Seahorse v RBS. Yes, AGAIN.

[LuggerBugs]

OK, so it's the mortgage division this time. But they have p!ssed me off no end this time.

A bit of background. Having taken RBS on twice for bank charges, and won, my current accounts with them have been closed. Done and dusted in Feb this year I think it was. Partly, I moved elswhere because of RBS's incompetence; foolishly I trusted them with a direct debit to allow them to take cash from one of my RBS accounts, and thereby pay my mortgage each month.

I say foolishly, because the muppets decided to change things and tried to start taking payments from the wrong account. The one with no money in half the time. And charge me megabucks for the priviledge of bouncing DD's, then for being overdrwan because of the charges, Yadda, yadda, yadda. You get the picture. So I got angry and moved my business elsewhere, and arranging to pay my RBS mortgage by Standing Order from my new bank.

Fast forward to them trying to take me to court earlier this year to recover charges which by now have escalated into several hundred pounds worth of supposed debt. And me telling them to feck off. And them finally agreeing to write it all off and close my accounts. End of. Or so I thought. Hmmmm.

Look what I got from them last month...

It has been brought to our attention that your direct debit dated 01 July 2009 for £632.54 has been returned unpaid by your bank with the reason Refer to payer.
In order to bring your account up to date, we are arranging for the direct debit to be represented on the 15 July 2009. Please ensure that there are sufficient funds in your account to meet this payment.

A fee of £35.00 has now been added to your mortgage account and interest will accrue on the balance outstanding. Should you prefer to pay this fee please forward a cheque payable to The Royal Bank of Scotland quoting your account number.

We appreciate there may be various reasons as to why your payment has been missed. However if your mortgage payments are not maintained it may result in additional fees and interest being charged.

Should you wish to discuss your account do not hesitate to contact Varalakshmi Asokan (Tel: 08457212600) who will be pleased to assist.

Phoned said mumber, and spoke to someone with the slightly easier to pronounce name of "Ronnie". Turns out they tried to Direct Debit my old RBS account for the payment. Hmm. Now, they haven't tried to DD me since I left. And since the DD was cancelled yonks ago, and the account closed in February, why the HECK are they playing silly buggers now???? Stupidity? Or something a little more sinister? "Ronnie" did say someone would get back to me, but 2 weeks have gone by and Nada. So time to remind them who pays their wages.

Anyroadup, I'll pop a letter in the post asking them for a nice goodwill gesture for all the upset this is causing me. After all, they might accept that they are in error and wish to compensat eme in some small way. Failing which, I shall go straight into full Luggerbugs attack mode and see who I can upset this time.

Watch this space.

[natweststaffmember]

Re: Seahorse v RBS. Yes, AGAIN.

Give them a call and tell them that you have a complaint outstanding re the mortgage which Ronnie had taken the details for and under FSA guidelines on complaint handling, a complaint is "any dissatisfaction whether justified or not" and RBS mortgage services have not acknowledged or told you what the outcome of this issue was

[Sapphire]

Re: Seahorse v RBS. Yes, AGAIN.

Pmsl I thought you was quiet for far too long :kiss:

[LuggerBugs]

Re: Seahorse v RBS. Yes, AGAIN.

Ta, Nattie. So basically, I'm 2 weeks into their complaints procedure already. HAHAHAHAHA

[natweststaffmember]

Re: Seahorse v RBS. Yes, AGAIN.

If they couldn't resolve it they should have sent a letter really with regards to why they couldn't so my gut feeling is that it wasn't dealt with as a complaint.

[LuggerBugs]

Re: Seahorse v RBS. Yes, AGAIN.

More fool them, then. Why else would I be phoning to complain, if it wasn't to, err, complain???

[LuggerBugs]

Re: Seahorse v RBS. Yes, AGAIN.

Letter from Ridiculous Bank of Scot-lend telling me they have waived their stupid charge. Not a hint of an apology. Another letter needed I think.

[natweststaffmember]

Re: Seahorse v RBS. Yes, AGAIN.

