Paul23870 V Abbey (Scotland - need help please)

[paul23870]

Some good news at last!!! Proceeded with court action in small claims court here in Scotland last December as fed up with Shabbeys cocky Indian call centre staff (its your own fault for incurring these charges etc).

 

Claim was for £184 plus £39 court expenses plus interest.

 

Won case last month as THE SHABBEY never replied to the summons or turned up in court despite their threatening letters that they would produce, in court, a breakdown of their costs involved when i went overdrawn (i had asked them for this).

 

Waited 2 weeks for them to pay up. Sent recorded letter demanding my money back (a taste of their own medicine is SSSOOO sweet) otherwise i would go to national media. No reply!

 

Just checked my online bank statement and see a cheque for £228 was paid into my account at their Milton Keynes branch on 14 March. Thats a long way from Scotland!! (Very discreet...like a naughty child thats been forced to apologize).

 

Still no correspondence from them but at last i have my money back.

 

Now going for the full 6 years.

 

Keep fighting, Paul

[BankFodder]

Great - can we have your claim details for our litigation section please.

[paul23870]

abbey have used the microfiche excuse & its now well over 40 days since i requested 6 years of statements (d.p.a.). they sent back 18 months of paper statements together with my cheque for £10 back. i sent it back with letter from templates library. they replied with microfiche argument again & said that my £10 cheque would pay for this (impossible as they have sent it back to me twice!).

my question is.....if i take abbey to court for non compliance of a d.p.a. request will their microfiche argument stand up in court?

any suggestions welcome, thanks

[alanfromderby]

The microfiche situation has been discussed a great deal - do a forum search on microfiche. There is also information on DPA Non-Compliance in the Bank Template Library.

[paul23870]

Hi, having problems right now with finances as wife been off work for a year due to horseriding accident. Recently gone onto half pay hence mega bank charges (already have about £3k to claim back over last 6 years). Phoned bank to see if wife received ANY wages for this month.........

"Hi, I'm phoning to see if my wifes wages went in last thursday."

"For security can you tell me of any recent transactions on your account?"

"Yes, last thursday my wages went in for £***'s."

"And anyones elses wages...how much were they for?"

"I don't know, thats why I'm phoning you."

"Let me see....no there was no money paid into this account last thursday."

"Nothing at all?"

"No, nothing paid in at all."

"Yes there was...my wages went in." (I am paid weekly).

"No, in fact no money has gone into this account at all last month."

"Yes it has...my wages..."

"No, nothing has been paid into this account at all last month."

"Yes it has...my wages have been paid in EVERY thursday."

"No, nothing has been paid into this account at all last month."

"YES IT HAS...MY WAGES HAVE BEEN PAID IN EVERY THURSDAY!!!"

"Let me see, ah yes sir, money has gone in on thursday but only one payment, not two wages."

"TTTTHHHAAANNNKKKYYYOOOUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

Anyway, this has nothing to do with refunding charges but it shows the incompetance of the banks (and may brighten up your day...do I laugh or cry???). Their customer service is appalling...they just want to save money wherever they can (as if they don't make enough). The poor customer is treated as if they are an irrelevance.

 

Good luck everyone...they shall be beaten.

[livelylad]

complete txssers!!

[Lula]

I know, I have to deal with them for Abbey and Sky, now lets get this correct for fear of being labelled racist, these are all degree level educated people and are mainly polite, BUT its not what we need for a call centre for a British company, the call centre for a british company needs to be in the UK, when are they going to get the message?????

[gizmo111]

I spent 2 and half hours going round in circles other day with bt internet - basically Nat west have cancelled my visa and i never thought to change payment method - broadband cut off - rang up and was put through to these people who decided it was because my mouse doesn't right click, my line was faulty, i am not a regular customer! every time i offered payment i was passed elewhere in the end after changing my settings about 6 times they eventually took my payment and wished me a nice day - I had stema coming out of my earholes. I am not racist in any shape of#r form but I do xpect ot be able to communicate with my providers.

[livelylad]

is right English is a very complicated language to understand, you just cant pick it up in a week. However grabitbanks dont care about customers just shareholders and bonuses!!!

[paul23870]

hi, yes i agree totally. it is of course not a problem of race but the fact that they are thousands of miles away and do not seem to relate to british banking. they do not seem to be degree educated. is this correct? it seems as if they are just plucked off the street and given a phone to answer. paul.

[livelylad]

the worst thing is getting a fookin machine!!! press 1 press 2 new choices press 1 press 2 and it always gives you your balance wether you want it or not. Give me stregnth!!!!! :mad:

[gizmo111]

hi, yes i agree totally. it is of course not a problem of race but the fact that they are thousands of miles away and do not seem to relate to british banking. they do not seem to be degree educated. is this correct? it seems as if they are just plucked off the street and given a phone to answer. paul.

 

I understand that to work in a call centre is a well paid job - what level of education I dunno - maybe a degree in languaguages certainly ahven't come across one that has a first in English!

