Hearty congrat.s kingliam. A&L are probably sending your cheque by the same post that saw my January statement, dated 11 Feb, arrive in an unsealed envelope on 26 October, a mere 258 days! By my calcs, expect Lubbly Jubbly Midsummer's Day, then put in a claim for lost interest, provided chq doesn't Boing-boing back to them.

Hello jonni2bad and also bandonbhoy, whose excellent post expresses all I wished to say to you. (My prelim. Request for Repayment from A&L was done today) Surely the Judge's dismissive stance gives grounds for a further Hearing.# Might is NOT right and the Banks are learning this. I fear parallels with today's Court result concerning the BNP mouth may be drawn.

Please thank Bank Fodder rather than me, pbwmca - but yes, it IS good reading. I joined A&L when they opened up here hoping they would be different. They are! They shaft you in a different way! ........as you say!

Hello pbwmca, I hope you've caught up with Bank Fodder's latest report. Essential reading and originates from Northern Ireland's banks. Posted 6 November. Here: Provisional Findings report -Northern Irish personal banking

Thankyou nackers. Yes, you'd think so. But perhaps your experience was before you began your claim? I do give i.d. and latest Bank letter assuring me of Good that you've got your letters in. You didn't wait 14 days between Prelim.Request for Payment and LBA?

Don't know how it was duplicated......

No reply from Vampiress to Spreadsheet ?s, so am submitting claim with contractual compound interest at A&L's quoted and confirmed rate of 17.08%(great help and hospitality from battleaxe). May I be reassured on this point please? I also note that income over 6 years far exceeded outgoings. ********************************************* I was not penalised at all till March 2003 and prior to this earned a splendid 21p Interest: 12 months of 1p, 3 months of 2p and 1 heady month of 3p. During 4 other In-Credit-exceeding-£100 months no interest has been paid at all, without justification. All the Interest periods are dated, so I am sure of this, have quadruple-checked. I long to include a simple sentence to this effect,but expect I'll be advised to stick to formula - Yes? No? *************************************************** My claim is therefore for £1,759.30 in charges + £642.21 in Contractual Compound Interest @ 17.08%, total:£2401.51. My costs for trips to Branch as sole means of using my Account, always with a battle to obtain access to my own money(not Overdraft) are not (yet!) included(noted, Caro), nor concluded. 31/10-to Branch, new Manager is told on 'phone 'no money for Ms X until tomorrow, when she verifies her new card being generated today'. I am several hundred £s in credit. I have been waiting for promised new card,chequebook and restored Internet banking since 11 October. No response to LBA. Yesterday, another Branch. More farce, no record of my a/c anywhere, despite showing 27/10 and 30/10 letters from A&L saying otherwise. Manager repeats assurance from Jeanette(I can hear it on 'phone, too):New card is both 'on the way already', but also 'being generated today'. This assurance has been given 3 times now:11 October, 30 October and yesterday, 8 November. A&L's Sharon, counter staff, is excellent and knows what to say. I am given 'phone to hear new 12-digit I/net no. from Kyle and his 5 times repeated 'absolute assurance, my personal guarantee, I'd lay my life on it, I really promise' that I'll have new 5-digit code today.'It's on its way to you as we speak'. Postie has been. Nothing. Therefore can't make cheapie online ferry booking - needed for some weeks now. Steve Kershaw's letter of 30 October begins: Firstly may I say how disappointed I was to learn of your dissatisfaction with the service that you have received and that it has been necessary for you to contact us on more than one occasion concerning the issues raised// and A&L prides itself in providing a high level of service and I am sorry you feel this has not been apparent to you// with more of same.......... I am very sorry you have been disappointed with our service on this occasion// etc. - also see in their Notes that a default notice was put in place on 7 August, so am including this paragraph in the Prelim. Request for Payment, as per Bank Fodder template option. Any final points please, before I send it RD to Ian Wade?

nackers- Do NOT FEEL this is a bad omen for your claim. It is, in fact, a VIVID REMINDER of what A&L are doing to you. I don't know what sort of PO you frequent, but I would insist on seeing the Manager. If cashier pocketed your £10, it's not going to show up on her end-of-day reconciliations. Sorry nackers, but DON'T LET THIS ONE GO. No - as somone dear to me says - Life shouldn't be so hard, but it often is, in the fight for right. I would go straight to the top, someone here will have PO Head Honcho contact details. Is it still that Crozier chap, who was mixed in a mess with one of Sven's cast-off wimmin? If so, maybe he'll remember what his surname means in relation to your just complaint and behave accordingly. We are all with you.

