Capital letters

By the time direct debits were finally activated - three months later - I had decided to return to the Co-op, whose interest rate was pathetic but whose customer service worked. But before I could transfer back, A&L had cancelled the debits. Then they were reinstated.

In early February, I made a formal complaint. But then A&L said it could not close my account because it was in the red, with overdraft charges rising by the day.

I have spent hours on the phone to A&L and to companies which should have received regular payments from me. Please help.

LT, Leicestershire

- "When you choose one of our current accounts, you can be sure you're in safe hands," says the A&L website.

You were not. And what should have been a simple transaction dragged out over five months, causing you expense as well as distress.

The Premier account rules say you must pay in at least £500 a month to qualify for the benefits, including interest and free travel cover. So, if you did omit ticking the salary payment box, why did no one notice it? How did they expect you to fulfil this rule without your salary?

When Capital Letters calls, A&L goes at once into full apology mode. It accepts that the bank did little to help you and it is not surprised you want to return to the Co-op.

But some good has come out of this. A&L has revised its systems and updated procedures to prevent more mess.

It will now write to you to apologise unreservedly for the difficulties, including the need for you to contact recipients of your direct debits. And it will send you £250 plus a bouquet of flowers as some recompense for the distress you have experienced.

Is this fraud or a Net loss?

In January, I ordered a copy of my grandfather's birth certificate from gov-certificates.co.uk. I paid the £23.95 with my Nationwide debit card. More than two months later, I have still not received the certificate. I have tried to email them (at a number of addresses) but have heard nothing.

The Nationwide has been extremely helpful and gave me a form to fill in to try and recover my money.

This is the first time I have ordered on the internet and it has put me off. Is this site a fraud?

AS, Hampshire

- Although you have lost your cash, there is no evidence that this was set up to take people's money and supply nothing - asking people to pay for ancestors' birth, marriage and death certificates is simply not the way fraudsters tend to work.

But this firm has disappeared. Your emails are unanswered and the Bournemouth address the website gives turns out to be a £25 a month maildrop in a small shopping parade.

Whoever is behind this, it seems likely they are from France. The website can be tracked back to a French property website in Britanny.

And the payment system is the French Citelis. This does give you the security of knowing that the certificate firm does not have your card number. But in common with other payment systems, once the money is transferred to the intended recipient, that is the end of the story.

As the amount paid is less than £100, you would not have been able to get a refund under the Consumer Credit Act, even if you had used a credit card.

You are not the only one to have suffered and there is an investigation going on. But the chances of ever seeing your money again are slight.

Next time, try ordering certificates from the General Register Office site at gro.gov.uk - the prices are lower as well as your having the security of using a government department.

Rubbing salt into my wound

I took out a mortgage 15 years ago with UCB, backed by an Axa Equity & Law endowment. The policy promised all sorts of goodies but ended up with a £4,651 shortfall.

I did not manage to make a mis-selling claim stick, so I resigned myself to paying the shortfall. But when I phoned up UCB, I was told I could not pay by debit card.

I was offered a choice of telegraphic transfer (costing £25) or sending a cheque and continuing to pay interest whilst it cleared (costing £24.90). Surely this is rubbing salt into my wounds?

AS, Sheffield

- You can buy cinema tickets over the phone with a debit card. So why you could not pay UCB, part of Nationwide, the balance of your loan is not clear. Nor was the lender very clear about things when Capital Letters called.

At first, it stuck to the no debit card line, saying its systems could not cope. But then it discovered it had got it all wrong and could accept your plastic after all.

Nationwide accepts that more and more people will need to end mortgages with large payments now that so many endowments are failing to hit targets. So it should not add to the agony with these extra charges.

The good news is that Nationwide will now write to say sorry, refunding the £25 interest charge and sending you £25 in high street vouchers as a ex gratia gesture.

Is HSBC card fool's Gold?

When the National Trust announced last October that it was discontinuing its credit card venture with HSBC, I moved to an HSBC Gold card. The first two payments were fine. But after that, I was told I had interest every month - even though I always pay off my balance in full.

I have cancelled the card and cut it up in protest.

PH, Essex

- There was no need to do this. It is now standard practice to warn you of interest charges that you will incur the following month if you only pay the minimum. But the way this is done is very confusing - nothing new in the wonderful world of credit cards.

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