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    • Sec127 (3) repealed, now gone. S. 127(3)-(5) repealed (6.4.2007) by Consumer Credit Act 2006 (c. 14), ss. {15}, 70, 71(2), {Sch. 4} (with Sch. 3 para. 11); S.I. 2007/123, art. 3(2), Sch. 2
    • We used to recommend that people accept mediation but our advice has changed. The mediation process is unclear. Before you can embark on it you have to agree that you are prepared to enter a compromise – and that means that you agree that you are prepared to give up some of your rights even though you are completely in the right and you are entitled to hundred percent of your money and even though EVRi are simply trying to obstruct you in order to discourage you and also to put others who might want to follow your example off from claiming and even though they have a legitimate basis for reimbursement. Mediation is not transparent. In addition to having to sign up that you are prepared to give up some of your rights, you will also have to agree not to reveal any details of the mediation – including the result of the mediation – so that the whole thing is kept secret. This is not open justice. Mediation has nothing to do with justice. The only way of getting justice is to make sure that this matter goes to trial unless EVRi or the other parcel delivery companies put their hands up and accept the responsibility even if they do it is a gesture of goodwill. Going to trial and winning at trial produces a judgement which we can then add to our small collection to assist other people who are in a similar boat. EVRi had been leading you around by the nose since at least January – and probably last year as well – and their whole purpose is simply to drag it out, to place obstacles in your way, to deter other people, and to make you wish that you'd never started the process and that you are prepared to give up your 300 quid. You shouldn't stand for it. You should take control. EVRi would prefer that you went to mediation and if nothing else that is one excellent reason why you should decline mediation and go to court. If it's good for them it's bad for you. On mediation form, you should sign that you are not prepared to compromise and that you are not prepared to keep the result secret but that you want to share the results with other people in similar circumstances. This means that the mediation won't go ahead. It will take slightly longer and you will have to pay a court fee but you will get that back when you win and you will have much greater satisfaction. Also, once you go the whole process, you will learn even more about bringing a small claim in the County Court so that if this kind of thing happens again you will know what to do and you will go ahead without any hesitation. Finally, if you call EVRi's bluff and refuse mediation and go to trial, there is a chance – maybe not a big chance – but there is a chance that they will agree to pay out your claim before trial simply in order to avoid a judgement. Another judgement against them will simply hurt the position even more and they really don't want this. 300 quid plus your costs is peanuts to them. They don't care about it. They will set it off against tax so the taxpayer will make their contribution. It's all about maintaining their business model of not being liable for anything, and limiting or excluding liability contrary to section 57 and section 72 of the consumer rights act.     And incidentally, there is a myth that if you refuse mediation that somehow it will go against you and the judge will take a dim view and be critical of you. This is precisely a myth. It's not true. It would be highly improper if any judge decided the case against you on anything other than the facts and the law of the case. So don't worry about that. The downside of declining mediation is that your case will take slightly longer. The upside is that if you win you will get all your money and you will have a judgement in your favour which will help others. The chances of you winning in this case are better than 95% and of course you would then receive 100% of your claim plus costs
    • Nice to hear a positive story about a company on this form for a change. Thank you
    • too true HB, but those two I referred for starters - appear to be self admitted - One to excuse other lockdown law breaking, by claiming his estate away from his consistency and London abode was his main home the other if he claims to have 'not told the truth' in his own words via that quote - to have mislead his investors rather than broken lobbying rules   - seem to be slam dunks - pick which was your law breaking - it seems to be both and much more besides in Jenricks case Starmer was director of public prosecutions yet the tories are using seemingly baseless allegations for propaganda and starmer is missing pressing apparent blatant criminality in politics
  • Our picks

    • If you are buying a used car – you need to read this survival guide.
      • 1 reply
    • Hello,

      On 15/1/24 booked appointment with Big Motoring World (BMW) to view a mini on 17/1/24 at 8pm at their Enfield dealership.  

      Car was dirty and test drive was two circuits of roundabout on entry to the showroom.  Was p/x my car and rushed by sales exec and a manager into buying the mini and a 3yr warranty that night, sale all wrapped up by 10pm.  They strongly advised me taking warranty out on car that age (2017) and confirmed it was honoured at over 500 UK registered garages.

      The next day, 18/1/24 noticed amber engine warning light on dashboard , immediately phoned BMW aftercare team to ask for it to be investigated asap at nearest garage to me. After 15 mins on hold was told only their 5 service centres across the UK can deal with car issues with earliest date for inspection in March ! Said I’m not happy with that given what sales team advised or driving car. Told an amber warning light only advisory so to drive with caution and call back when light goes red.

