Fallen 404's Natwest Diary

[fallen404]

Thought I'd keep a diary of my progress now that I'm pretty much good to go.

 

I've just sent off the DPA letter for my current account recorded delivery, along with my £10 cheque to Alex Lyons, after about 20 minutes' waiting behind a couple of [xxxxx] who were cashing in about a month's worth of scratch cards and buying a load more. Grrrr.

 

Hopefully, they'll receive my letter on Monday morning, getting me a receipt by mid-week. Depending on my progress, I'll be sending the DPA request for my credit card off in 2 to 3 weeks' time. I figure this'll mean that there should be enough of a gap for me to do them as separate claims, should it get to that stage, since I'm pretty sure my current a/c's going to be pretty close to the £5k mark.

 

[xxxxx] EDITED - NO RACIAL/DISCRIMINATORY COMMENTS, PLS.

[Janet-M]

WELL DONE, keep us posted on your progress.

[fallen404]

Right, I've just checked Royal Mail's website, and they've definitely received it now: "Your item with reference DK484606464GB was delivered from our WEST EDINBURGH Delivery Office."

 

Even better, I'll have a signature and name of who signed for it within 72 hours. I assume this means the clock is now very definitely ticking?

[monkey_uk]

Indeed it does!

[fallen404]

Just got a list of transactions dating back to the 7th of March from the counter at the local NatWest. Added it up twice, since I couldn't quite believe it the 1st time: I've been charged £325 in that period for:

 

1 x "Referral Fee"

3 x "Card Misuse Fee"

5 x "Unpaid Item(s)"

 

£325 is equivalent to my half of the rent on the flat my girlfriend and I share. No wonder I was so broke this last month. I'm going to ring NW customer service in a bit and see if I can persuade them to refund it.

[monkey_uk]

Make sure you record the call.

 

You're better off writing to them as per the guidelines though.

[fallen404]

I've written to them (see signature), but £325 is a lot of money, and I want to make a preliminary pass at them for that to start off with, since I think it's absurd to let them ride me for that much for any longer than necessary.

 

And yep, I'll be recording it. I've just done a test with my mobile's voice recorder. I may need to have the thing on speakerphone to do it, but it records calls pretty well.

[monkey_uk]

Make sure it doesn't stop recording if the call is particularly long. Mine did once, I could have thrown the damn thing out of the window if it wasn't worth so much money!

[fallen404]

Okay, here's how things played out: I first of all got through to a Tom in the customer service dept (phoned 0800 015 4212), who took my security information, and then passed me on (after much holding) to "John" in loans and credit (I think it was, anyhow), who, when I told him I thought £325 in 45 days was appalling, told me that it had nothing to do with the period of time, but to do with the fact that there was no money in the account when the charges were presented. As I was about to refer him to the Banking Code, the UTCC Act, and the fact that the reason there was no money was due to their insistence on taking vast sums of money from my account, he mysteriously lost reception of my end of the call. Now, I doubt it was a transmission problem from my mobile, as I could still hear him perfectly, which leaves the possibility of my phone's mic failing, which I'm going to check by playing back the conversation later, since I doubt the damned thing 2 different mics for phone calls and note-taking. Any ideas what action I should take if I find him to be feigning connection problems in order not to speak to me?

 

Monkey, the whole conversation recorded fine, although it's split, since I adjusted the volume at one point, causing the recorder to stop until I tapped record again. It has space for about 23 minutes of video & sound, so it's probably got room for an hour or so of raw audio.

[fallen404]

I've just played back the whole conversation and the voice recording cuts off at the same point as the NW employee suddenly stops being able to hear me. It recorded everything up until then absolutely fine, so I'm now a bit worried my phone's going on the blink.

[monkey_uk]

Sounds like he might have a point then!

 

I'd get it checked out if I were you.

 

I can see it now; a post to the consumer action group:

 

"Phone company refuse to replace faulty mobile phone"

 

rofl.

 

Sorry, I shouldn't really, I'm just in a bit of a giddy mood.

 

I'll get my coat.

 

"Taxi for monkey...."

[fallen404]

Ken, a moderator's probably going to come tell you to start your own thread for your progress in a sec. Just a warning.

 

Monkey; So far Vodafone have been great to me, and I'm pretty sure it's insured, so fingers crossed it'll be fine. However, I'm kind of glad it's a phone error rather than the customer service guy being a weasel, although it's a shame that my first thought was that they were messing me around.

