Can't be fracked to carry on with closed minded people. Good luck in getting your charges back - just remember you're dealing with real people so treat them with respect. And we'll see in Jan who wins.

And with an attitude like that I don't think many people would be will to go out of their way to help.

No it doesn't. It's called Public Relations. Better to say - "yes have the money back as a gesture of good will", while not admitting anything. Who wants to go to court and risk massive amounts of bad PR if things go badly. Seems too many people got greedy in asking, and thats whay they banded together to go to the courts.

When I dealt with complaint calls over charges I was alway sympathic to the customers needs, and always tried to help - even to the point of breaking company guidelines, and thus putting my own job on the line. However, there seems to be a group of people out there that think they have a right to "demand" (not "ask for" but, demand) their charges back. When you have someone shouting abuse down a phone to you for over 30min, because they ran up hundreds of pounds in charges by writing out cheques with no money in the bank (and thus committing fraud), blaiming you, you do tend to lose interest in them, and not go out of your way to help them. How many people reading this thread treat call centre staff they way they'd like to be treated themselves? Regarding your point about DD's I agree, to a point. The company is at fault for claiming early. One company I worked for only claimed on the date, or after, NEVER before. But there are some companies out there that do like to call early - but this isn't the bank fault. A DD is an agreement between a company and the account holder, the bank has very little to do with it. When I have had trouble like this in the past I have always claimed the bank charge back from the company who caused the charge. And my personal advice - never use DD's - always Standing Orders - you control them.

Unlawful? That's still to be decided by the courts. But. When opening an account you agree to the T&Cs. You sign a contract. If you break the contract you want to get away with it? Wow. What's unlawful about someone charging you for taking money that's not yours? Banks are in business to make money. They are not a charity. Like most people I do think that the charge are too high. But I agree with them. What better incentive is there to manage your money better then to know if you don't you're fined? If you really feel that charging people for borrowing money that isn't theres can I have your money please?

I've read a number of threads on these boards today and I have to say I am at a loss to understand most of you. Yes we all know that banks make their money by charging people, I'm not even going near that. Most people have a free bank account, ie there is no monthly or annual fee to use the service, IF you abide by the terms and conditions. But it seems that alot of you want the banks to pay YOU for borrowing money that isn't yours. If I went up to someone in the street and took money from them without their permission I am stealing. You if you take money from the bank that's not yours you want it free??? I think it's time people stepped back and took a good long look at themselves. Who are the bad guys? The people charging you for borrowing their money? or the person stealing it without permission. It's not that hard to run a bank account without getting charges. All you have to do is live within your means. I used to work in a call centre, and I'd see people running up huge debts, and charges. They would cancell their DD's to the mortgage company, the car insurance, the life insurance, etc, but never their DD to Sky. Odd that. If you're in that much trouble, talk to the bank face to face in a branch, or the companies who you owe money too. People need to take responsibility for the own actions. If you spend money that you're not entitled to your gonna get charged. DEAL WITH IT.