. Don't worry about their 10 working day offer, as you will be asking for more money it's not really relevant - and from experience FD don't send out partial settlements anyway... and I can't imagine them ever reducing the offer after an LBA! Some people send LBA as soon as they get a reply, but if by remote chance it ever got to court, you could at least show you were completely fair and stuck to your original timescales if you allowed them 14 days (you never know, they might improve their offer before!!).

Have they sent you a letter/receipt to confirm this? If you've still not received the money, write to them (yes it takes a bit longer than phoning, but then you will have evidence). I have done this before and got a fairly quick response. Customer service always seems to be better this way than over the phone - I think companies tend to use more experienced employees to deal with letters than phone calls, because they expect them to be more serious issues they deal with. It could be the people on the phone just not completing the request properly.

If they advise you they made a mistake before taking payment and dispatching the goods, this is quite common practise. I don't believe they can claim it was an error and simply not honour the order, AFTER you have had an order confirmation, specifying what you will get - and certainly not after they've taken payment. From looking at the Woolworths site, it seems it will cost you £30 to "upgrade", not insignificant, but their last reply appeared fairly final. If you want to pursue it, I'd send them an LBA with a copy of the court form you will submit if they don't upgrade your doll or give you £30 within 14 days. I'd then be very surprised if they don't respond if your favour.

Personally, I would wait until 14 days from the original letter, then send the LBA mentioning your will accept £655 as partial settlement and pursue the rest. Some people seem to do it straight away, but I think it's fairer this way.

Did you get this offer in writing or over the phone? If it's in writing they don't have a leg to stand on - send a copy to Westcot as proof. If it was over the phone, you'll have to proceed as if they never made the offer. ALWAYS get these things in writing, over the phone it doesn't mean a thing.

How long ago did you send the prelim, or get the reply? If it was recent (perhaps within a month) you can send the LBA giving them 14 days to pay up. If it was a while ago, you'd be better starting off again - this time make sure you do send the LBA after 14 days - otherwise they won't take you seriously. Good Luck!

Only put this in the letter if you have been defaulted. You would need to get a copy of your credit record from a Credit Reference Agency to confirm this. From your first post I assume you are still using the account with FD; if this is the case they almost certainly won't have defaulted you though - because they would probably be asking you to stop using/close the account if they default you.

You could do either, but I'd recommend you keep them separate - obviously make it very clear with accounts numbers shown on all of your letters. And when accepting any offer(s), again make sure it makes it very clear you're only accepting for one account.

Good luck! (don't think you'll need it though)

Forget the confidentiality agreement - I don't know why they're even trying this anymore as everyone who posts on here seems to have crossed it out and had no problems getting the same amount. Also haven't seen anyone yet who has been offered any less than the full amount before it gets to court, so I'd reject the offer and hang out for the rest. That's what I'll be doing anyway!

I had 2 accounts also, I have sent them one letter to cover both at every stage, and had no problems. I think it would only be an issue if it totals over £5k if it comes to court.

That address is fine... it's where I've been sending everything and I've read plenty of other posts from people who always use that address with no problem.

I work for O2 too.. but thankfully not customer facing!! Retentions should be doing all they can to keep you at the moment (within the options they have available to them). Every single permenant O2 staff member is up for a big bonus if we stay above 17m subscribers at the end of the year.

Did you send them the letters from the templates in the library? I'm surprised they offered you zilch if you did. I've read various offerings, but it seems they make you work for it if it's a larger amount. I'm claiming close to £500 and got offered over £300 straight off. If you didn't use the templates you might want to start again... if so then 14 days after your LBA you need to be starting your moneyclaim. Templates can be found here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/

Received letter on the 14th day - offering less than 25% of what I am claiming (there's a lot of interest as most of my charges were 4-5 years ago). A very standard letter most of which didn't apply since my accounts have been closed. LBA sent for a total of over £1100. They have until 29th to pay up!