Banks slow to return your money

The following are facts.
On 17th February, I tried to use my on line account to close an Abbey eSaver account. It failed to recognise my details on 3 attempts. Therefore I phoned Abbey telephone banking to request closure of the account.

They said their computer was down and could I call back later.

I asked 'how much later'. They said they did not know.

I asked them to call me back when it was working. They refused.

In desperation I decided to use the postal service.

It was closed on 19th February.

I spoke (to Jenny) today (29th February) to say I still have not received any payment from them. She said they could stop the cheque and send another. I asked if they would like to stop the cheque and do an electronic transfer but they refused. I then spoke to her colleague who said they could not stop the cheque for 10 working days. This means I have to wait another 6 days to receive my cheque before they will do anything, and even then the only thing they will do is POST another CHEQUE. In the meantime THEY are earning interest on this large sum, rather than me.

I have to say I am extremely upset about this, and I will be referring it.

My suspicion is that the problem is NOT with the postal service.

Banks are slow to do anything, not just returning money when they are in error. Personally I've never had good experiences with the Natwest. Bank with Lloyds these days although my mortgage repayments go out from my Barclays account.

Imagine how much more we have to pay if the Bank of America buys Barclays, we will have to pay a mandatory US-poodle fee.

Banking Service charges are a tax on the working poor imposed by rich shareholders to maximize their returns

If you have problems with your bank,make life difficult for them.I was charged £30:00 for being just £6:00 over the top for less than 24 hrs.This was due to an oversight by someone not paying a cheque in without my realising. At the time I had opted not to receive paper statements on four accounts so I ticked the box asking for paper statments and then paid a regular 50p into each account.This will cost my bank a lot more in the long run than the £30:00. I know that sounds vindictive but banks will use any excuse to make more money on your account and excessive charges are illegal.

Skeaklessthinkmore: A useful contribution. Clearly you've got nothing better to do and must obviously work for one of these banks that drag their heels returning the money to this person. Maybe you work for NatWest?

"as you may know" is a stupid and worthless phrase that just takes up space. "may or may not" is another one I see a lot.

Banks can pretty much do what they like, and who in their right mind would take out a mortgage at the moment

Under the unfair contract law you are entitled to the same fee for their mistake as they would charge you e.g. if they cannot take a payment because the funds are not there they may charge you £30.00,. Under European law you can also charge them the same amount when they take a payment they should not have done. Put the charge that they need to pay to you in the letter and make sure that it is the same as in their terms and conditions.

They've got you by the b**ls (well if you have b**ls anyway)! If you dig deep enough they probably did it because you've left their bank and they can't sc**w you over in the way they had intended, so they sc**w you a bit more. It's always the small guy who gets it.

Anyone have an idea what we can do about this?