      I’m not happy to do this, drive the car or with the after care experience (a sign of further stresses to come) so want a refund and to return the car asap.

      Please can you advise what I need to do today to get this done. 
       

      Many thanks 
      • 81 replies
    • Housing Association property flooding. https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/topic/438641-housing-association-property-flooding/&do=findComment&comment=5124299
      • 160 replies
    • We have finally managed to obtain the transcript of this case.

      The judge's reasoning is very useful and will certainly be helpful in any other cases relating to third-party rights where the customer has contracted with the courier company by using a broker.
      This is generally speaking the problem with using PackLink who are domiciled in Spain and very conveniently out of reach of the British justice system.

      Frankly I don't think that is any accident.

      One of the points that the judge made was that the customers contract with the broker specifically refers to the courier – and it is clear that the courier knows that they are acting for a third party. There is no need to name the third party. They just have to be recognisably part of a class of person – such as a sender or a recipient of the parcel.

      Please note that a recent case against UPS failed on exactly the same issue with the judge held that the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 did not apply.

      We will be getting that transcript very soon. We will look at it and we will understand how the judge made such catastrophic mistakes. It was a very poor judgement.
      We will be recommending that people do include this adverse judgement in their bundle so that when they go to county court the judge will see both sides and see the arguments against this adverse judgement.
      Also, we will be to demonstrate to the judge that we are fair-minded and that we don't mind bringing everything to the attention of the judge even if it is against our own interests.
      This is good ethical practice.

      It would be very nice if the parcel delivery companies – including EVRi – practised this kind of thing as well.

       

      OT APPROVED, 365MC637, FAROOQ, EVRi, 12.07.23 (BRENT) - J v4.pdf
        • Like

caro v smile ***WON***


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I have started the ball rolling with other banks, but am taking a bit more time dealing with smile, because on the whole I find them much better to deal with than other banks I have been with, and want to stay with them. From what I have read so far, smile have been quite fair to claimants.

 

Have any of you who have succeeded with smile had any problems afterwards? eg withdrawing overdraft facility, or threatening to close account because of your attitude to terms and conditions (as Alliance and Leicester seem to be doing). I am confident in the process I need to follow, just want some reassurance that I won't spoil a fairly good relationship with smile.:|

 

Any feedback would be appreciated.

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Should you be offered help that requires payment please report it to site team.

Advice & opinions given by Caro are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

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I had nearly 800£ of charges taken off from my smile accounts recently. did'nt take long either. But just recently i've not been able to log on to my accounts (online) :o . havent contacted them yet but quite possible that its just routine site maintenance. will let you know.

Co-Operative bank default removal - succesfull december 2007.

 

Capital One Bank default removal - succesfull february 2008.

 

Co-Operative bank Visa default removal- Claim filed March 2008

 

Smile default removal - ongoing

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Thanks for that. Did you use the letters from this site, and if so at what stage did they pay back. I don't think they would stop your account without telling you first so hope it's ok.

 

By the way I see you are a newbie so let me welcome you to the site. You may have seen that there is a survey for people to complete when they get their money back. Wonder if you would mind adding your details.

 

Congrats on your success too!

The Consumer Action Group is a free help site.

Should you be offered help that requires payment please report it to site team.

Advice & opinions given by Caro are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

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Caro,

 

I had no worries with Smile. The credited my charges back before they sent my statements!!!!

 

Go for it, keep on at them over the phone after 2-3 weeks at 2-3 calls a week and you should find a credit applied to your account. Keep us posted on your progress.

 

On your other question, I have been able to use my account, still got £500 O/D facility and a personal loan with them, and had virtually zero communication from them since the refund apart from the e-mail ' your statement is ready for you'.

Smile: £2,522 full payment received,

Citi Cards: £693.71 balance written off. Full value of Court claim,

West Brom Building Society: DPA request sent 15.05.06,

Capital 1: £220 claimed LBA sent 15.05.06.

Barclaycard: DPA request sent 16.05.06

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Ooh thanks Sunseeker. I remember seeing you had won a few weeks back. Think I will revisit your thread and see how you did it. Charges are going up a bit more this week because I am skint. Still I look on it as a form of savings now;)

The Consumer Action Group is a free help site.

Should you be offered help that requires payment please report it to site team.

Advice & opinions given by Caro are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

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Hi,

 

Yes i did use the letters on here. It took between 2-4wks before i got my refunds. Even though smile has refunded me co-operative bank hasnt taken the charges of my accounts with them (they are supposed to be the same :confused: ). Will be sending letter before action to the Co-op soon.

