urther info - Bank charges in AUGUST are now at £525! God bless 'em. They called last Friday - three hours after I posted here about the song and video (the video is at nearly 1000 hits now), asked some questions and said they would get the claim 'dealt with' in five days. I don't know what 'dealt with' means (could just mean they say "Bog off. That's you dealt with"). We are now at five business days later, and I have heard nowt so far. I shall keep you informed. I've also written another letter to the branch, asking that they don't bounce things when they can see a cheque waiting to clear. The last £525 of charges were done with a cheque for £1100 waiting to clear. Cheque clears: cheque is now worth £600 or so! More info as soon as. Do check out the video - the more views, the more I might get some action! t

No gear - no more money coming in! Actually - all the money went on clients going bust (a couple of whom started up again within a fortnight as a different company). Things wouldn't be half as bad if I had the £6000 or so Clydesdale have taken! Further info - Bank charges in AUGUST are now at £525! God bless 'em. They called last Friday - three hours after I posted here about the song and video (the video is at nearly 1000 hits now), asked some questions and said they would get the claim 'dealt with' in five days. I don't know what 'dealt with' means (could just mean they say "Bog off. That's you dealt with"). We are now at five business days later, and I have heard nowt so far. I shall keep you informed. I've also written another letter to the branch, asking that they don't bounce things when they can see a cheque waiting to clear. The last £525 of charges were done with a cheque for £1100 waiting to clear. Cheque clears: cheque is now worth £600 or so! More info as soon as. Do check out the video - the more views, the more I might get some action! t

You are too kind. Three hours after posting the link in moneysavingexpert, Clydesdale phoned and started asking for info on my 5 month-old claim. "We'll have this sorted in five days" they said. I am sure that does NOT mean they'll decide in my favour, but it's an interesting coincidence that after five months of inactivity (I received a letter that morning telling me I had to wait as there was a long queue), I get a phone call and action three hours after posting on YouTube. Hmmm BTW - over £500 in charges in August. Including those made while a cheque sat in my account taking more than five business days to clear. God Bless 'em and their cotton socks too.

Ta muchly! t

Having chased this mob, not just for several thousands, but also because they've sent statements to the wrong address, told my clients my balance and consistently stopped my overdraft 'by mistake' (taking my credit score from 940 to 280 in a year); I have had enough, and I wrote a wee song and made a wee video. Have a look, leave a message, get it noticed! Cheers, tsugi

Having chased this mob, not just for several thousands, but also because they've sent statements to the wrong address, told my clients my balance and consistently stopped my overdraft 'by mistake' (taking my credit score from 940 to 280 in a year); I have had enough, and I wrote a wee song and made a wee video. Have a look, leave a message, get it noticed! Cheers, tsugi

Indeed - but as I defaulted there probably should be SOME penalty, otherwise why bother paying on time? If they want to charge me something reasonable - avanti! I'm just enjoying the correspondence, and nagging them to pay back SOMETHING.

Thanks for that. But if £12 is the allowed charge, isn't that what I should have paid? Also - where did I leave myself open? I didn't mention £12 - NOT arguing! I genuinely would like to know. Besides, I look forward to writing back and forth!

Ah, thanks for that. Still - as it's unlawful, you'd think they might actually try changing their ways! I do despair at organisations who insist on chancing their arms despite such rulings and despite people winning most of the cases that they do force into the courts.

Hi y'all - this is fun (I like writing). I was on the B'card site and the 'contact us' button was beckoning, siren-like. I'll go down the LBA road when they tell me to take a hike, but I did enjoy sending the following: "Hello there, I've been charged a few times for late payments (my bank are inflexible when my clients pay me late), and I have noted the OFT's report released last week. The OFT statement which has been in preparation for nearly two years has criticised the current level of bank charges as being unfair under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. I believe the report has been upheld and the charges you have been levvying are, in fact in contravention of this. Understandably it is early days for you to move on this ruling, so I thought I'd egg you on a bit: I assume you will be recalculating charges made to my account and reimbursing me for your unfair charges during my time with you? Thank you for your time in this" Ah well, it amuses me.

