I wonder, though, if telling them to stick it would actually stand up in court. It seems like they'd be happy to disclose their costs (in this case) as they have already done so in the letter. It may be worth PMing an admin for their view on this before proceeding.

Do not call the number in the email. You have no way of verifying who sent it - it could have been anyone!

Additionally, if you paid through a bank where you didn't have an account, they may have deducted a "counter fee" (which tend to be about £3 - £5) - although they should have warned you before doing so.

You could ask the people who gave you the cheques if they'd mind providing copies of the stubs and the relevent entry on their bank statement, but they may refuse, and even if they agree might have to get a copy of the statement from their bank due to the length of time. It's possible they've been debited with an amount £3 less too, if the cheque was keyed in wrong. If you paid via a bank then it will be their error, not Capital One's.

You may get more help if you ask in the Barclaycard section...

To be honest, the £12 doesn't bother me, except that if they're going to try and bully me into paying money I don't even owe, then they can bloody well pay back every penny that they owe me. I have looked elsewhere and seen that certain people in similar situations have recieved a court summons. Whilst I really don't want the hassle, I'd love to see a judge telling them to get lost...

I doubt it because they're not penelty charges, and they're not really excessive either.

Hi, Wonder if anyone can help? I used to get my Broadband from TalkTalk. I tried to cancel it earlier this year, and after two months of being lied to by their call centre, and my emails being ignored, I finally got my MAC code and migrated my Broadband to a new ISP. They took over providing my service on 10/07/2006. I cancelled my Direct Debit around this date so Talk Talk couldn't take any more money from my bank account. Shortly after, I recieved a letter from The Carphone Warehouse saying I owed some money, and threatening me with all kind of nasty things if I didn't pay within four days. I thought this was for the period between my last payment being made and the new ISP taking over, so I paid it. I have today realised, whilst checking emails, that they have continued to bill me and I apparantly now owe about £65. I phoned today and was advised by the Indian call centre to "ignore these bills". He told me he would get his manager to investigate and call me back although, based on past experience, I don't believe this will happen. I have now more carefully checked my bills and realised I actually over-paid by about £12. I have emailed asking for a refund, confirmation that the outstanding bills are void, and confirmation that they have not and will not report any late payments to the Credit Reference Agencies. Any ideas/advice about anything else I can do to get these stupid clowns off my back? PS - it goes without saying - I wouldn't recomment this service to my worse enemy!

I left Barclays a while ago, but when I worked there it was possible to restructure a loan so that you wouldn't pay PPI premiums any more. I'd probably advise going to a branch to do this (might be best to make an appointment) and if they say it's not possible, push them because it is, but many staff are from the "Computer Says No" school of banking and won't know how to do it. Insurance is now regulated by the FSA, and there are all sorts of documents that have to be given out, but when you took your loan out, it was probably regulated by the General Insurance Standards Council. I would ask Barclays if they can supply a copy of the GISC code of practice that was applicable at the time you took your loan out and have a read. As far as I am aware it has never been Barclays policy to insist on insurance with a loan, but when I worked there, you'd have to sell four times as many unprotected loans to earn the same bonus as a protected loan. I am not sure who you would refer your complaint to - I would ask Barclays if you are eligable to go to the Financial Services Ombudsman. PM me if you want.

I think banks will continue to offer free banking, but only to those either maintaining a certain balance, using other bank products or crediting a certain amount each month. Everyone else would probably have to either pay, or get a rubbish type of account. To be fair, i don't think banks would mind losing a lot of their customers - the ones who never have any money in their accounts actually cost the bank money, so if those customers close their accounts, the banks won't care. One bank I have worked for could tell how much profit they made from an individual customer - if this was negative, we wouldn't argue if you said you wanted to close your account.

Sorry, I haven't had time to print them yet - I was too busy reading this site. :-|

Abbey will only charge £10 for copy statements - not £65. I don't know why you're quoteing that figure.

