Smile messing me about.....

[Jase1982]

Hi guys,

 

I sent my request for statements on Tuesday of last week and I have'nt seen anything since. Could anyone please tell me if Smile usually acknowledge receipt by the internal messaging or by post? How long should this take?

 

Also, can someone please let me know what address I should have sent it to, just to check I have the correct one?

 

Cheers.

[Smackbat]

They should respond by post, mine was received in 5 days. Make sure you send all correspondence by post recorded delivery. Using the secure message system is unlikely to yeild any quick (if any) responses. The address is listed in the contact details section in the forum

 

Smile

Co-operative Bank

1 Balloon Street

Manchester

M60 4EP

• If you’ve a complaint you can write to us at the address below:
   
  smile complaints team
  PO Box 600
  Delf House
  Skelmersdale
  Lancashire
  WN8 6GF

Good luck with your claim, I'm almost finished, over £3K already paid up.

[andyhargreaves]

I got a confirmation letter by post, and the statments arrived close to the Data Protection Act deadline.

 

Recorded delivery is also essential. Try to avoid PO Box addresses, as a recorded letter does not require a signature in these cases. Only special delivery (£4) will get a signature from a PO Box.

 

Andy

[Jase1982]

Hey,

 

Cheers for the responses.

 

I sent my letter to this address though,

 

THE COOPERATIVE BANK PLC

LEVEL 2

DELF HOUSE

SOUTHWAY

SKELMERSDALE

LANCS

WN8 6NY

 

What's this address? I got it through the company search website.

[andyhargreaves]

I think that is the address they use for complaints etc, rather than just general banking stuff (Balloon St, Manchester).

 

Don't worry. As along as it's registered post there'll be no problem.

 

Andy

[caro]

Any address is fine. As long as it is one of their offices they can send it internally wherever they like as long as they comply.

[Jase1982]

Hello,

 

As I have had £100 refunded recently, simply by asking, I decided to try my luck and request all £975 of unlawful bank charges back. This was on Friday and they replied today, just before my 7 day timsescale ran out.

 

They said that they were looking into it and would reply with the 40 day time period as set out by the Financial Authorities.

 

What I need to know is, should I leave it at that or tell them that they have 7 / 14 days to respond with a satisfactory answer?

 

Cheers

[phunkeymonkeh]

Its your complaint, and therefor its your timetable.

 

Dont let them control the situation.

[Jase1982]

Right!

 

Smile sent this response back today. Exactly one day after I sent my original reply;

 

"Hello Mr Rowe

 

I'm sorry but we're unable to respond within the timescales set by customers. We respond within the timescales set by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

 

If you choose to send us another letter this will be attached to your original correspondence and will still be answered within the FSA timescales.

 

I'm sorry we're unable to meet your request but due to the volume of similar letters we've received we have to answer complaints in the order we receive them.

 

Regards

 

Sarah Burton

smile Complaints Team"

 

I love the fact they have a dedicated 'Smile Complaints Team'!

 

This reply seems to be from a different member of the 'team'!

 

What should I say? I am tempted to reply saying, look if you refund my charges now you will only have to refund the standard charges, if you wait and we get further down the line you will have to pay me interest and any extra costs.

 

What do people think?

[caro]

Stick to your timetable although I am a little unclear of the stage you are at. They usually ask for 8 weeks, and 40 days is allowed for the SAR. I think the timescales in the template letters are reasonable, although smile have been paying up after LBA deadlines, but before some people have got round to doing their court claims. If it ever gets to court you will appear in a much better light if you allow reasonable timescales, which is why the process allows 28 days before taking court action.

 

Smile have been very reasonable about paying up, and only seem to be getting to the court stage due to the sheer volume of cases they are dealing with. In my opinion they should put more staff on to cover the backlog, but that is their problem.

