thank you for giving it some thought, next time i will read every word no matter how many times i access a site and think i know it!

ok well i have the booking page/site here with me so lets see exactly what it says! first of all once u have selected your flights - there is a NEW lounge booking it by default has the figure one in (thats how many i have put who are flying) there is a red box that says 'add to booking' i know that i never pressed this button when booking the tickets. i have just gone 'all the way' without actually paying and the fees were not included this time- but i know that i never pressed that button before! and i supose to reply to the question you asked, yes the charges would have been listed, but i never noticed. still think its not fair!! but then i am the one who is going to have to pay for my sister and her husband to have a bit of 'luxuary' on their trip' which is for my birthday lol lol hey ho -

i was wondering if anyone had any advice in my dispute with this company over lounge access charges. i frequently book on line with the budget airlines and rarely have any problems and now i know my way round the booking forms. but this one caught me totally unawares! Recently have been making bookings for a family w/end away in January and the last two bookings i made have incurred charges for £15pp for lounge access although i did not select this option! aparantly it defaults to ordering these tickets for you whether you want them or not, there is no confirmation page that 'pops' up to ensure your aware of what is happening! We have rang the company and they are refusing to refund the money, my sister (on whos half i booked the tickets) has written to the company but nothing has come back as yet. any ideas folks as to how i stand in this matter -

Welcome CAthy, there is a FAQ section where you will find a step by step instruction, read this through several times (i did read it most days to digest it all) make yourself some notes that apply in your particular case, i made a spreadsheet with dates of action i took i.e. posted a letter/made a call to the bank - and the date i needed to act by. When i was taking my action i never contacted the bank by telephone or email etc, i just sent the letters in on the dates due - filed the reply in my bulging folder and waited for time to pass, when your statements arrive, you have the wonderful labourious task of going through the statements to highlight charges - 1-arm yourself with a pot of tea or coffee, 2- get a highlighter pen, sticky notes and a folder to file it all in 3- enter all the information into the spreadsheet that was kindly put on the site and this works out the information for you. 4- cut and paste all the letters off the forum your going to need to see your case through, this saves having to find the correct forum page each time, and allows you to prepare yourself for the next stage. i hope this helps - good luck!!!!

hi Julia, no word as yet about account closure - have had final court papers through and dealt with those saying all settled. I dont use the A&L account so it will make no differance if they do, i have two accounts with other banks now, first direct that i opened last year, and i have just opened a smile acount for back up.

just dropping by to the group - had my letter off them saying they will only pay the last two years, watching the rest of the threads with interest esp the group action one!!

hello all, After a sucessful win against A&L here i am now to sort out MBNA! so far i am having to wait the longest time for a reply to my dPA request!!

hi, having just been sucessful with A&L i am now trying barclaycard, today i recived my last two years statements of which there is a £100 late payment charges, i come here to read up about the refusal for previous two years and am very happy to find this and add my name to the group. any help needed please let me know!!

like many have said, its the banks job to make it as difficult as possible, at the start i wasnt sure i would see it through!! so take heed folks!! its worth it, just chill between letters and stick to your time scales, use the lettes on here and you will not have any problems!!

Thanks!! (both already done)

holiday in Majorca already booked!! i decided to decorate and have a holiday so lowered my sights slightly lol. i have two alternate bank accounts opened, i actually have not used A&L for over 12 months as i was so angry about the charges they were making - dont know why i never closed the account - but it does not matter to me at all what they do!! i keep giggling like a school kid !!! i am making a copy of the cheque before i send it off for banking!

it gives me GREAT pleasure ladies and gentlemen - to announce that A&L have today forwarded my good self a cheque for 1221.61p. They reviewed my particular and case and have decided in this instance to settle the claim. Of course ladies and gents, they are not admiting any liability nor is it a sign of weakness as they consider the charges to be fair. But as i do not accept the terms and conditions blar blar blar they will be contacting me shortly to discuss its future opertation. Next stop for me is the donation page - thank you all so so much, keep up the incredible good work and good luck to the rest of the claimaints. now i can decorate my new kitchen!!!