What we may see is a policy of more account closures if banks cannot charge for people exceeding their limit etc. Maybe somthing like have 3 bounced DDs, and you can no longer set up DDs. Go over your limit for a certain period and the account is automatically closed if not brought back into credit. Would people be happy to pay a small fee (say 5p) per transaction?

They are obliged to send all the data that you ask for, if they told it. I believe banks keep records for a minimum of seven years.

By overdrawn, I mean in excess of overdraft. Within an arranged overdraft is fine. Different banks obviously have different policies - the previous bank I worked for didn't seem to mind (although it was in my contract that I should manage my account properly or however it was worded). The bank I work for now seem to take a more dim view, and my contract even says they can deduct from my salary any money I owe in arrears on any banking product I hold with them.

Hello, I work in banking, so don't have any charges of my own to claim back - going overdrawn is a serious offence if you work in a bank, and when you're there every day it's easy to keep track of your balance. But obviously my workload seems to have been increased 10 fold by this site. Anyway, I was chatting to my mate the other night and he mentioned he'd once been charged by Halifax - he can't remember when and doesn't have statements, but is absolutly sure it was £30 for being overdrawn. Given that it's just one charge, if he sends the preliminery letter, is he likely just to get a refund? I know if it was the bank I work for, he would get his money back straight away, just wondering if anyone's claimed a small amount from Halifax and how long it's taken them to settle. Also will it matter that we don't know the date of the charge? I'd rather not have to fork out £10 for a DPA request when the amount we want back is only £30. Cheers for any help!

If you pay by cheque, then provided they cash it, there is undisputable proof of their reciept (and the date of reciept) of you SAR. If you authorise them to debit your account, then this proof may not exist. Also remember that if the account is over it's limit, then they won't apply the debit, and won't act on your SAR as you have not paid the fee.

I suspect that the friend's ex-wife got the loan by phoning up (so no need for ID) and answering the usual security questions such as date of birth, mother's maiden name. I would strongly recommend making a DPA request for all information to do with the loan, including recordings (not transcripts) of any telephone conversations that exist. This may help to identify the person who took the loan out. If it was actually taken out in a branch, then depending on how long ago it was, make a request under the DPA for copies of the CCTV. Be sure to find out how the loan was drawn down (ie was it paid into an account or taken as a cheque/cash) and request copies of all relevent documentation (such as a withdrawel slip or copies of any cheques). If your friend can't afford a solicitor, he needs to go to the CAB as soon as possible.

The Direct Debit Guarantee says that you can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by writing to your bank. I would suggest you send a letter (or similar) to the head office complaints department of your bank, reminding them of their obligations under this guarantee. Some (but not all) banks have the facility to "block" an originator from setting up new DDs on an account. If your bank has this facility then they should offer it to you. If Egg do take any payments from your account, then you should ask your bank (not Egg) for a full and immediate refund - also part of the DD Guarantee. It doesn't matter what your contract with Egg says about DDs. Your contract with the bank says they will abide by the DD Guarantee scheme. As a customer you are the only person who can authorise DDs, and you can cancel them at any time. If your bank fail to help you then ask for a letter of deadlock and contact the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Banks are required to keep information for six years by the Financial Services Authority. Although I do not specifically know if the same rules relate to store and credit cards, as many of these companies are also regulated by the FSA, the same rules may apply. I would give the FSA a call, find out whether the company concerned is regulated by them and if so whether they are required to keep the information for six years.

just wanted to add...Miss Jackson would have grounds for a complaint to MBNA on the grounds that they have disclosed her banking details to a third party by sending you the cheque. She may wish to make a complaint to MBNA regarding this along with a request for compensation.

Obviously you cannot claim back what's already been refunded though, so remember to take these amounts off your total claim if you haven't already.

If you want to tape calls, you MUST tell the other party at the start of the call. If you do not, then any recording cannot be used in evidence.

Cheques should be made payable to Abbey National plc. This is their registered name so will be acceptable.

If Miss Jackson doesn't reply on here, and you want to return her cheque, you can send it to her bank with a covering note and they'll forward it to her. If for some reason there's no address on the cheque, pm me with the sort code and I'll find it for you.