[Jase1982]

Hi,

 

As I had £100 refunded recently simply by asking I decided to just ask for the whole lot instead of writing costly letters. Thought they may be a bit intelligent and refund just the charges. If I start letter writing I'll be including the 8% interest and any additional costs.

 

We'll see what happens.

[caro]

You can't add the 8% on until you reach the court stage, and small claims don't allow for costs either, although people get the court fees back. If you want to do things your own way make sure you fully understand what you can and can't do.

[Jase1982]

I received this response today. I love the fact they don't seem to realise the only reason I have an overdraft is to cover their silly charges! £100 a month sounds fair then does it? EDIT!!

 

 

"Hello Mr Rowe

 

I'm sorry you feel we've treated you unfairly with regard to your income. We've tried to help with your overdraft, and you agreed to it being reduced each month. The charges are only applied when you exceed this limit by any amount as per the terms and conditions of the account. When you go over your overdraft this is unauthorised borrowing and as such charges are applied.

 

We're in the process of investigating your complaint about the charges, and as soon as we have a decision we will get back to you. As you can appreciate due to recent media attention, we have large volumes. We try to resolve all complaints as quickly as we can.

 

For full details of our complaints procedures, go to Redirecting to Smile Production Site, click on 'Talk to us' and then click on 'Complaints' on the right hand side.

 

Regards

 

Jayne Jones "

[Jase1982]

EDIT!! :-x

[Jase1982]

Hi guys,

 

I have recently been fighting Smile over their unlawful bank charges and they have paid back £1490.

 

However, they are now telling me that they are closing my account as of the 5th Feb.

 

Could someone please tell me my options?

 

Smile still owe me £105, which I have notified them of and I am currently £490 overdrawn, which they have said they want back.

 

Cheers in advance.

[dx100uk]

there is a thread on who has had a/c's closed after refunds.

if you feel this is retalitory action against your claim, then you can take them to the cleaners!

 

i think its in thr red bits on every homepage here/

 

good luck and keep us posted

dx100uk

[Jase1982]

Hi,

 

I changed my address and contact details with Smile on 02/01/07. I then received a letter dated 05/01/07, which was sent to my old address (My parents house). I collected this and read it with disgust, purely because they are threatening to close my account after I have claimed back £1100.

 

I was just wondering if it would be worth complaining as they have sent my details to an old address. The fact this is my parents address is irrelevant.

 

I'd appreciate some thoughts on this.

[Jase1982]

Hi,

 

Smile are now saying that they are closing my account as of the 5th February and will be requesting my overdraft back in full, which totals about £700. Obviously I can't afford this. maybe a fiver, but not a lump sum!

 

Could someone please forward me the details of who to complain to?

 

They are blatantly closing my account because they can't squeeze any more money out of me!

 

I also would love to know if there are any other options open to me?

 

I do intend to open up another account in the meantime though.

 

Cheers,

[whataboutyeah]

Is this due to claiming back the charges? If so, then there are a few people looking into whether this can be stopped, you may want to search the forums to see. Also, I don't think they can close the account while it is dispute, so if you are claiming over £700 back, then potentially you can use that to pay the overdraft off, and leave them to it.

[lorenzo]

Additionally, you may want to consider making an offer of a low monthly and managable amount over time to clear the overdraft. Think of it from their point of view, they do not want bad debt on their books and so long as the payment plan is adhered to they are essentially seeing this bad debt being serviced. I would suggest offering them £35 per month for 20 months if you can afford it.

 

L.

[Jase1982]

Cheers mate,

 

They do only actually owe me £100 still though, not 700. It still places the account in dispute, which is what I have told them. Only trouble is, the people I am speaking to don't seem to ever read my messages properly and don't seem to know what they're doing generally.

 

As for the monthly payments, I had thought of that. However my overdraft is currently decreasing by £40 each month anyway, therefor payin gthe overdraft off gradually.

