Been done over......

Don't you just love the banking industry (with the exception of First Direct)? I've cleared my Abbey Credit Card and was waiting for the statement so that I could then cancel it outright and move on.

Well, the statement has arrived and stone me if there's not TWO strange transactions on it. The blasted thing is in the back of a file somewhere! Apparently I now have a Sky subscription, or at least someone does to the cost of my credit. Also being a jolly nice fellow, I have given money to sports relief.

I do all my own charity fundraising and have been on cable for years!

The best bit? "Unrecognised Transactions? Please notify us immediately."

"available between 9.00am and 5.00pm Monday to Friday"

Love that one. It was 8.00pm when I opened the statement because unfortunately I have to work for a living and then get something to eat etc.

Anybody else had this nonsense happen to them? Am I likely to have trouble sorting it out?

Garry

They must be pretty stupid to get a Sky subscripton as that will give their address.

Still nice to know the thieves are charitable.

[Spiderman]

I'm with Abbey and had just over a grand taken out of my account a couple of x-mas's ago. I was suprised howgood they were at sorting it out for me but having the card cancelled and waiting for a new one is a pain in the butt.

Saying that Abbey have been really useless at sorting out a similar thing recently so i guess its pot luck. I also wont discuss something this important with a robot repeating words to me in an Indian call centre so i'll keep calling back till i get a uk centre. they seem to uderstand the real world issue of the inconvenience far more than someone in Dehli does.

Good luck.

i think its a conspericay theroy!

Abbey take these transactions in the name of other companies to trial there Unrecognised Transactions section!"

what do u think?

Originally Posted by independentphoto

Anybody else had this nonsense happen to them? Am I likely to have trouble sorting it out?

I used to be with Abbey, not for CreidtCard, but for banking. I was overdrawn, and had enough of their Indian call centres.

So I called them up, asked for the amount due to settle the overdraft, all outstanding charges, and all interest up until the date the account would be settled. I then paid that amount there & then, and surrended my debit card at the branch I was in at the time. All good, or so I thought.

They continued to send me statements, stating that they were charging me £25 for being over my agreed overdraft limit. I happily ignored these.

Then some 13months later, I got another statement. This one showed that the debt I apparently owed was now settled. I hadn't requested this, but I was still happy about it. I assumed someone at Abbey had realised where the fault was, and cancelled it out.

The next month, I'm being charged £25 again. What? So I called them up. The person on the phone couldn't do anything, as I couldn't remember the security details for the account I closed now 14months previous. They advised me to go to the local branch.

So off I went to the local branch, paperwork in hand to prove who I was etc. The branch couldn't do anything, and advised me to call the telephone banking folks. Luckily the branch manager didn't want me to start screaming & shouting, so looked into the issue a little. She agreed with me that it appeared there had been a miscalculation of the interest owed when I closed the account, but she couldn't do anything about it, and her branch didn't have a phone to call the callcentre.

So off home I went, happy in the knowledge that they miscalculated to the extent of 30p. I'd happily pay 30p, but I wasn't prepared to pay the now £50 plus interest.

So I called the call centre up, and all they could do was take my complaint, and pass it on. They did however try to demand I paid the account in full. No way!

I was informed it would take a few weeks to get the details of the complaint through, so I waited. The letter then came through "We acknowledge your complaint about banking charges, but we've put all complaints like that on hold whilst the high court case is ongoing." Funny that, I wasn't complaining about banking charges.

So I called them again, and raised a new complaint. A few weeks later, I get the same standard letter.

So then, being mindful that I apparently now owe £125, plus interest, I call them up to put a "blanket stop" on the account, to prevent any future charges being applied whilst the dispute is going on. The callcentre can't do this, and tell me to go back to the branch.

Screw that, I'll just take my dispute up with FSA directly, they've messed me about enough as it is.

I'm still waiting to hear from the FSA. Good luck getting anywhere with Abbey.

Abbey used to be good, but for at least the last 5 years they have been terrible.

I have closed my accounts there now.

In my experience Halifax are pretty good. Also Norwich and Peterborough(more obscure) have always been excellent, best service by far.