[monkey_uk]

Hey, ken, guess what....

 

I've copied your post into a new thread. please use this link: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=4738

[monkey_uk]

Goodl uck. What sort of phone is it?

[fallen404]

QTek 2020i PocketPC. I only got it at the start of March, so I'm still getting to grips with it. Seems really good though. I'm finding the fact it has a stylus instead of a keypad very useful.

[monkey_uk]

Never heard of it.

 

We're really off topic now, sorry!

[Spiceskull]

We're really off topic now, sorry!

Just a suggestion, prompted by your comment - perhaps we could have a 'mini forum,' within 'general' called 'Tech.' Here we can discuss things like making the spreadsheet work, how to get Open Office, using Firefox, getting the £ symbol to work on your keyboard etc...I have personally answered/posted lots of tech threads, and I think it might be a good idea...

[monkey_uk]

Good idea Spicey, I'll propose it to the rest of the mods.

[fallen404]

I dunno...moderators dragging things off topic...who'd have thought it?

 

Had a bit of a busy day today, so no further progress. However, I'm going to email them this evening, and see about calling them tomorrow whilst on my way up to Whitby, in the feeble hope that I can then actually buy stuff whilst up there. This means I'm probably going to be absent for the next few days, although it'll be a different story if I find an unencrypted wireless network, or the hotel's proves to be cheap.

[monkey_uk]

ooh Whitby, nice place there!

 

oops, o/t again *monkey slaps his dannies "bad boy" *

 

Enjoy the break.

[fallen404]

Okay, just sent this email off:

 

To: Customer.Relations@natwest.com

Date: 19.04.2006 08:41 PM

Subject: Charges 07/03/2006 onwards - Account No. XXXXXXXX

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

I yesterday went into my local branch of NatWest and requested a printed statement of my account activity. Having perused this, I have found that since the above indicated date, charges of £325 have been applied for a variety of reasons.

 

Regardless of the activity that incurred these charges, under section 15 of the Supply of goods act, the cost of the "service" supplied must be reasonable. Given the cost of a computer automatically halting a transaction or noting a payment that puts an account beyond its overdraft limit is negligible, I believe these charges to be an appalling markup of the actual cost to yourselves. Furthermore, under the Consumer Credit Act of 1974, I gather it is illegal to levy a charge which is not a true reflection of the costs to yourselves (and is in fact intended as a penalty charge), especially as the contract was rigid and non-negotiable. Therefore I would like either for these charges to be credited back to my account or for a full justification of the charges (specifically the £35 for "Card Misuse" fees, and the £38 for "Unpaid D/D") and a breakdown of the costs incurred to yourselves to be sent to me at this email address by close of business on Thursday the 20th of April.

 

I appreciate that you may feel that these charges are fair and reasonable, but I very much doubt you would feel the same way should you find £325 removed from your own account without any notice.

 

Yours Faithfully,

 

Fallen F. O'Four

[Spiceskull]

Yup - kick 'em in the goolies...good and hard. I would be VERY surprised if they respond in your overly generous deadline, but then surely speed is the benefit of offering email as a contact channel. Bon chance.

[fallen404]

I suspect not, Spice, but I'm going up to Whitby tomorrow, and it would be nice if I could actually spend some money whilst there.

[fallen404]

Still no reply from NW. I've had neither these charges returned, nor any explanation of what they actually comprise of. I'm not especially surprised by this, and thanks to our having put £300 or so into the other half's savings account prior to the holiday, we actually managed to have a pretty good time whilst away.

[fallen404]

Got the following response just now:

 

Dear Mr O'Four

 

Thank you for taking the time to contact the Bank's Customer's Relations

Unit.

 

I was sorry to learn from your e-mail that you are dissatisfied and will do

what I can to resolve matters for you.

 

To enable us to fully reply to the issues you have raised, I need to

obtain further information. Once this is to hand, or at the latest within 14

working days, one of our Customer Relations Advisers will write to you by

1st class post.

 

If you have further information that you wish to provide us with,

please return to us by e-mail.

 

A copy of our leaflet that explains how we deal with complaints at

NatWest, and the options available to you should you remain dissatisfied is

attached. For security reasons and to ensure we protect your confidential

information, we are unable to respond by e-mail.

 

Stephen Dix

Customer Relations

 

Usual rubbish stalling, basically.