Thankyou so much for this caro,- done but still struggling with silly questions that pop into mind, through sheer ignorance. Ah, but methinks a banana cake rendez-vous hoves into view(could hear Master and Commander going on last night). Hope to have all sorted by return. I am following your advice to the letter and your warning re:seeing too many claims fail because......it is NOT doom-and-gloom to say this. Thorughly sensible - forewarmed is forewarned and all that. It may be chilly, but enjoy the beautiful sun.

nackers, please see my post on own thread re:clause 3.3.1. in the latest booklet. I am so certain this is being breached left, right and centre in most people's a/c conduct.

Hello nackers, (Fireworks going off outside, as well as in A&L Customer Service) If you can, I would strongly recommend taking docs into your Branch for Faxing to HO, Ian Wade et al. Ask for annotated proof and cover sheet, plus confirmation from other end that request has been made AGAIN. You should then telephone Ian Wade on 0151-966-4306(thankyou for this, Battleaxe)and say that you are ringing as a courtesy to advise LBA is en route when you finish on 'phone, resulting from A&L non-compliance with your DAR. Although it was late on Friday afternoon, 27/10, when I did this, I had everything, including notes, by next morning's post- a Saturday. Not so good since, though. Still no chequebook, internet banking, card, all promised for Tuesday last. Please do phone - it will work. I referred often to 'the backing of my case by the Consumers Action Group.' Good luck.

QUESTION, please: Should I list all charges then note any refunds issued against them? I have now managed to bring spreadsheet to life. As I look at my Statements, I see that I occasionally successfully argued for a Paid Item Charge to be refunded. I can't find a way on the spreadsheet of dealing with this. I feel I SHOULD list the totality of charges, as the Refund never specifies WHICH Paid Item charge is being refunded. I thought I would includethe amount refunded in the LBA, treating it as a partial refund, with an outstanding balance due. Sorry if that sounds a little bit 'round the houses'. To this I will add my travel costs>Branch, phone calls, postage etc. ************************************************************* I also noticed this earlier, in A&L's newly arrived 'Current Account Terms and Conditions(printing ref.verso reads:CA2387/IR 10/06,which I take to mean Printed October, 2006): (any bold, italics and underlining are mine) Page 3, 3. Changes to these Terms and Conditions now see: Page 4. 3.3 We shall follow the notice provisions of the Banking Code, which currently require that: 3.3.1. If the change is to Your disadvantage We shall tell You about it personally at Your address or Your e-mail address provided to Us)at least 30 days before We can make the change and at any time up to 60 days from the date of the notice You may, without notice, switch your account or close it without having to pay any extra fees or interest for doing this; 3.3.2. We may make any further changes immediately and tell You about it within 30 days. I would suggest everyone obtains a copy of this little new pamphlet. From my reading of these threads, I am certain that A&L have not complied with Condition 3.3.1. for many people besides myself. I will draw their, and the Court's, attention to this, in addition to the 16-day breach of 40 day compliance with my DAR. 2 letters, both dated 13 October, declared my account 'will be closed' both(retrospectively, I assume)on 21 August and 27 October. Although this does not now apply, in neither case was 30 days' notice given. Nor was I given Notice, at any point, of Internet banking being withdrawn. But 3.3.2.seems a particularly insidious little bit of sneakdom/nose-thumbing. It needs to be read with later clause 12.1.1. I have never read such a Document so closely and see many little wrinkles for earning money on our money, or causing awkwardness over it. Examples at a glance:6.1, 6.2, 8.1.4., 9.1, 10.6, 11.6, 21.1, 22.6(but see 9.1), 27.1('...However, for large amounts'), 33.1, 33.6. It is, in fact, gripping stuff to get into. We all should. There also last week's saga of wrongly notified closed/replacement Branches, but that need not be for now.

Learn words for tomorrow's HAKA HERE, before your defeat(kiss of something? Hope not.) Won't be any use asking Mrs Battleaxe for her humble pie recipe. She won't possess one. I'm about to begin Spreadsheets, but suddenly thought I should give the words of the Maori Haka, the traditional Polynesian ritual war dance before battle. (And I'll be joining in tomorrow before we, Qui? we Kiwis,ah oui, wipe floor with a lesser team at 15.00h) Ready? On y va ------------ Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora! Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora! Tenei te tangata puhuruhuru Nana nei i tiki mai Whakawhiti te ra A upa ne! Ka upa ne! A upane ka upane whiti te ra! Hi!(pronounced 'HE!') TRANSLATION: I die! I die! I live! I live! I die! I die! I live! I live! This is the hairy man Who fetched the Sun And caused it to shine again One upward step! Another upward step! An upward step, another... The sun shines. Hi

caro, no-one who reads your posts can misinterpret your measured stance and judgment, both clearly born of knowledge and experience, however gained. I am tackling spreadsheet business tonight, having gone through Statements(some missing) received, this afternoon. I'm sure I'll be referring to your past advice over and again. Nothing you contribute here can be unappreciated. Have some of Mrs Battleaxe's banana cake - oh, sorry,pussycats finished it.

