Bank Charges - illegal?

welshman50 wrote:

I have got evidence of them discriminating against consumers

Would it be possible to PM me more info about this?

Hi All,
This morning got a letter from the Halifax saying Blah Blah Blah
we have agreed to refund chardges Blah Blah Blah
Ultimately it is your reponsibility to manage your account. If you incur any future charges you will recive 30 days notice and your account will be closed. We reserve our right to withdraw banking facilites from any customer; full details are explained in the terms and conditions of the account.

Barclaycard wrote to me saying they were not going to refund my bank charges but will give me £40 as a gesture of goodwill (once only) and they want confidentiality. They disagreed with my analysis of the law.
I emailed them asked them what their analysis was they referred me to their T&Cs. And further as well as the £40 they will give me another £40 as a further gesture of goodwill etc.
How much was I claiming back? £80! So it looks like they have refunded me in the guise of goodwill!!

tempest42 wrote:

The case in question was £79 plus cost's, but yesterday we heard we had also got £40 plus cost's from a halifax cash card.
Not a great amount I know but the charges were all their fault anyway.
We paid cash into the machine on friday and it didnt hit the account till WEDNESDAY....and caused a cascade of charges.

How annoying is that! See, up until i bought my first home a year and a half ago, i was forever being charged, sometimes it was about £75 per month, sometimes more! Once you get into that cycle, its so hard to get out. I had to get a loan alongside my mortgage to pay off my overdrafts/credit cards etc and am still struggling, however i havent once gone into my overdraft in a year and a half. I'd be made up if i could get my charges back from natwest. however i suppose they'd only get it back off me, i'd pay off my natwest Credit card bill! Well done by the way, any amount back is a good amount i say!!

For those currently persuing Yorkshire Bank (Tempest, Paul C and Tabs), here is the script from the letter my Mum (reproduced with her permission) received in response to her letter sent only the day before.

Yorkshire Bank
Card Services Department
Po Box 4509
LEEDS LS2 8NP

Tel: 0113 2881608
Fax: 0113 2423788

Dear My Mum

Account Number: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

Further to your recent query, I can confirm that your complaint has now been fully investigated (!) and I have reached the following conclusion.

I understand that you are unhappy with the charges that you have incurred on your Yorkshire Bank Visa account over the last six years. You feel that these charges are unacceptable and you have requested a refund.

The charges which have been applied to your credit card account have been made in accordance with your Conditions of Use and published tarriff of charges. Accordingly Yorkshire Bank is not prepared to refund the default charegs debited from your account in the last 6 years.

Please find enclosed copy statements as requested for the period March 2000 - March 2006. The standard charge for these statements is 5 per copy statement, however as a gesture of goodwill this charge has been waived.

I am sorry that this may not be the outcome you had hoped for.

I have enclosed for your information a copy of our Internal Complaint Handling Procedures. These procedures confirm how to pursue your complaint if you remain dissatisfied with this response and how to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service is we cannot resolve the matter.

If we do not receive a response from you within 8 weeks of the date of this letter, your complaint will be considered closed.

Thank you for taking the time and trouble in bringing this matter to my attention.

Yours sincerely

Liza Rae
Customer Communications Officer

Hope this helps - BTW the statements which were not enclosed arrived this morning. Hope you have some success with them soon!