RBS credit card on going mistakes on their part

webinteractions

Hi All,

I would like your advice on whether I could take this matter further and perhaps retrieve a higher compensation for their on going incompetence.

Last November I took out an RBS credit card, they took my direct debit detail but the amount for the first payment didn't come out. I phoned a day later to ask why and in the end it was dealt with amicably and they return a late payment fee and my promotional rate. Two months later I noticed that the amount they have been taken was around £50 more than the minimum rate. This is where this saga begins.

I rang in march to ask why? They apologised and blamed the guy who handled my first call and put it down to his error, they return the interest of the interest they had charged is November and a £50 gesture of good will payment. To cut a long story short, this is repeated every month and in between my account goes to collections to retrieve the £50 they give me as a good will payment. Each time I ring they promise it is sorted for the coming month. My account has been in collections three times, my account has been marked down as late payment once and has appeared on my credit report. I was extremely angry at this as I'm planning on buying a house next year and if I hadn't checked I don't think it would have been removed by them. They claim they have fixed this but I have to wait till next month for this to show up on my credit report.

This has been going on since March, I have been very patient and lapping up the extra £50 each time. I did press for more money and ask for £150 for all the months this has been going on for but they deemed that to be too high. I even asked them to send a letter to confirm that their mistakes will not continue, a week later my file was moved to collections.

I have looked at my account online and the amount for next months payment is higher than last month! Shall i continue to lap up the free £50 each time or should I get firm with them?

Thanks for any time you take to reply to this.

agrinnall

It's up to you, it sounds at the moment like you are making money from their mistakes without it actually having much impact once you get the late payment marker removed.

However, if it was me I'd want it sorting out, so I would write to make an official complaint, and if it's not resolved to your satisfaction withing 8 weeks, escalate your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

SnowTiger

webinteractions wrote: »

Last November I took out an RBS credit card, they took my direct debit detail but the amount for the first payment didn't come out.

The Direct Debit was probably not set up in sufficient time before the first statement was produced, or was set up afterwards.

If you check your first statement you'll probably find that it doesn't say payment will be taken by Direct Debit.

This is one of the gotchas with Direct Debit. Ironically, is happens because of the Direct Debit Guarantee, which is there to protect customers:

If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit the organisation will notify you (normally 10 working days) in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed.

Natwest's system is probably trying to play catchup.