 

The only reason I would now have for going over my overdraft limit is because the loan I have with Smile takes out £80 a month on the 21st of each month. A week before I get paid, I said this to them and they said that they could not change their system! If only they'd change the payment date then there would be no problem in the future!

[Jase1982]

ok, after speaking with Smile again I will now be without a bank account as of 5th Feb. I've applied for a Natwest account, which takes up to 24 days.

 

I need to know who to complain to, does anyone have any ideas on what I should do?

[Paintball]

Hi Jase

 

I found the letters below on another thread which I can no longer locate (I'll keep looking tho!) Hope they help as they seems to have worked for the chap in question; you may wish to edit them to suit your circumstances.

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Re: Closure of Account xxxxxxxxxx

I am writing in regard to your letter of day month 200x. I am shocked to learn of your decision to close my account as a result of my recent complaint. I have recently learnt that the OFT have heavily criticized institutions such as yourselves for taking this action as a result of claims such as mine.

 

[don’t think you need the next paragraph, its too long!]

I feel that the alleged mismanagement of my account is due wholly to the charges applied by you and not through any fault of my own. I believe I have the right to complain without the threat of you closing my account, especially if the result of the complaint does not come back in your favour. I am sure that the governing bodies will take a dim view of the fact that you are effectively intimidating me into silence by threatening account closure. As a consumer I should not be wary of making a complaint when I feel you have acted unlawfully.

 

I will be contacting the relevant bodies to investigate this matter further on my behalf and would request that no further action be taken by you until the investigation is concluded. If you are still intent on closing my account before this has been fully explored, then you will leave me with no alternative but to apply for a temporary injunction, to prevent my account from being closed. To this end I am requesting a complete disclosure of all notes applied to my account since 1st January 2006. Specifically, I require details and notes pertaining to the following:

The ‘commercial decision’ to withdraw banking facilities from me, including the reasons, figures and decision makers involved.

The bank’s refusal to refund ‘penalty charges pending’ to my account on request, and the subsequent decisions leading to those charges being refunded, notwithstanding the bank’s assertion that the charges are fair, transparent and lawful.

The bank’s refusal to refund ‘penalty charges’ applied to my account on request. After raising the matter in court, and notwithstanding the bank’s assertion that the charges are fair, transparent and lawful and would be defended in full, the subsequent decisions leading to those charges being refunded.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

 

 

Yours faithfully [if you write to sir/madam]

Yours sincerely [if you’re writing to a named person]

 

Mr David Lewis

Head of Customer Relations

HSBC Bank PLC

Level 36

8 Canada Square

London

E14 5HQ

 

Thursday, 31 August 2006

 

Ref: **************

Account ***************

Dear Mr Lewis

 

I am writing to complain about the letter I received from a Miss N Kelly a service quality manager based in Leeds. The letter dated 30th August 2006 tells me that you are going to withdraw my banking services on the 29th September 2006. The only reason I can see that you are doing this is that I have successfully claimed back unfair banks charges applied by HSBC dating back 6 years.

 

I feel that this is an unfair retaliation on your part, which goes against the Banking Code Standards Board who says “We ask subscribers to consider the fairness of closing accounts in such circumstances”. The FSA who under there rules on dispute resolution and complaints say “We would not expect any regulated firm to discriminate against a customer who makes a complaint”. And also the Financial Ombudsman who say “they should not decide to close an account for an improper reason – for instance, because of unfair bias”.

 

I feel that your treatment towards me is in direct contravention of the above rules set by your governing bodies.

 

I have been a customer of HSBC for many years and am truly hurt and upset in the way HSBC have handled this matter.

 

From this letter I would hope that you will reconsider you decision to close my account so that I can continue to bank with HSBC.

 

If this is not possible then I will be left with no choice but to complain to the Banking Code Standards Board, The Financial Services Authority, and the Financial Ombudsman, however I am hopeful it will not have to come to that.

 

 

 

 

A prompt response would be very much appreciated.