 

Thanks for the welcome and i have completed the survey(under my previous name)

Co-Operative bank default removal - succesfull december 2007.

 

Capital One Bank default removal - succesfull february 2008.

 

Co-Operative bank Visa default removal- Claim filed March 2008

 

Smile default removal - ongoing

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Hi im in the same boat as you guys, i asked for my statements so i can work out my charges. The £10 went out, and my deadline passed, but they sent a letter acknowlidging my request. I sent secure messages for an update and amzingly every secure message sent regarding DPA information has been unanswered(about 5) So i rang them up and the nice lady said i should recieve something within 10days(there deadline they told me in the reply letter) So they have until this saturday.

Now you say they paid up before statements were sent, did u ring them saying why you wanted the statements etc

Any advice would be helpful

:)

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Didnt have to ring them. Smile sent me a message online notifying me that they are refunding the charges.

 

I didnt have to ask for statements as smile is an internet bank. i went through my statements online to find the dates for the charges.

Co-Operative bank default removal - succesfull december 2007.

 

Capital One Bank default removal - succesfull february 2008.

 

Co-Operative bank Visa default removal- Claim filed March 2008

 

Smile default removal - ongoing

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Luckily for me the charges were in the last year and i could access it online. otherwise you'll need to ask to be sent a list of your charges by using the letter in the bank template.

Co-Operative bank default removal - succesfull december 2007.

 

Capital One Bank default removal - succesfull february 2008.

 

Co-Operative bank Visa default removal- Claim filed March 2008

 

Smile default removal - ongoing

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Got my data today, added it up and it comes to £975, but i havent added the debit intrest onto that because not sure if that counts. All i counted was, service charge, daily excess charge, and commission.

Was wierd looking through the years of statements because at first the charges were low, and the commission never existed, then up to the last year, commission charges, and the daily and service charges have almost doubled!

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OK I’ve taken the plunge, although not by the accepted BAG method. Given the success of some smile customers from phone calls, I thought I would dip my toe in the water by phoning to ask for overlimit fees to be refunded from my smile credit card before going for the current account. I think it is only about £75.00 so I rang this morning and stated that I understood the charges were unlawful, so could I have them back please.

 

The young lady I spoke to said they were not unlawful, and were in terms and conditions but she would ask for them to be looked at. She did a note for the complaints department, read out what she had put, which I agreed with her and gave me a reference number. She advised me to do a secure message to the complaints department quoting the reference number explaining why I thought the charges were unfair/unlawful. She told me the complaints department have 4 weeks to reply and then 8 weeks to take action.

 

I asked if it would be the same for my current account and she said it was and would I like that adding to the complaint. I quickly thought, well OK it is their timescale etc, but they seem to have been ok with others, and if it doesn’t work I can always follow the BAG method later. So I accepted her suggestion. I borrowed the bank template letter and tweaked it for my secure email to the complaints department..

 

What a nightmare reducing it to 1,000 characters max allowed for secure messages. :eek:;). This is my heavily tweaked request.

 

"I understand the fees applied to my accounts in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limit etc are unlawful at Common Law, Statute & recent consumer regulations. It has also been confirmed that your high level of penalties are considered to be unfair per se by the OFT report of 5/4/06 and are therefore presumed to be unlawful in the absence of specific proof to the contrary.I calculate charges of £1000.50 have been taken from my current account since opening, plus overdraft interest on this sum. I also expect charges this month. I have been charged approx £75 on my credit card which also accrued interest. My records may be incomplete so please check charges from your records, & if you dispute them, demonstrate by letting me have a full breakdown of costs to which you have been put by as a result of breaches, to reassure me that the penalties truly reflect your costs.

 

I request a full refund of charges on my current account & credit card ."

 

Fingers crossed.:cool:

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Should you be offered help that requires payment please report it to site team.

Advice & opinions given by Caro are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

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Quote

 

'but i havent added the debit intrest onto that because not sure if that counts'

 

 

I was told by smile that their interest calculation doesnt include any charges on the account but is based on the actual overdraft.

Co-Operative bank default removal - succesfull december 2007.

 

Capital One Bank default removal - succesfull february 2008.

 

Co-Operative bank Visa default removal- Claim filed March 2008

 

Smile default removal - ongoing

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Sorry everyone but I thought this was an answer for me as it is my thread. I am very clear on where I stand on the interest issue as I have given it a great deal of thought and consideration. I have taken the trouble to use the spreadsheet that is freely available for all in the bank templates library (thanks again Vampiress for this) for 2 of my claims. The only one I have not used this for is my smile claim, but if you had read my email on my thread you would see that I have asked smile for overdraft interest on the amount of my charges.

