Letter: Banks taketh ... and then taketh again

Letter: My credit card bill came through the door - no worries - all paid for the month, or so I thought.

No. Late payment charge of £12.

Well over £60 extra paid in the month, why?

Yes, one of the payments had arrived four days late, but within the set time I was more than £40 overpaid.

That long process to speak to a human ended in a block. I demanded to speak to a supervisor.

She tried to block me again.

Where does it say that the payments must be made by the cardholder and where does it say that a refund is not a payment?

I asked for the exact wording and where it is in the contract that I signed.

"We'll get back within the hour" was at last agreed.

To their credit they did come back.

Those stipulations, which led to the £12 late payment tax, were not in writing anywhere, but were part of what the bank's rules.

No apology, but head office is quickly going to make it clear to future customers.

How many other customers have been wrongly charged this £12?

I have had mine refunded.

I put it to the manager that if I'd purchased something one day and found out that I'd been overcharged and refunded the next, which is what happened to me, I was being charged for an error made by the retailer and its was compounded by errors made by the bank.

"Yes but that is our policy," was the reply.

Beware everyone.

The sum of £12 may not be much, but I'd rather have it in my pocket, than lining the bank's.

Mrs BA Flowers

Newport