Woolwich Bank Charges (merged)

Edinburghlass_2

JAnimalR wrote:

Hi!
My question / query is concerning charges which are still being added after I have submitted my claim online (through MCOL).
Our account went overdrawn because of impending £35 charges - masses of them, and is now subject to a £3 a day charge for being overdrawn - by the way, the Woolwich (quite conveniently for them) won't give us a temporary overdraft, so they think they're making a quick buck! We stopped using the account as we had opened a parachute account (with the Co-Op which I would recommend as they've been very helpful), and could not afford to pay off the charges. They have now put us £500 overdrawn (this is a combination of the £35 charges which were applied at the beginning of Feb, although we have now cancelled all d/d's and s/o's etc and also £84 in Feb. for being overdrawn), and we are having regular letters from Woolwich demanding the money back (we have written asking them to put a hold on the account and have told them we are in the process of trying to claim these back).
My question is, although I stated on our MCOL form that we were still accruing charges, and would want to claim these back too, where will I state what these are, and how do I add these into the claim??? Am I right in thinking that I do this when I get the AQ form through from the court?
Also, does anybody have ay idea of how long it take for these hearings to go to court - i.e. if Barclays / Woolwich defend my claim, which I'm fairly sure they will, how long can I expect to wait for my claim to be heard???

Any advice / guidance will be very gratefully received!!!
Thanks!
(I'm shaking in my boots now)

-

You can't add charges on now you have started your claim on MCOL.

thisismossop

Hi, after hearing about the site on the radio, I paid a visit. The same day, I had the first of the template letters in the post to "The Woolwich" (T/A Barclays)

Here is the result of my first letter and some advice for other Woolwich customers:

- As customers of "The Woolwich" (And others in the know) are aware, "The Woolwich" is now just a trading name used by "Barclays". As such, when I sent the first DPA template letter to apply for a list of charges over the past 6yrs, I addressed this to Barclays directly; inserting:

"Barclays Bank - Trading as: The Woolwich"

After reading posts from others claiming charges from "The Woolwich", I noticed that most people applying directly to the Woolwich, were directed to Barclays after step 2 (The refund letter) and had to start the process again. For this reason, I went straight to Barclays.

The letter I received in reply reads as follows:

From Barclays Bank

Dear Mr Xxxx

DATA PROTECTION ACT

We refer to your letter... (Blah, blah, blah)

As requested, a schedule of charges is in course of preperation and this will be sent to you shortly by the Woolwich; there will be no charge for this service. As the Bank is providing this information on a complimentary basis, your payment is returned herewith.

Yours (etc)

Manager, Barclays Data Protection

So, The Woolwich now have 30 days to reply with my "Schedule of charges".

I will post again with updates to this claim and hope that this may help and encourage other customers of "The Woolwish", to claim back the unfair charges they have incurred.

Thanks Martin, good luck to everyone else, and don't let the **ckers get you down!

Mossop :~)

mrdavie

Quick update...

Got home last night letter from the Woolwich, saying my complaint had been passed onto a "case manager".....

So I phone up the Woolwich and explain to them that when I phoned up I hadn't made a complaint, I had just asked for a copy of all my charges. The guy on the phone then tells me that it is standard procedure "due to media coverage, all queries relating to this subject are being passed to case managers". I then explained to him I was informed my list of charges would turn up within 5 days and he told me that was unrealistic due to the amount of people requesting them. I then asked what the date would be and he replied first week of April, I then pushed for an exact date and was told the 5th of April at the latest....

cornish_pasty_2

Hi Guys

Great to see that there is now a thread for Woolwich customers reclaiming their charges. I to have received there letter stating that they will get back to me before the end of March. I now realise having read other people's comments that this a delaying tactic and will be sending my second letter at the end of the weekend. As many people have said on the website before, banks are quick enough to take money from you and yet will do anything not to give it back. Would those people involved with claims against the Woolwich post new threads regularly to keep those of us one step behind them updated, as I think this would be really useful in knowing which steps to take next.

I would also like to thank Edinburgh Lass who gives such sound advice and gave me the confidence to go for it.

Edinburghlass_2

Not the easiest bank to deal with but good luck!

kathyc2007

Hi , just want some advice really am currently claiming £1200 from the woolwich , have sent the 14 day letter and in reply they have wrote saying they hope to have this resolved by 02/04/07 which is much longer than 14 days. Do i carry on with 7 day letter or wait ?

cornish_pasty_2

Hi Guys

Just a thought, but it is probably worth keeping an eye on the Barclays threads as the Woolwich is now one and the same. It would appear that the Woolwich and Barclays are particularly difficult to deal with and do seem to be holding out for a decision regarding the banks charging policies. Take heart though from the fact that people like us have been successful against Barclays and when in doubt read some of the Barclays threads to give you the confidence to carry on.

cornish_pasty_2

Hi Kathyc

I have also received this letter which would appear to be a delaying tactic. I personally shall be sending off my second letter at the end of this weekend, because if they are going to drag their feet whats the point in waiting it will just take twice as long.

I also am claiming around the same amount as you are and are no doubt feeling as nervous, so good luck!

ju1957

I would just like to share with you all what an awkward time Im having with my Woolwich bank although Barclays are dealing with all the letters Ive sent. Im in the process of claimimg the chrges back and they are not very co-operative. Im at the stage of going to court, I decided to give them one last chance and spoke to a very arrogant man who refused to talk to me even though our account is in joint names , so my husband phoned . They previously offered us £1000 which we rejected as we are claiming £6796 so we said we would accept£6000, which we had no reply hence the call,this arrogant man said they did not have to respond to our letter as an offer had already been offered from the bank,also he said that the charges were not unlawful and basically take us to court!!Ive been confident up to now about letters etc but now its at this stage weve got solicitors to do the rest although we pay fees we think its worth it as we think Barclays arent going to give up with a fight.Has anyone else had this problem?

Gillsy_2

Hi I'm a newbie ex-Woolwich/Barclays employee.

I too am claiming from them (only £120) but know due to the vast number of complaints I have received from customers whilst working there that they have to issue these annoying timescale letters.

They, like any company I except, have complaint procedure regulations/deadlines which means (or did mean when I worked there 4 years ago) that they have to acknowledge any complaint within 24hrs of receiving it. Thereafter they have to make contact after 5 days/4 weeks etc. etc.

I have also received one of these annoying letters giving me a 4 week timescale to look into, but they have to. I actually already had my statements so just wrote asking for charges to be repaid. I will issue 2nd court letter 14 days after my 1st request letter. I also want this sorted asap as I don't know whether they hold off until after April the new ruling will mean that they will only pay back the difference rather than full amount? (I read this on another thread??).

Basically, the Woolwich have always been useless at anything, especially the way they deal with customer complaints with the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing so it's no surprise that they appear to be one of the most awkward.

Good luck!