 

 

Yours Sincerely

 

 

 

 

James Rouse

 

 

Cc: File

 

So i then wrote to the chairman with this one, and got a letter from alan pretty say account WON'T be closed

Quote:

Mr Stephen Green

Chairman

HSBC Bank PLC

8 Canada Square

London

E14 5HQ

 

 

Wednesday, 13 September 2006

 

Re **********************

Dear Mr Green.

 

I am writing to you to complain about the closure of my current account on the 29th of September.

 

I received a letter on the 30th of August from a Miss N Kelly saying that HSBC are going to withdraw my banking services on the 29th September for a “Commercial Reason”, I then wrote to Mr David Lewis head of customer relations on the 31st August.

 

I called HSBC today to see whether my letter to Mr Lewis was being dealt with and it seems that it is being dealt with in Leeds and they have a back log of complaints at the moment but was told on the phone the decision can not be over turned and my current account will close on the 29th September.

 

I feel my account should not be closed, I feel it is only being done so in retaliation of me claiming back bank charges.

 

I would like to draw you attention to the following information from the Banking Code Standards Board, The FSA and The Financial Ombudsman

 

The Banking Code Standards Board say “We ask subscribers to consider the fairness of closing accounts in such circumstances”. The FSA who under there rules on dispute resolution and complaints say “We would not expect any regulated firm to discriminate against a customer who makes a complaint”. And also the Financial Ombudsman who say “they should not decide to close an account for an improper reason – for instance, because of unfair bias”.

 

I have been a customer with HSBC for many years and also have business banking, saving accounts, ISA etc with HSBC, and I am deeply hurt and upset by HSBC’s actions.

 

I ask that you reconsider the decision to close my current, if this is not possible then I will be left with no choice but to complain to the Banking Code Standards Board, The Financial Services Authority, The Financial Ombudsman, and contact national newspapers to inform them of HSBC’s actions. However I am hopeful it will not have to come to that.

 

A prompt response would be very much appreciated.

 

 

Yours Sincerely

 

 

 

 

James Rouse

[dx100uk]

you might find it useful to read the new red sticky

the A&L have just been fined £125 for shutting soeones A/C after claiming

get to it

 

dx100uk

[Paintball]

Dear Jase

 

I found the following in a previous thread (sorry, there are so many I can no longer locate it!) and it seems to have been helpful to a number of people. You'll probably want to alter the words to suit your own circumstance but remember that the Bank's action is classed is retaliatory (after you have won) and still UNLAWFUL!!!!

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Re: Closure of Account xxxxxxxxxx

I am writing in regard to your letter of day month 200x. I am shocked to learn of your decision to close my account as a result of my recent complaint. I have recently learnt that the OFT have heavily criticized institutions such as yourselves for taking this action as a result of claims such as mine.

 

[don’t think you need the next paragraph, its too long!]

I feel that the alleged mismanagement of my account is due wholly to the charges applied by you and not through any fault of my own. I believe I have the right to complain without the threat of you closing my account, especially if the result of the complaint does not come back in your favour. I am sure that the governing bodies will take a dim view of the fact that you are effectively intimidating me into silence by threatening account closure. As a consumer I should not be wary of making a complaint when I feel you have acted unlawfully.

 

I will be contacting the relevant bodies to investigate this matter further on my behalf and would request that no further action be taken by you until the investigation is concluded. If you are still intent on closing my account before this has been fully explored, then you will leave me with no alternative but to apply for a temporary injunction, to prevent my account from being closed. To this end I am requesting a complete disclosure of all notes applied to my account since 1st January 2006. Specifically, I require details and notes pertaining to the following:

The ‘commercial decision’ to withdraw banking facilities from me, including the reasons, figures and decision makers involved.

The bank’s refusal to refund ‘penalty charges pending’ to my account on request, and the subsequent decisions leading to those charges being refunded, notwithstanding the bank’s assertion that the charges are fair, transparent and lawful.

