My letter to LloydsTSB

Re: ‘Late charge’ on my credit account.

I’m writing to both request an explanation for (and express my disgust at) being charged a £20 ‘late charge’ on my Gold credit account. When I initially signed up with LloydsTSB for the credit account I signed an agreement giving them access to my current account for any payments that may be required on my credit account. So under those circumstances I fail to understand why the minimum payment was not taken out on the date it was required, and instead I have had a £20 charge added to my account.

Besides my current account and my credit card I also have a growing savings account, as well as a loan, which I am currently paying back with interest, and all of these I have taken out with LloydsTSB. I need to remind anyone how easy it would be to consolidate that debt with another bank and transfer it all to a 6 month interest free account. I have never before had reason to fault Lloyds and have always been more than happy with the service I have received (and have never intended to transfer my money elsewhere) but I find this charge to be completely unacceptable. If it were a case of not having enough money in my current account to cover the credit payment then I would understand, but that wasn’t the case. All that was required was that you transfer the minimum payment from my current account to my credit account, which is exactly what I understood I was signing for when I opened the account.

I will be completely disgusted if the late charge isn’t reversed on my credit account and will regard it as a serious affront to the goodwill that exists between the bank and myself, which may very well result in me moving my funds elsewhere.

My final question, which is in some way linked to this complaint, is why I can’t transfer money from my current account to my credit account using your online services, especially as I can transfer it between my other accounts? I find it to be a huge shortfall in an otherwise excellent online banking system.

Regards,
Ian Wilson

And now I'm just waiting for their reply. So who's next? Come on, get in line, I'm pissed off and primed to have a go at just about anything right now!