 

Was trying to book train tickets through one a while ago - don't even try it cos of mis prounanciation you never knbow where you may end up.

 

Car Ins - my hausband had a 30 month ban come to an end - they wouldn't accept that this was less than three years - their script and understanding was just soul destroying! ooh never did get that car insured - divorce was simpler!

[Bookworm]

I understand that to work in a call centre is a well paid job

 

Not in Britain, it isn't!

 

I noticed on a Churchill ad earlier that one of the questions asked was "are your call centres in Britain?". Obviously a serious bone of contention with customers, and quite rightly so too.

 

I remember reading that some call centres in ... India? were trained in British things to help them get a better understanding of the callers, and even were given British names

I thought it was an exxageration until I spoke a few months back to a gentleman at GE Money who assured me his name was Sean, despite an Asian accent you could have cut with a knife... Now, there is a possibility is name may have been Sean, but somehow I have my doubts....

[gizmo111]

Not in Britain, it isn't!

 

I noticed on a Churchill ad earlier that one of the questions asked was "are your call centres in Britain?". Obviously a serious bone of contention with customers, and quite rightly so too.

 

I remember reading that some call centres in ... India? were trained in British things to help them get a better understanding of the callers, and even were given British names

I thought it was an exxageration until I spoke a few months back to a gentleman at GE Money who assured me his name was Sean, despite an Asian accent you could have cut with a knife... Now, there is a possibility is name may have been Sean, but somehow I have my doubts....

 

No i meant foreign call centres are allegedly well paid. Rubbish over here and awful working conditions and expectations of staff.

And yeah I asked one who was called dennis ( and he was a bloody menace) if that was his real name and he said no but it kind of translated to his real name.

 

I have had a lot of cold calling offering me a secured loan or cheaper mortgage since I made an internet enquiry about 6 months ago, and they just do not shut up until they have finished what they have on script - even after you tell them to sod off they carry on with script.

[paul23870]

Sorry but I am in total shock.....phoned Abbey to cancel all of my direct debits as I am opening a parachute account prior to reclaiming charges. Got the usual foreign call centre on the other side of the universe (he kept saying, "so you want to set up a direct debit?" "No, I want to cancel them." This went back & forth about 4 times). Got there eventually....then realised that I had forgotten one so I phoned back............

OH MY GOD, THIS TIME THEY HAD AN ENGLISH ACCENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Do you think they were on a bus-mans holiday???

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lula]

Paul, sometimes when you ring Abbey, especially first thing on a Monday morning, you get through to Scotland

[kia]

when i got one of the first bog off letters they made the mistake of giving me another phone number to ring and there all english speaking the number is 08457 654321 and low and behold someone who has a least a grasp onenglish no more helpful though its not just for data stuff either its for general requests probably for the staff so they dont have to phone the call centre as when your in the branch and they phone for you they never speak to a foreign call centre irionic isnt it!!

[lisamellor]

yes that number is the glasgow site. it isnt open in the evening like the other number though.

 

lisax

[paul23870]

Hi, just been doing some research on this Mercantile Court situation and came across a website that has an article stating that County Courts in England are now refusing to hear Bank Charge Refund Cases due to an upcoming test case at a Mercantile Court in London later this year.

Go to Financial News, City News, Mortgages, Loans, Savings, Pensions, Market Reports | This is Money and type "bank refund" into the advanced search box. Story number 2 is titled "Bank refunds put on ice by court...."

What implications does this have for us all?

Does it apply to claims going through the small claims court?

Any suggestions from anyone (MODERATORS PLEASE HELP!!!).

Is this not a big story?

Paul.

[barracad]

It was a fairly big story back in July when it was actually published.

[paul23870]

Oops, sorry folks, I thought this was a new story. My apologies....so are small claims still going through OK? I am starting a claim through Moneyclaim today as I have received no reply from Abbey regarding my request for a refund of charges.

Again, sorry for giving anyone a heart attack. Must be all the stress of dealing with these banks!

Paul.

[Guest Zooman]

12th July mate BBC Radio 4 follows up story.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/audio/41891000/rm/_41891028_banks.ram

[paul23870]

Hi there, sent a recorded delivery letter to shABBEY to claim £720 in charges. Went to Royal Mail website and printed off the signature and date of delivery for this letter (delivered 8th September). I threatened court action if they did not pay up within 7 days.

I have received NO responce from shABBEY at all.

Today I was preparing my small claim forms when I thought I would phone up to check if anything was paid INTO my account since 8th September (apart from wages).

On 8th September £430 "ACCOUNT ADJUSTMENT" has been paid in.

REMEMBER....I HAVE RECEIVED NO LETTER FROM shABBEY

Do I accept this in writing and claim the remaining £290 from them OR proceed with my small claim through the courts for the remaining £290 straight away???

Any help much appreciated,

Paul

P.S. still have about £3000 in charges to claim back...am going for £750 at a time.

[paulpb123]

Perhaps write accepting this as partial settlement but you require £290 with 7 days otherwise its claim time.

[paul23870]

Sounds sensible,

thanks,

Paul.