The bank’s refusal to refund ‘penalty charges’ applied to my account on request. After raising the matter in court, and notwithstanding the bank’s assertion that the charges are fair, transparent and lawful and would be defended in full, the subsequent decisions leading to those charges being refunded.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

 

 

Yours faithfully [if you write to sir/madam]

Yours sincerely [if you’re writing to a named person]

 

Mr David Lewis

Head of Customer Relations

HSBC Bank PLC

Level 36

8 Canada Square

London

E14 5HQ

 

Thursday, 31 August 2006

 

Ref: **************

Account ***************

Dear Mr Lewis

 

I am writing to complain about the letter I received from a Miss N Kelly a service quality manager based in Leeds. The letter dated 30th August 2006 tells me that you are going to withdraw my banking services on the 29th September 2006. The only reason I can see that you are doing this is that I have successfully claimed back unfair banks charges applied by HSBC dating back 6 years.

 

I feel that this is an unfair retaliation on your part, which goes against the Banking Code Standards Board who says “We ask subscribers to consider the fairness of closing accounts in such circumstances”. The FSA who under there rules on dispute resolution and complaints say “We would not expect any regulated firm to discriminate against a customer who makes a complaint”. And also the Financial Ombudsman who say “they should not decide to close an account for an improper reason – for instance, because of unfair bias”.

 

I feel that your treatment towards me is in direct contravention of the above rules set by your governing bodies.

 

I have been a customer of HSBC for many years and am truly hurt and upset in the way HSBC have handled this matter.

 

From this letter I would hope that you will reconsider you decision to close my account so that I can continue to bank with HSBC.

 

If this is not possible then I will be left with no choice but to complain to the Banking Code Standards Board, The Financial Services Authority, and the Financial Ombudsman, however I am hopeful it will not have to come to that.

 

 

 

 

A prompt response would be very much appreciated.

 

 

Yours Sincerely

 

 

 

 

James Rouse

 

 

Cc: File

 

So i then wrote to the chairman with this one, and got a letter from alan pretty say account WON'T be closed

Quote:

Mr Stephen Green

Chairman

HSBC Bank PLC

8 Canada Square

London

E14 5HQ

 

 

Wednesday, 13 September 2006

 

Re **********************

Dear Mr Green.

 

I am writing to you to complain about the closure of my current account on the 29th of September.

 

I received a letter on the 30th of August from a Miss N Kelly saying that HSBC are going to withdraw my banking services on the 29th September for a “Commercial Reason”, I then wrote to Mr David Lewis head of customer relations on the 31st August.

 

I called HSBC today to see whether my letter to Mr Lewis was being dealt with and it seems that it is being dealt with in Leeds and they have a back log of complaints at the moment but was told on the phone the decision can not be over turned and my current account will close on the 29th September.

 

I feel my account should not be closed, I feel it is only being done so in retaliation of me claiming back bank charges.

 

I would like to draw you attention to the following information from the Banking Code Standards Board, The FSA and The Financial Ombudsman

 

The Banking Code Standards Board say “We ask subscribers to consider the fairness of closing accounts in such circumstances”. The FSA who under there rules on dispute resolution and complaints say “We would not expect any regulated firm to discriminate against a customer who makes a complaint”. And also the Financial Ombudsman who say “they should not decide to close an account for an improper reason – for instance, because of unfair bias”.

 

I have been a customer with HSBC for many years and also have business banking, saving accounts, ISA etc with HSBC, and I am deeply hurt and upset by HSBC’s actions.

 

I ask that you reconsider the decision to close my current, if this is not possible then I will be left with no choice but to complain to the Banking Code Standards Board, The Financial Services Authority, The Financial Ombudsman, and contact national newspapers to inform them of HSBC’s actions. However I am hopeful it will not have to come to that.

 

A prompt response would be very much appreciated.

 

 

Yours Sincerely

 

 

 

 

James Rouse