Here’s a story about a guy, a guy who’s been a lifelong customer at a bank in the UK called Abbey National… Anyways, he’s currently being hounded across the Atlantic for the grand total of £422.21 ($752.68) that’s been mounting up for the last 2 years, during that same time period the bank it’s self has paid close to £20M (approx $35M) on not one, but two rebranding efforts.
The top logo was their logo from the dawn of time till late 2003/early 2004, the middle one was introduced then at a cost of £11M ($19M) and lets face it, it sucks, I can only imaging how much it would cost to print as a letterhead. Thankfully I only came into contact with this once, my current bank issued visa card. then in mid 2005 it was bought by the Spanish bank, Banco Santander which then brought on another rebranding to bring it’s self in with the rest of that company… No doubt at a cost to customers like me, well not like me as I’m barely a customer remember, but thats a moot point.
So fast forward to today and I’m on the phone to them, getting past around like a hot potato all for the sake of £422.21, and no one apparently wants to take my money to pay off the outstanding debt and close the account. Grrr… The only plus point (if it can be considered that) is after 2 years of asking, I’ve finally managed to get my mailing address changed to my US one, something I was told was not possible, so I was using my mothers UK address, an address I’ve never set foot in. I’m just hoping that my outstanding debt doesn’t end up screwing with her credit rating.
This one fits in between the top and middle one, though I’m not sure of the timeline of when it began.
Comments
5 responses to “Banco Abbey de Nacional”
You’re actually missing one, in between the first two on your list: http://www.nationwide.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/EC8DC4E6-F91C-43DC-B0AB-BB5F8026EEC8/0/abbey.gif .
ahhh yes, I completely forgot about that one, it was so non-descript
The point is, if they let you away with the £422, everyone else who owes them money will just turn round and say, “well, if you let that guy away with it …”, and financial anarchy will ensue :)
Sounds excellent, no?
But my point is I’ve tried to pay it back, they just dont want it!
My debt of £197 got passed on to an external recover team in august 2005, i paid a settle figure of £158 through them and was told i owe no more. Now November 2007, trying to get a mortgage, i requested a copy of my credit report and i was in default for the amount of £39!!!! Shocked, i rang them. They asked to send proof of this, which i did TWICE, but they said that they never agreed to that settlement figure and the outstanding balance was correct yet they didnt feel the need to send a letter to me saying this over 2 years ago!!!! So biting my tongue, i asked if they’d accept payment over the phone and they said NO due to the age of my account!!!! I need them to take the payment so it can show as settled on my credit report so i can get my mortgage but they are refusing to take my payment….. Any ideas????????????