OH missed out, then?

IMPORTANT NEWSFLASH: Mrs Battleaxe makes LOVELY Banana Cake and has pleasingly defiant cats of independent views. Mrs Battleaxe is warm, lovely, welcoming. Now tell me - what could be more newsworthy than that?

Of course this letter is computer generated with no human intervention. . To re-phrase, Battleaxe: Of course, this Bank is computer-operated with no human(or humane)intervention.

Dear Battleaxe - Even for them I am COMPLETELY ASTOUNDED by this latest A&L party turn. and then; I am wondering if they have cancelled our O/D without telling us. If my experience is anything to go by, you'll receive 3 letters, maybe around March 2007, advising your a/c will be closed in April 2005, inviting you to last year's Christmas party, and expressing pleasure that you have accepted their offer to extend new banking facilities to you, which they closed yesterday.

Welcome sitezen, You MUST read through the FAQ's first, MORE THAN ONCE. Next, follow the templates/time schedules set out very clearly in the Templates Library. It is straightforward if you take it a step at a time. It is important to record EVERY call, letter, date, name of person dealt with, spoken to and the amount of time spent doing so. Note all related expenses, i.e. faxing, phone calls, postage(always send things by Recorded Delivery)Parking, Park and Ride fares if you have to go to a Branch to ensure undeniable transmission of documents. This is not as prescriptive or alarming as I suspect you feel it sounds. It's no more than the good housekeeping which the Banks have failed to perform Many good people have put huge amounts of work and expertise into this site, so absorb their experienced advice and use it. You will always find help and support here, but do a little bit of homework first. Remember to donate 5% of your successful claim to help keep the site running FREE.

And we can see - can't we Battleaxe? - that if you HAD signed the Contract of another named person, they would have had a field day! Given that you had already drawn their attention to the error, to then sign 'for a quiet life',(no, my dear, not our style at all) OR 'we'll fix it later' OR under duress, would have been the worst thing to do. You would then have knowingly been party to a deceit and they would/could have used various bits of entrail(yours)for gravity-defying suspenders. I would say that they wanted you 'OUT' because you knew too much, saw too much, were too good at your work(probably by comparison to others). Hum 'The Song of Labour' again.

UPDATE(with pm apolgies to Caro - it's due to my inexpertise with 'putah) Phoned the 0151.966.4306helpfully supplied by her Excellency, the Extremely Right and Honorable Mrs Battleaxe. Three attempts between 9am and 1.30pm before it is answered. Using trained Penelope Keith voice, I advise that Ian Wade is expecting my call. He should be, after my forewarning of same. Marie says he is in and out of meetings all day, but promises return call within 30 mins. This is done, Kwai Wong calls me. I say I hope that they will be recording my call. Mr Wade is unable to leave his meeting - 'Please allow me the opportunity to look into this?'(how long did they want?) How can she address my concerns? Would I be prepared to give her the chance to resolve/address them?(who writes their lines?) I ask her not to interrupt while I read my letter to her, which will be faxed to Ian Wade today. She listens. I am in Indignant-but-Courteous, Decent Woman Outrage mode. She asks if she may call me back before I go(supposedly 16.30). She does so. My Statements should be with me overnight. 'We'll refund your fees'. She will call back again re:my a/c, and does so. A new card should arrive within the week. My a/c is reactivated. Of course, I still have to go to the NEW Branch today(don't even know where it is)to go through the whole saga of taking out enough money to live on for the coming fortnight and faxing the LBA. Kwai asked three times whether I still intended to send this. I answered that, of course, none of my actions were personally directed, but yes, I would be - to correctly comply with legal time-frames which A&L have signally failed to observe. She hoped(from the script), more than once, that I would allow her and A&L to fully address my concerns. I said ANYTHING they wished to say must be in writing, for both our sakes, that I accept her personal promise to follow through with detailed actions and would be delighted if they occur. But, as A&L were already 16 days late, I must continue as planned...unless Ian Wade persuades me otherwise. She said she understood this and regretted he wouldn't be able to speak with me 'today'. I mention, vaguely, articles in The Times etc. about Bank Charges and ask, kindly, whether 'they' have been overwhelmed by this sort of thing. Wriggly answer. I ask for her exact job title - 'I work directly in line with the Group Chief Executive's Office.' I ask his name, 'Richard Pym.' So, today's letters(the complete file, including photos) will be faxed from Branch and sent recorded to both men. ************************************************************************* I have mentioned elsewhere that last night's sudden news of a close one's massive operation next Monday for cancer of the pancreas(survival chances low), coincides with the 6th anniversary of my Beloved R's suicide, directly chosen following admitted legal negligence and a campaign of harassment and terror. So, 6 years on, I survive, barely, with A&L having played their part(manipulated by untruth though they were)in enabling the selling away of the business from under me, without my knowledge, despite my being the Managing Director and loss of everything. So much happens, so very much happens..........I often feel way past Methuselah in ages lived. May I make a plea? If EVER anyone starts to tell you their particular horror story, I am well aware that the quiet voice of the mind sometimes cuts in ,thinking 'Surely it can't be quite like that. Surely, the Courts.........Surely the Police.........' etc.etc.etc. BE ASSURED, BAD THINGS DO HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE. Listen with them, on and in their terms, it may be the bravest thing they have ever done and they have chosen to confide, if cathartically, in you. ************************************************************************* Everything is relative. Thankyou to all on this site - and public apologies once more to Caro, for my messing things up inadvertently.