 

Please will you use your own threads for your own story and questions as this makes it much easier for others to follow individuals progress.

 

Thank you.

 

Rant over - no offence intended to anyone. Just had to get it off my chest.:(

The Consumer Action Group is a free help site.

Should you be offered help that requires payment please report it to site team.

Advice & opinions given by Caro are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

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Further to what i said about not being able to access my smile account online i phoned the bank and was told by their advisor that my account has been closed:o . He said that i should have been notified by email about this which i have'nt:mad: . I explained to him that i still owed the bank some money (500£) in terms of overdraft to which he put me on hold, came back and said that i dont owe them any money.

 

That's 500£ on my current account and 800£ on my visa account waivered....??:???:

 

they are a generous bunch.

Co-Operative bank default removal - succesfull december 2007.

 

Capital One Bank default removal - succesfull february 2008.

 

Co-Operative bank Visa default removal- Claim filed March 2008

 

Smile default removal - ongoing

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Guest Lueeze

Please can anyone who posts here stay on topic!!!

 

Caro has already posted above asking for users to stop Hijacking, but still it continues, please start your own threads!

 

Louise

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Thank you Lueeze.:)

 

Just noticed a secure message from smile, dated 26 May.

 

Hello Caro

 

I'm sorry you've felt the need to make a complaint and I can let you know I'm currently looking into it.

 

However, as we are regulated by the Financial Services Authority I do need to make you aware of our complaints procedure.

 

If you go to our website at www.smile.co.uk, click on 'talk to us' and then on complaints on the left hand menu. Here you'll find our full procedure.

 

Fingers crossed that they will pay me as quickly as they have some of the other folks on the forum.:rolleyes:

Regards

 

Alex Hope

smile Complaints Team

The Consumer Action Group is a free help site.

Should you be offered help that requires payment please report it to site team.

Advice & opinions given by Caro are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

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Good luck to you too.:)

The Consumer Action Group is a free help site.

Should you be offered help that requires payment please report it to site team.

Advice & opinions given by Caro are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

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Further to my previous replies i've just found out that smile has closed my accounts and passed them on to a debt collection agency.:|

Co-Operative bank default removal - succesfull december 2007.

 

Capital One Bank default removal - succesfull february 2008.

 

Co-Operative bank Visa default removal- Claim filed March 2008

 

Smile default removal - ongoing

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Hope you've got a parachute account. I have opened one with Nat West just in case there is any problem with smile, but I don't really want to move my account.

The Consumer Action Group is a free help site.

Should you be offered help that requires payment please report it to site team.

Advice & opinions given by Caro are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

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I really hope you are right. I messed up my calculations on all my bills this month and I have another 3 £25 charges, and on 21st a £15 over limit payment is due out along with 8 £5 daily charges. My wages don’t go in until 23rd, so I will be over my limit again. And so it goes on….:mad:

 

Of course I will claim them all back if they do charge me again.:p

The Consumer Action Group is a free help site.

Should you be offered help that requires payment please report it to site team.

Advice & opinions given by Caro are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

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Phoned Alex Hope of the smile Complaints Team yesterday to see how my request was going, naturally using the cheaper 0161 number. I asked to speak to him and was asked to wait while they put me through. I was asked if I had spoken to him before and explained that I had received an email and would like an update on progress so far. Several minutes later, I was not put through, but the original person came back to me, sounding very flustered and tripping over his words. He said that they were looking into my request but were still within the 28 days they have to respond to complaints. I thanked him for his help and said that was fine.

 

I would love to know what had been said about me that made the poor bloke a quivering wreck.:D

 

I think I should have done this properly with my timescales, but as I have 2 claims already that are fast approaching the Moneyclaim stage I will let it trundle on for now. I am sure smile will pay up more easily than the other two, but if not I can always follow the accepted route for making a claim later.:rolleyes:

The Consumer Action Group is a free help site.

Should you be offered help that requires payment please report it to site team.

Advice & opinions given by Caro are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

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Hi Caro I really would try giving them a deadline, even if it's via secure message.

 

Something like

 

I am sorry you are unable to respond in a timely manner, as I have provided adequate warning I shall be commencing proceedings on (insert day here sometime in the next 4 days).

 

When I did this I got a message saying don't do it, please don't commence there is a letter on its way.

 

Easy as that.

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