Odd series of events! Halifax incompetence!!

[snootycow]

I'd like to know if any of you have a veiw or advice on my situation, here's the letter i wrote to halifax, it pretty much explains the situation

 

31st July 2006

 

Halifax plc

Customer Relations

P O Box 548

Leeds

LS1 1WU

 

Re: Account No. xxxxx

 

To Whom It May Concern,

 

I am writing to you to make an official complaint regarding the actions of Halifax Plc over the past 8 months.

 

Firstly around November 2005 I made two online transfers from the above account number to my NatWest bank account. The money I transferred never arrived in my NatWest Bank account.

 

I contacted Halifax Plc on several occasions and even visited the Wigan branch personally on Friday 13th January 2006. I was assured that this situation would be resolved by the branch manager the following week. I had to make further contact with the branch manager as the situation was not dealt with as I was promised it would be.

 

Finally at the end of February 2006 the money appeared in my account. However, during this period of time due to the fact that the money I transferred to pay bills and mortgage from my NatWest current account was not available I was alarmed to find that I had missed a mortgage payment and paid at least £528.00 in bank charges due to Direct Debit payments not being paid.

 

Secondly, on the 28th April 2006 I telephoned the Halifax to replace my lost debit card. This never arrived when expected and after numerous telephone calls trying to find out what had happened to it and being told that a card had been sent out to me I again called and on June 12th 2006 I asked to speak to a Senior Customer Relations Manager by the name of Mr Craig Harrison who informed me that a new card had never been issued and assured me he would personally deal with the matter and I would receive my new debit card within a week. Today, the 31st July 2006, seven weeks later I still have not received my debit card and yet again over the past 13 weeks that I have not had access to any money from my account I have accrued another £38.00 in bank charges from the NatWest, missed another mortgage payment and been charged for that also. To add insult to injury, my wife and I have now had 5 letters from Halifax Bank Collections stating that my Halifax loan is in arrears, the latest one threatening to record my wife with a credit reference agency, I can only assume that the loan payments have not been made due to the fact that a block was put on my account when I notified you of my missing card on the 28th April 2006.

 

In addition to this my wife has had to pay, to date £122.21 in overdraft interest due to having to keep us afloat during these times.

 

Unfortunately I feel that I have no option but to seek compensation from the Halifax for of all of the above bank charges and interest, totaling £688.21 as I cannot afford to simply “write off” this amount of money, particularly as it has been lost through no fault of my own.

 

Frankly I am thoroughly disgusted with the level of customer services and attention I have received from the Halifax Plc. Therefore, having already spoken to Mr Harrison, a Senior Customer Relations Manager, who did precisely nothing to help me, I would ask that you contact me immediately to discuss this matter so that we may reach a conclusion and put an end to the constant financial worry I am now facing. I believe that my next step in your customer complaints procedure should this matter not be resolved to my satisfaction is to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service, however I should like to settle this quickly as I am sure you will agree that it has become a matter of some urgency.

 

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

BlahdeBlah

Part way through the bank card fiasco we started getting wages paid into NatwestJoint account so no money going into Halifax now as we can'y access it anyway.

We have heard nothing as yet (3 weeks later) but have had another halifax bank collections letter warning us not to use the account as its overdrawn???!! Have tried to ring Halifax Customer Relations and keep getting put on hold, it's not easy when you work full time to spend ages making personal phone calls, the boss tends to get a bit miffed!!

Any Thoughts?

[bearo]

i think that you should start at the beginning and send a subject access reuest ( found in the library on this forum) which will request all info they hold about you - it is a legal requirement for them to give you this info andif they dont comply there are other letters to send after that - i personally think your letter was too nice and that is why you have been ignored so far!

Good luck

Sharon

[snootycow]

Hmmmm! It's not really what i'm asking for though is it? I don't know that a S.A.R. would do any good as after all this is settled we are going to go ahead and claim bank charges from the Halifax. What we are really after at the moment is recompense for the money we have had to shell out to other parties due to their incompetence and the bank card we still haven't received 15 weeks after requesting it!

It is my opinion that through no fault of our own we have ended up "in the red" and the Halifax are responsible.

I would be grateful for help and/or opinions.

[MARTIN3030]

This appears to be a bad customer services experience.

Your complaint to them in writing 3 months ago would maybe have been dealt with speedily and conclusively.

I have to say that if you were to submit this today then it could take a long time due to the pressures they are experiencing with bank claims.

 

I take it you are looking for the charges to be refunded that they have taken recently ?

 

A call to them and speaking to a supervisor may get some of them refunded but I doubt all.

 

I get the impression that you are looking for them to admit their mistakes.......we all know they wont do that.....if they were to refund any charges it would likely to be on a goodwill basis (that makes them feel better )

 

If you are going to be claiming charges anyway then I would tag these on to that.

If you started the process now you would maybe be looking at 8 weeks away.

 

One of the good things about the sar request is that you can ask for manually intervened notes of all recent activity.

If there is anything there that incriminates them as regards your recent problems then you could address that with a county court claim for damages.

That could be run alongside the penalty charges claim.

 

Also once action is started then you can remind them as the account is in dispute further action on their part is unlawful.

 

Personally I would go for the full sar and start the ball rolling.

Nothing wrong with sending your complaints letter too.

[snootycow]

I'm really looking for the Halifax to refund charges taken by the Natwest as it's the Halifax fault they were incurred.

Does that seem unreasonable?