Letter from Ridiculous Bank of Scot-lend telling me they have waived their stupid charge. Not a hint of an apology. Another letter needed I think.

please can you type up the first two sentences of the letter

[LuggerBugs]

Re: Seahorse v RBS. Yes, AGAIN.

Certainly Nattie.. In fact, I'll type up the whole content. It won't take long...

Further to your recent communication.

I can confirm that the £35 unpaid fee charged to your account for July's unpaid Direct Debit has been reversed.

Please contact us with any queries.

Yours Sincerely

SQUIGGLE

Accounts Management

Now I may be wrong. But I bet if I were to SAR the feckers, this letter would not appear anywhere in the bundle. In fact, I WILL SAR them. They have annoyed me good and proper this time.

[natweststaffmember]

Re: Seahorse v RBS. Yes, AGAIN.

That is crap.(the letter from them, I mean )

[LuggerBugs]

Re: Seahorse v RBS. Yes, AGAIN.

I agree. And need to keep banging at them. It wouldn't be so bad if this was a one off. But this is just the latest in a long line of stupidity.

So. Letter making it all official tomorrow then. All I wanted was a "Sorry, we won't do it again" from them. But they can't even be @rsed with that. They seem to think they can keep fecking me around, and it'll be all be OK. Until the next time.

Pure vindictiveness, IMVHO.

[LuggerBugs]

Re: Seahorse v RBS. Yes, AGAIN.

Just abouut to send this off...

Mr Steven Sharp
Head of Greenock Mortgage Centre
Royal Bank of Scotland
Mortgage Centre
PO Box 123
Greenock
PA15 1EF

Dear Mr Sharp

ACCOUNT NUMBER: XXXXXXXX

I am writing with reference to your letter dated 9 July 2009, and the response I have finally received after much complaining and badgering, dated 6 August 2009, confirming that your £35 fee has been reversed.

The latest missive from yourselves totally missing the point altogether, in that yet again, RBS is guilty of mismanaging my account. The lack of any sort of apology in the letter demonstrates further the complete disrespect that RBS extends to a customer of long standing.

I am therefore taking this opportunity to make a formal complaint regarding the conduct of RBS Mortgage Centre. I have several points to make. Namely:

• I originally closed my current accounts due to the fact that the Mortgage Centre attempted on at least one occasion to debit the wrong account for my monthly mortgage payment.
• This action by RBS meant that the account was then put into the position where RBS felt the need to apply unfair penalties to the current account. This has now been resolved with regard to all charges unfairly applied to my current accounts, and the accounts closed.
• RBS also decided to apply “fees” to my mortgage account, despite the fault lying with RBS in the first place.
• RBS have now decided to attempt to use a Direct Debit instruction that has long since been cancelled, to take a mortgage payment for July, from an RBS account that has also been closed for some considerable time.
• RBS attempted to charge me £35 for the privilege of having to put up with their incompetence in that matter. I was then forced to contact your office by telephone on TWO occasions before I was sent a miserable apology of a letter confirming that the fee had been reversed.

I have now finally come to the end of my tether with the royal Bank of Scotland, and their seeming incompetence when it comes to dealing with me as a customer. I am aware that I have on a number of occasions been charged a “fee”, which has been added to my mortgage, thus accruing interest. As I have pointed out on several occasions in the past to the Bank, I am extremely unhappy with the charging regime forced upon me. In other words, I do not agree that the fees you charge could in any way be construed as either fair, or commensurate with any purported loss the bank might suffer as a result of a customer being “naughty”.

This morning , I was pleased to see that my view is vindicated by the Treasury Select Committee, on the BBC news. Below is an extract from the article.

“A committee of MPs has attacked the way some mortgage lenders levy high charges on customers who fall into arrears.

The Treasury Committee said this practice was "intolerable" and demanded that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) put a stop to it.

The committee also said some lenders were breaking the rules by using repossession as a first, rather than last, resort with borrowers in arrears.

The FSA said it would publish proposals this autumn after a widespread review.

"The FSA continues to take a robust position with firms as soon as we have evidence of wrongdoing and also to ensure borrowers are treated fairly throughout the lifetime of their mortgage," said a spokeswoman.

But the MPs in their report said they were shocked at what they perceived to be the FSA's "leisurely" approach to enforcing the existing rules governing mortgage lenders.

