Hi, and thanks for the advice. I have had mixed responses from branch staff locally. The ones who have been there for some time are great and very friendly. However, I do find that their response to anything out of the ordinary is to direct you to the call-centre telephones. The best one recently though, was when I wanted to present a cheque for Special Clearance. The account I have has a five-day clearance time for cheques, and I wanted to request faster clearance for one cheque - the value of the cheque was such that I was prepared to pay the fee. Anyway, I was told that it could take longer than five days if I used that system, due to "delays with the post". I asked why the cheque could not be put through the normal system - as it would, if it had been put through a standard current account. The reply came that "Abbey is not a clearing bank". I asked how then it was possible that Abbey's standard current account quoted a three day clearance. She replied that my account had a five day clearance time. "That's not the point", I said. "You have accounts that offer a three day clearance, so why can't you process my cheque in three days if I pay for Special Clearance?" "Because Special Clearance relies on the post and it can take as much as ten days" At this point I gave up. On another occasion I wanted to bank about twenty cheques at the counter...only to be told that this was "most irregular", and I should use the ATM - of course that adds another day to the processing time! In the end though, I think all banks are as bad as each other. The patronising and unhelpful chap on the Nationwide advert shows to me the real attitude of the banks, and other financial institutions, that we are trying to take on. However, within these unfeeling corporations, you do find some staff who care...and as I said at the start of this post, there are several at our local branch who do try to be as helpful as they can. BTW...do you think there is any posibility of getting my money back from a local Coca-Cola Championship Football Club, after years of under achievement?

It is a great feeling to be able to turn the tables. I have just put in my request yesterday via e-banking, and am now awaiting their acknowledement. In hindsight though, I wish I had gone down the DPA route. How long should we be giving them to send the statements ordered through e-banking before following up with a DPA request?