[MARTIN3030]

Well it was your money and was taken against your wishes.

You now want your money back

 

Cant really see that as being unreasonable.......

[snootycow]

I know what you mean but the point i'm trying to emphasise is, does it seem fair to ask Halifax to give us money that the Natwest took from us?

[MARTIN3030]

Depends on what angle you put on it.

It can be fair to ask Halifax to pay from our standpoint........but unfair from their viewpoint.

As its them that are being asked to pay the money the question is not as to whether its fair or not.

Its whether they will agree with you and pay it back !!

[snootycow]

This is the next letter i'm sending

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to you concerning my letter dated 31st July 2006, a copy of which is attached. I have received no acknowledgement of, nor a reply to this letter. Since the enclosed letter was sent to you I have been further harassed by Halifax bank collections who have warned me not to use my account as it is overdrawn? I have also attempted to make contact with the Halifax by phone but keep being asked to hold, I cannot keep making personal telephone calls whilst my employers are paying me to work.

I have followed your complaints procedure as detailed on your website and if I do not receive some contact regarding this matter within 14 days from the date of this letter I shall have to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman.

I look forward to your early reply.

Any suggestions on how i could be less nice but not so nasty that i don't get a result?

[MARTIN3030]

Have they given you adequate notice about not being able to use your account ?

 

It may be that there are contractual breaches by them here.

 

In addition to the FO I would add Trading standards and office of fair trading.

Since both of these are concerned with issues of consumer credit law.

 

The FO is really only a regulatory body with limited powers (they may refere you to the Banking Omby ) and as such have no real teeth.

 

Who do you think pays the banking Ombies wages ?

[One of Them]

Do you actually know what power the FOS has over a bank?

[MARTIN3030]

What I do know is this..........they have stood by despite many many complaints against the banks......and done nothing !

[snootycow]

Oh, now i'm really screwed. It's all getting a bit much but i really appreciate your views. The annoying thing is there should be money in the account as we haven't used it since April and 5 weeks wages went in it before we decided to get them paid into another account, we've lost our internet banking details so don't know how the money has disappeared. For all we know someone could have found the lost card and siphoned money out of the account!

I think we're going to have to go see the bank manager!

[MARTIN3030]

Sorry I assumed you had already had talks with your bank at branch level.

 

This would obviously be my first port of call.

[snootycow]

Well we didn't really think that issuing a new bank card was a branch matter so left it with customer services.

If we go ahead and send SAR would you claim the charges separately just in case they argue that this is not their responsibility. Or does it make no difference putting it all together?? Confusing:confused:

[MARTIN3030]

Yes it can be done together its entirely up to you.

 

Naturally in deciding which is the best course of action you should look at the different amounts from both accounts....dates etc.

 

but its your call

[snootycow]

We're not doing it with Natwest, just Halifax account, what i mean is would it be better to claim for the "compensation" for want of a better word as described in this thread, separately to reclaiming bank charges as they are two completely separate issues.

[MARTIN3030]

Does not really matter,as you can ask Halifax for a refund and compensation.

On an NI form you could take them to court for recovery of the penalty charges and an additional amount for compensation,or else a claim for compensation at the judges discretion.

[snootycow]

Thanks for that. i'm sure you can understand why i'm so bewildered!

We'll wait and see what the bank manager can do for us and based on that decide what we're claiming for.

Is anyone else sick of being skint!!!??

[Guest Alison82]

Can't you go into your branch with your account information and relevant id and withdraw your money? I think they will be very reluctant to refund you any money let alone NatWest's charges, the only way you can show them that you are very serious is issuing them with a summons but not sure on what grounds? Ask around.

 

Also if they did eventually refund NatWest's charges could you not also claim them back from NatWest later? Cheeky I know!

[MARTIN3030]

I think there has been quite a few reversals of fortune on here.......skint one minute and loaded the next !!!

 

 

[One of Them]

What I do know is this..........they have stood by despite many many complaints against the banks......and done nothing !

 

Just so you know, everytime someone goes to FOS against us there is a £360.00 charge against the bank, per case. And if we're found to be wrong, we get fined too.

[sohoscribbler]

In its banking contrct with you, Halifax has an implied duty of care. It is pretty obvious from what you say that the bank has breached this duty of care. I would threaten the bank with legal action.

 

You could also get in touch with a business journalist who might be willing to publicise your story. This might be the most effective remedy.

[MARTIN3030]

Just so you know, everytime someone goes to FOS against us there is a £360.00 charge against the bank, per case. And if we're found to be wrong, we get fined too.

 

 

Ohhhhh dear.

 

I wonder who is funding those £360.00 charges ?

Could it by any chance be revenue from other certain charges ?

 

 

One thing is for sure .....theres no way the banks can complain about unfair charges,they have been masters at this for a long time.

[snootycow]

Can't you go into your branch with your account information and relevant id and withdraw your money? I think they will be very reluctant to refund you any money let alone NatWest's charges, the only way you can show them that you are very serious is issuing them with a summons but not sure on what grounds? Ask around.

 

Also if they did eventually refund NatWest's charges could you not also claim them back from NatWest later? Cheeky I know!

 

I see what you mean but the branch in our town isn't a main branch so won't let you do that. we both work full time so it's hard to get to the main branch, also the money that was supposed to be in the account has disappeared and we don't know where it's gone because we've forgotten online banking details and don't get paper statements.

 

I would be willing to claim from Natwest too if i wasn't so scared of them closing our account, they've been good to me over the years!