hi Holte just dropping by to watch your progress!

welcome Holte - have you opened your own thread so we can track your story? i have to say, in my limited experiance so far, A&L have not been to bad in keeping to the time limits - i am watching my bank account now for a deposit -

hi Ninja i have claimed for all the amounts (25 - 30 - 35 ) where the bank have charged me amounts for going over drawn and or paying DD's or refusing DD's/Cheques - we can not claim for the amount that the bank charges for overdraft fee's, i.e/ £5 per month for having an over draft facility - i hope this is right, but if not sure as god made little green apples a correction will apear shortly after (*_*) thanks guys

just to add i have had letter off A&L enclosing a copy of acknowledgement of service that they filed. It is signed from the 'litigation team' is this a whole new section that they have had to set up??? lol

hello folks i have today filed my claim 6QZ40210 - just sit and wait now then!! i have also started claims against MBNA & Barcleycard - and then once all this is done my current bank of first direct owes me a £100- but will wait to see how the rest pans out first!!

received today a letter of acknowlegement to my 'before action letter' - they recon they will send me a full responce within 28 days - they only have a week till i take court action!! i was just wondering (and i did go through FAQ's first) i thought i had read on someones thread that they sent a letter saying thanks, but the 14 days notice of my letter stands - yes or no? and should i, or just go for court action as the time runs out? great show last night - what a revelution!!!

i tried this and ended up getting one replacement statement and they charged me £5 for the pleasure even though i rang them immediatly to say it was an error due to their complex new look site!! Refund refused!! but then they didnt cash the £10 for my statements requested/sent - interesting enough the charge for the £5 took my account over drawn as its an account i had left dormant for over 12 months with a £1 in - did they charge me fees??? nope!!!

I used to be in a credit union and they are a good way of low rates etc, but as you have found out, theres no way to pay the bills with them- you would still have to have an account that did this, and that as far as i am aware is back to the high street banks - unless of course - someone else can tell us otherwise and i will glady change my self!

thanks Neil just an update on where i am at - the letter before action letter has been sent recorded delivery and would have been recieved this week - however today i recieved a further responce to my letter requesting repayment - basicly states that they are sorry i am unhappy bla bla how important it is that customers keep there account within authorised limits bla bla bla - re the OFT ruling it reffered specifically to credit card default charges and in the future they may have to participate in the ruling in future. They do sympathise but are confident they acted correctly bla bla bla - they hope the matter is drawn to a close but do enclose a copy of the compliants leaftlet - (thats two i have now- should we have a compertition to see who gets the most leaflets) As i have sent my letter before action, and it would have crossed in post i dont need to send another do i? or would it be prudent to say thanks for the letter but my further letter before action stands?

well the letter before action is in the post, so clock is ticking now -

thanks for that Jonni i have re read the letter and think i made a boob, i thought the paragraph where charges are stated included the % but its interest they have charged me not the intrest on the charges i have paid?? i will amend the letter tomorrow, many thanks again

have sent the request for copy statments and charges - got those - sent the requet for repayment! now sent the notice before action - is this right!! i have been reading the posts and FAQ etc at each stage!

hi all. well unfortunatly the letter i recived did not include a cheque it was just a standard reply from A&L sayjing how very sorry there were to learn of my dissapointment with the service i have received! (yea we know) this was from Liz Larkin and she kindly enclosed a complaints procedure leafet (have we thought about buying shares in the printers they use?) anyway, i digress lol i have used the template spreadsheet and the sums are £847 of charges taken and the interest is £248 - that will cover my holiday in Cyprus this year! after of course i have donated!! i dont know if this has been broadcast before but theres this site that will help you calculate the days between charges made and the date to which your claiming. http://www.timeanddate.com/ i still have collywobbles about ending up in court, but this is now tinged with more excitement and glee at winning!