"We have heard evidence of charges as high as £35 from some lenders for simply sending a letter or making a phone call, and charges as high as £150 for a visit from a so-called 'debt counsellor'," said John McFall, chairman of the committee.

"Such practices are intolerable and are placing additional financial as well as emotional strain on those already struggling to keep a roof over their head," he added.”

I am therefore requesting that you give me an undertaking that the Bank, and in particular the Mortgage Centre, does not demonstrate any further evidence of incompetence in dealing with my account. And that ALL fees ever applied to my mortgage account be reversed immediately.

Failing which, I shall be forced to examine my statements to ascertain exactly when and where areas of the Bank’s incompetence have been highlighted, and how in what way I have been disadvantaged as a result. Also to identify where I have had unfair fees applied, and I shall commence formal proceedings to recover those fees. The matter will also be taken up with the appropriate regulatory bodies.

I believe that the actions of RBS to date has caused me considerable upset and distress. I would also like to ask the Bank then to consider some small recompense for the inconvenience that I have been put through. I propose that RBS offer to reduce the interest rate that is being applied to my mortgage to the lowest rate currently on offer by the bank, without penalties or fees being applied as a result.

I hope that this matter can be resolved in an amicable fashion, without the need for me to escalate my complaint any further than this. Please note however, that I am more than prepared to do so should the need arise, as I have more than adequately demonstrated in the past.

[LuggerBugs]

Re: Seahorse v RBS. Yes, AGAIN.

Right, RBS seem to think that £50 will make this all better. Clearly it won't, so I will continue the fun in this vein...

Thank you for the apology in your letter dated 30 September 2009.

You are correct in your assumption that it was not the response I was expecting. In fact it falls far short of being satisfactory in any way whatsoever.

I had expected something rather more substantial than a cheque for £50. Since it is a condition of acceptance that I consider this complaint closed, you will realise that it is impossible for me to bank that cheque under the circumstances.

I wish to correct a misapprehension also; I have not been in touch with GMC regarding setting up a Direct Debit. You will appreciate that due to various failings of RBS over the years, I am unwilling to entrust RBS with a Direct Debit, indeed I wouldn’t trust RBS with a child’s piggy bank, and I am perfectly happy to continue paying my monthly commitment by Standing Order. Such arrangement should be perfectly satisfactory for all concerned, and I have advised your call centre staff of this fact on numerous occasions.

Now to your comments regarding my request to reduce the interest rate I currently suffer on my mortgage account. I had hoped that you might at least have met me halfway as a gesture of goodwill. But it appears that goodwill is a word now missing from your vocabulary.

As for your suggestion that I am perfectly at liberty to take my mortgage business elsewhere, I say this: If I could, I would. But since RBS has successfully manipulated my credit records to my detriment over the years due, in my opinion, to a display of complete ineptitude on the part of the bank, then this is not currently a viable option. Whilst some blame may be attributed to fiscal naivety on my part, at least I do not claim to be “good with sums”. On the other hand, I would have expected RBS to be able to display rather more ability with “hard numbers” than they have hitherto shown.

I would like to bring to your attention another recent display of ineptitude. I received a letter from RBS regarding the fact that there is an outstanding balance of just over £-500. Worried that RBS was actually under the impression that I owed them that sum in arrears, I called the Mortgage Centre. Only to be informed that the letter seemed to indicate that I was to send a cheque for a MINUS figure, as I am currently overpaying slightly each month.

Now, I might have shrugged this off. If it wasn’t for the fact that it was the latest instalment in the Comedy Act which is RBS.

Please respond to this letter within 7 days of receipt. Failing which, I shall escalate the complaint to the FOS. I shall do this in any event, should I receive yet another “thank you for your patience” letter within that timescale.

Probably won't do any good, but I'm game for a giggle. :roll:

[veilside01702]

Re: Seahorse v RBS. Yes, AGAIN.

Lugger..... yet again I am crying after reading your letter.....
Superb......
Can't stop giggling.....
I love the way you write your letters.... to the point and funny...
Unless you are the one receiving the letter...
Russ