Should I report to Information Commissioner?

Treadway1

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone could offer some advice on whether I should report Skycard to the ICO. I wrote to Skycard on 6th March 2008 using MSE's template letter, requesting my default charges, along with a cheque for £10 as advised, and on 14th April, the cheque was cashed. I received a letter from Skycard on 3rd April, stating that they were sorry to hear I had cause to complain about default charges applied to my account, blah, blah, blah..... and that the information relating to the complaint is archived. The letter then closes by saying "As you may be aware under the DPA we have 40 days in which to provide the information you have requested in you letter.". Yes I did know that, however, the 40 days expired on 15th April, and to this day, (28th April) have had nothing from them.

I contacted Customer Services to ask about this, and after being kept on hold for 20 Minutes, was told that the process had been registered (???) and that they would be getting the statements out tomorrow and should be with me in a few days (Although I shouldnt expect them that soon because the Bank Holiday may affect the post.... Or so I was told!!!). The point is though, that Skycard seemed quite happy to take my money, but had I not phoned them, I doubt I would have ever seen my statements.

Should I report this to the ICO or just be happy that the statements are now on their way? (Hopefully)

Many thanks

Tredders

P.S. Im only getting my statements, and not a list of my default charges, so I shouldnt be charged £10 for this. However, Skycard is run by Barclaycard, and Barclaycard charge you for repeat copies of your own statements!!! Dont worry, this will be added to the end of my reclaim amount!

DifferentFromTheNorm

Treadway1 wrote: »

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone could offer some advice on whether I should report Skycard to the ICO. I wrote to Skycard on 6th March 2008 using MSE's template letter, requesting my default charges, along with a cheque for £10 as advised, and on 14th April, the cheque was cashed. I received a letter from Skycard on 3rd April, stating that they were sorry to hear I had cause to complain about default charges applied to my account, blah, blah, blah..... and that the information relating to the complaint is archived. The letter then closes by saying "As you may be aware under the DPA we have 40 days in which to provide the information you have requested in you letter.". Yes I did know that, however, the 40 days expired on 15th April, and to this day, (28th April) have had nothing from them.

I contacted Customer Services to ask about this, and after being kept on hold for 20 Minutes, was told that the process had been registered (???) and that they would be getting the statements out tomorrow and should be with me in a few days (Although I shouldnt expect them that soon because the Bank Holiday may affect the post.... Or so I was told!!!). The point is though, that Skycard seemed quite happy to take my money, but had I not phoned them, I doubt I would have ever seen my statements.

Should I report this to the ICO or just be happy that the statements are now on their way? (Hopefully)

Many thanks

Tredders

P.S. Im only getting my statements, and not a list of my default charges, so I shouldnt be charged £10 for this. However, Skycard is run by Barclaycard, and Barclaycard charge you for repeat copies of your own statements!!! Dont worry, this will be added to the end of my reclaim amount!

Whether or not you want to report them is up to you.

I don't have any first hand experience with Barclays but I presume the initial person you spoke to will have just phoned through to whichever department produces the statements etc. I'd imagine that they wouldn't just be able to turn around and say they'll be sent out tomorrow unless they've already been working on it for some time.

I'm not sure why you're upset about the £10 charge, it's not like Barclays/Sky Card will be making a profit on that £10 when you think about the amount of time / paper / postage etc is required for 6 years worth of statements. You are getting a list of the charges... they are shown on the statement, do you expect Barclays to pay someone to sit there and go through your statements listing every charge when it's something you can do yourself?

Sorry if my post comes across the wrong way, I just think that if they've upset you that much then make the complaint to ICO. If you're asking for other peoples opinions on whether or not you should complain then it can't really have annoyed you that much, otherwise you'd have just made the complaint straight away.

The £10 charge is fair enough in my opinion. The reason I keep all my statements is I know that I will be charged if I need a copy in the future. I've worked for a credit card company and a bank producing copies of statements etc (before people started to reclaim bank charges) so I guess I'm just more aware of the actual amount of time it takes to locate the correct account, then find the statement, produce the copy and double check everything. It isn't always as easy as just clicking the mouse a few times on a computer.

yorkie1980

Hi Treadway,
From my experience, keep a log of who you spoke to and when.
If you decide to make a complaint, then this will be really useful evidence in your favour.
Personally, I'd wait for statements to arrive, put in your reclaim, then see how you feel after they've refunded £X of charges.
Someone will no doubt correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the ICO complaints procedure is quite a tough one. Maybe best seeing what you can reclaim first?
Just my thoughts.....