OK - the latest: I put in a cheque for 4800 a fortnight ago. The bank cleared it a couple of days later. I've paid some things, done the normal stuff. I get a phone call on Monday - 14 days after I deposited the cheque saying it's a forgery and I'm being debited the 4800. All of which is understandable. I listed what fees were coming in and asked that they not bounce anything - given that around 6000 was due in under a week, and a forged cheque wasn't my fault I thought it not an unreasonable request. I also asked at what point it was safe to assume a cheque was OK. They replied that they wouldn't honour anything and that the originating bank could cancel a cheque AT ANY TIME (which leaves me in fear of anything I've ever deposited!). I of course had the letter today - such and such for £154 returned - account debited with £35. I haven't gone down the chasing everything road yet, as I'm currently annoying them for compensation for mishandling my account (a long story of incompetence and breach of confidentiality), but I'll keep you informed as I go, and will happily furnish details of the story so far if anyone is interested. General question: I keep reading that these charges are illegal - this can't be right surely? If these charges genuinely are ILLEGAL, then the bank would never impose them, and the courts would surely step in and stop it. So it can't be as clear cut as all that. The reason I ask is that, while I'm not going down the chasing everything road YET, I do love writing to the bank (I now do it once a fortnight) and pointing out where they have screwed up. I would like to write and tell them that their charges are illegal, but are they really? And what law - rather than guidelines - are they breaking?

Thanks again! They were quite happy that I take the car back and they sort the problems (petrol and coolant leak) - so I'll take it back and see what options they are willing to discuss - refund or make it roadworthy. Cheers for the advice - I shall go in well-armed.

Hi Tom, Thanks for the comments. 1. Bike - I REALLY like the garage, they're a real biker garage and were as upset as I about the dropped bike. The girl riding it is in hospital. Basically, the owner says that when I'm ready to get another bike he'll do me a good deal and I'm happy with that. I'd like to keep my relationship with the garage cool as they've been great to me over the past few years and I trust them - how often can you say that of a garage? And when you're on 2 wheels it's an important asset! I'd much rather blame the insurance company for squeezing every penny. Anyhoo - grist to the mill. 2. Car - I bought it last Friday, put a little petrol in to go for a ride. Yesterday was the big day! Filled the car Monday afternoon, yesterday morning smelled petrol but didn't think anything of it - having just filled it, it was probably a spill. Tyre blew yesterday evening. While going to check tyre in service station I noticed fluid from the engine. I called the RAC. While waiting for them I noticed petrol coming from the back (very small amount, but persisitent) and then while sitting in the car waiting, I noticed gaffa tape, peeled it back and when I turned on the ignition I saw the ABS light was lit and had previously been covered by the Gaffa. I think that covers the order of events!

Hi all, Last Friday I bought a 1998 (R reg) Ford Scorpio for £900 (my bike was written-off by a garage during their test and the insurance settlement - naturally - won't get close to getting a decent bike, hence a temporary car). I checked it over and it looked fine, even some new parts in the cooling system. Started well and ran superbly. It needed new tyres pronto, but at 900 - what the hey. Ironically I had a blow out on the motorway - limped to the services (which were 200yds away) and as I went to get the jack, noticed fluid billowing from the engine. CAlled the RAC - upshot: 'nice new' part was crappy old part but painted, petrol tank leaks when over two-thirds full and black gaffa tape was on the dashboard covering the ABS warning light. I called the garage and they disarmingly said - "OK, take it in" which is all to the good. My query - what share of costs do I have and do they have? I understand that if it needs a brand new part I have to pay a share (according to Trading Standards), but should labour be free? Can I, if not satisfied with the deal, just give the car back for a refund minus mileage?

I thought I'd keep folk up to speed on an exciting new venture. I am chasing Clydesdale for compensation for the handling of my account, and for unfair charges since September. Until I saw this site, I hadn't realised I could chase them for the 20 odd years I've been with them! Basically - they've charged around 1500 since September, and I've incurred a further 5 or 600 from companies who charge for things being bounced (unpaid debit administration fees). I've been with C'dale for over 20 years, I am self-employed and I always let them know what was happening, whose payments would be late etc. I've always put in the monies I've said were due, I ask them not to bounce things as monies are coming in - send them invoices, etc. They bounce and 'bouncees' charge up the wazoo. The money that DOES come in is eventually worth (in one case) £600 less because of the charges, and I'm farther down the pole and so MORE bounces and MORE charges (can you see where this is going?) On top of that - they LOST a cheque and told me I should chase the payer, they sent my statements (suddenly and for no reason) to my old address, they sent (send) my ex-wife's statements to me, a client who transferred a fee to me at a branch, said the teller READ OUT my balance to her! They offered £400 as a 'gesture of goodwill' - I suspect this means they know they owe more. Point is - apart from a good story - should I, in my next letter, say they owe me for all my charges? How do I go about getting all the figures? What about charging £35 for bouncing £300 - is that OK? What are the parameters? Also - sorry, so many questions - should I contact the credit card companies and loan companies who hae charged me? They all say 'in accordance with our agreement'. Cheers, d