Tweet
Hi,
Having wrote Abbey credit card to refund all the illegal charges on my account since 2006, this is the letter I got in reply.
Dear Mr........
Account No ********************
We refer to your recent correspondence concerning default fees on your account. I would like to clarify the situation from our perspective.
We have always set out precisely what our charges are in our agreement with you, as they are an integral part of the terms abd conditions under which we are prepared to provide credit facilities. Similarly, we have set credit limits carefully for each customer and for good reason. We expect every customer to respect their credit limit. If a customer goes over credit limit he or she is using the card in a way that is not allowed, in effect obtaining unauthorised borrowing. We, therfore, lend more than we agreed to and on risks which were never accepted in the first place. In the case of both late payments and overlimit, and also where a cheque or direct debit is returned unpaid, we look at the defaults of customers overall, as do all other major credit card providers. This approach allows us to be clear and upfront about all default charges and the basis on which they are applied.
You may know that the Office of Fair Trading issued guidelines in April 2006 in relation to the level of credit card default charges across the industry. MBNA disagrees with the OFT's interpretation of the law and continues to maintain that its default charges have always been fair, legal and transparent. However, we decided to reduce our default charges to £12 with effect from 28 June 2006 for late payments and returned payments, and 28 July 2006 for overlimit fees. You will have received notification of the changes to the terms and conditions, which we expect you to honour. Term 3a expliciity details the amount and circumstances of each charge.
Nevertheless, we wish to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction. We would therefore like to offer you a goodwill payment of £12.50, which will effectivelyreduce all of the fees you have paid, to the reduced fee level of £12. We must reterate that we do not accept the OFT's position, and that this payment is offered solely as a matter of goodwill. I have arranged for this payment to be credited to your account. I trust that you will find this an acceptable resolution.
In realtion to fees charged since July 2006, we will not make any offer to settle this element of your complaint. As I have expalined above, our fees are fair, legal and transparentand are consistent with the OFT's guidelines.
Please note that the goodwill payment will be deducted from your outstanding balance, not from your arrears. Your account is currently three payments in arrears totalling £230.33, with an additional payment of £52.10 which is due to reach your account by 20 October 2009.
I am also enclosing a copy of "Our Commitment to You" leaflet, which explains our complaint handing process in greater detail.
We trust that this response has satisfied your complaint; if however, you reamin dissatisfied- then please write to us within eight weeks from the date of this letter. If we do not hear from you within this time, then we will consider this matter resolved. If your compalint continues and you reamin dissatisfied, then ultimately you can refer to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Their details are
Fianancial Ombudsman Service
Customer Contact Division
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London E14 9SR
Yours Sincerely
G Powell
V. President
Now, what can I do?. Please help
Having wrote Abbey credit card to refund all the illegal charges on my account since 2006, this is the letter I got in reply.
Dear Mr........
Account No ********************
We refer to your recent correspondence concerning default fees on your account. I would like to clarify the situation from our perspective.
We have always set out precisely what our charges are in our agreement with you, as they are an integral part of the terms abd conditions under which we are prepared to provide credit facilities. Similarly, we have set credit limits carefully for each customer and for good reason. We expect every customer to respect their credit limit. If a customer goes over credit limit he or she is using the card in a way that is not allowed, in effect obtaining unauthorised borrowing. We, therfore, lend more than we agreed to and on risks which were never accepted in the first place. In the case of both late payments and overlimit, and also where a cheque or direct debit is returned unpaid, we look at the defaults of customers overall, as do all other major credit card providers. This approach allows us to be clear and upfront about all default charges and the basis on which they are applied.
You may know that the Office of Fair Trading issued guidelines in April 2006 in relation to the level of credit card default charges across the industry. MBNA disagrees with the OFT's interpretation of the law and continues to maintain that its default charges have always been fair, legal and transparent. However, we decided to reduce our default charges to £12 with effect from 28 June 2006 for late payments and returned payments, and 28 July 2006 for overlimit fees. You will have received notification of the changes to the terms and conditions, which we expect you to honour. Term 3a expliciity details the amount and circumstances of each charge.
Nevertheless, we wish to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction. We would therefore like to offer you a goodwill payment of £12.50, which will effectivelyreduce all of the fees you have paid, to the reduced fee level of £12. We must reterate that we do not accept the OFT's position, and that this payment is offered solely as a matter of goodwill. I have arranged for this payment to be credited to your account. I trust that you will find this an acceptable resolution.
In realtion to fees charged since July 2006, we will not make any offer to settle this element of your complaint. As I have expalined above, our fees are fair, legal and transparentand are consistent with the OFT's guidelines.
Please note that the goodwill payment will be deducted from your outstanding balance, not from your arrears. Your account is currently three payments in arrears totalling £230.33, with an additional payment of £52.10 which is due to reach your account by 20 October 2009.
I am also enclosing a copy of "Our Commitment to You" leaflet, which explains our complaint handing process in greater detail.
We trust that this response has satisfied your complaint; if however, you reamin dissatisfied- then please write to us within eight weeks from the date of this letter. If we do not hear from you within this time, then we will consider this matter resolved. If your compalint continues and you reamin dissatisfied, then ultimately you can refer to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Their details are
Fianancial Ombudsman Service
Customer Contact Division
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London E14 9SR
Yours Sincerely
G Powell
V. President
Now, what can I do?. Please help
Comment