Audmerc

[AUDMERC]

THE STORY: Opened a 'Debit' account with Halifax purely for 'internet purchases. Everything went well for a while untill I recieved three letters on consecutive days, Sat, Mon and Tues. In short, I had been charged for 5 (x £30.00) items that I had insufficient funds to pay for. The cost of these 5 items was £7.99, £5.50, £5.79, £2.00 and £5.50. (TOTAL £26.78). I ALWAYS HAD SUFFICIENT FUNDS IN THIS ACCOUNT FOR THESE SMALL PURCHASES. (SO I THOUGHT). On enquiring as how this had come about (via online banking) was told that a letter had been sent informing me of the first' Charge' some 10 days earlier.I politely said that I never recieved that first letter. As a result when I had made an earlier deposit to this account of £100.00, £30.00+ was deducted to cover their costs. I thought I had £100.00 to spend but no. This then caused me to overspend as I only had less than £70.00 to spend. I made another depost of £70.00 to my account thinking everything was ok.Unkown to me another £60.00 was deducted to cover charges...and so on...and so on. Saw some one at bank to explain that no-one in their right mind would deliberately buy something for £2.00 knowing that a charge of £30.00 would be made. And continue to make further small purchases only to be charged £30.00 each time.Were they sympathatic, NO. I REFUSED TO PAY. RESULT: THREATNING LETTER DEMANDING FULL PAYMENT OF £264.15 WITHIN 5 DAYS. Not wanting a bad credit rating, I paid up. BUT NOW THE TABLES ARE ABOUT TO BE TURNED.

DPA sent. Will keep you posted. FORGET the 5% donation. I'll happily give you 10% if I get my money back.

[Janet-M]

Hi and Welcome

 

Thats the spirit , yes the tables have turned

Keep us posted in this thread .

[AUDMERC]

Hi. Ever since I sent my Data Protection Act (0666) I have been reading all the comments on the various 'Bank' Forums. It is reassuring to find the Scottish procedure as I would undoubtbly have went down the wrong road regards my claim. As has been stated many times before it's the waiting that gets to you. 40 days is a long time. Here's an interesting thought.......do bank staff know that the said charges are illegal? The reason I ask is..when I went to the bank (Halifax) to explain why I had incurred all these charges (then refused to pay) I was told that the bank would take steps to recover the (alleged) money owed and could lead to 'court action..collection...etc.. GETTING ANGRY AGAIN AT THE THOUGHT OF THIS MEETING.........This to me smacks of intimidation and bully-boy tactics. I only paid up at the time through fear. Surely there must be some form of redress against individual staff members who knowingly use this tactic....or are they in the dark as much as joe public...Hmmmmmm!

Great site and help. Best part is having the control..

AUDMERC

[Movingon]

In my opinion...

 

they think you're the **** of the Earth, literally. I think Bank Staff are taught (maybe not in a class, but taught by watching their peers and superiors) that a person in debt who can't (won't?) pay their charges is an object to be maligned. They treat you bad because they THINK you're bad.

 

They think that because it says so in the terms and conditions, then it is so. They are learning, slowly, that that is not necessarily true.

[mechs]

H Audmerc,

 

We are all in the same boat .........we keep the banks afloat ...yes they moan about our bounced this that and the other ...but then did they really mind us doing that ....of course they did thats why they closed our accounts .......NOT.....and they threaten you with court action ....hehehehe now the boots on the other foot go for the throat