This is quite a staggering story – I’d love to know where your sympathies lie!
A friend texted to say he was outraged with his bank, and could I help. Normally I tend to say check the website, but he said this one was different, so I asked him to send me a brief email.
His complaint.
Since 2000 he’s had a packaged current account, one where you pay a fee each month. Originally it was for £6 a month and now it’s £13.
That’s over a GRAND’s worth of fees!
Yet he’s only just discovered this and is furious with his bank as he doesn’t remember agreeing to it – they say he did when it was first set up, and sent letters when the fee was increased. The reason he’s not noticed is he doesn’t check his statements; he relies on cash machine balances to see what’s there and (I presume) doesn’t look at the letters either.
Is it misselling or mis-consuming?
I was flabbergasted when I read this. While if the bank signed him up without permission that’s outrageous – not noticing for nine years is pretty stark too. This is someone with a good job – a professional person – so there are no literacy or numeracy issues here. (If this rings alarm bells with you – I’d take an immediate look at the Direct Debit Audit guide).
While with things like PPI misselling or foreign exchange loading the charges are hidden, here they’re transparent and you have a choice.
If we assume the bank didn’t actually ask for permission – is it still fair to pursue a misselling case if you’ve never noticed in all these years?