I have this to go today: Alliance and Leicester p.l.c, Personal Service Centre, Bootle, GIR 0AA. Friday, 27 October, 2006. FOR THE URGENT ATTENTION OF: Ian Wade, esq., Head of Customer Services. Dear Sir, LETTER BEFORE ACTION Section 7 – Data Protection Act 1998 Account: xxxxxxxxxx You have failed to comply with a single one of my three Data Protection Act Subject Access Requests dated: a) 2 September, 2006(posted 1st Class, in compliance with instructions from your Helen Clarke, by phone from the Grafton Centre Branch, Cambridge). b) Faxed by your own staff, from the same Branch, again at your request 28 September, 2006. c) Re-faxed, AGAIN by your own staff, AGAIN at your request, AGAIN from the Grafton Centre Branch, 11 October, 2006. You are currently in breach of the Statutory limit by 16 days. I volunteer at a local Charity. Because this has been full-time during the last fortnight, I have been unable to get to a Branch during working hours. I budget carefully and should not be having to do this at all. Transport and parking costs will therefore form part of my Claim. I am a loyal soul and cannot overstate how I resent feeling I have been forced to this action. If you do not comply within the next 7 days I shall seek a Court order obliging you to do so together with damages at the discretion of the Court and without any further notice. The arrival yesterday of my January 2006 statement, partly out of a never-sealed envelope, postmarked 26/10/06, compounds further typical evidence of your failure. Obviously, I have taken photographs of this, backed by a witness. Please note that although you wrote 2 letters on 13 October, saying my Account with you would be closed in August(an absurdity)and today, 27 October, your staff also assured me on the Branch telephone, that this would not be so. Additionally, I received an invitation to attend the opening of the re-vamped Sidney Street Branch over today and tomorrow. As you persist in denying me statements(although charging me £5 for one, received 19 October)AND access to Internet Banking, I must continue to add journey costs to my claim against you. My account continues to receive money fortnightly by automatic credit. This is the money by which I live. I hope it will not be necessary to deposit a Letter of First Acquisition against you. I will telephone you in person on 0151.966.4306 today, from the Charity’s landline, prior to sending this letter, in order to ensure no further denials of my Data Access Requests and other communications to date. Thankyou for your attention. Yours faithfully, Ms xxxxxxxx. ......to be continued. And a happy TGIF to all for whom it's relevant.

There's a beautiful new moon out there tonight. Go and look - EVERYBODY! Although I'll also be posting in the A&L thread, I'll just let all and sundry know that I have just arrived back at house to find a single letter on carpet, part extruding, flap open. It is from the Bank, the glorious A&L who say my In Credit account with them closes tomorrow. The PO sorting codes(don't know what the stamped PO print is called otherwise)shows 26.10.06 and the envelope has clearly never been gummed down. It contains.......wait, for it........last January's Bank Statement, dated 1 February, 2006. I have still received absolutely nothing from them following THRICE submitted(twice by fax from Branch, at their request)DAR's. I will be in there again on Saturday - no chance this last fortnight as I've been covering for someone's hol.s @Charity where I volunteer(8-ish till 18h-ish at least). I photographed this missive as it lay on the floor, then over, finally with close-up of postal sort date. Upon which note I'll go and look at that Moon again - by such moments is the memory bank enriched(and NO Charges!)