Thank you for your response. I understand that the whole compensation thing may never be acted upon however if you don't put it out there you will never know or get! I'll let you know if I am successful with this.

There are interest charges incurred on my credit card because it has been used over the space of a month, it shows it in my statement! (I had completely paid it off a few months back and there were no further charges showing in my statements at that point).

I am leaving Abbey and closing my account, so no worries there and I will be getting in touch with Abbey HO and the Financial Ombudsman. I don't think the lack of good customer services stops at the door of Abbey as all banks are not that great, however Abbey is a particularly bif offender!

Thank you for the tip on Nationwide, I will look into the pro's and con's.

All the best.

Have to agree with Skywalker - move your current account asap and complain to Abbey HO. There are plenty of better current acc. offers out there. Don't hold your breath re compensation tho'.

"I will be wanting compensation for all the stress, the time it is taking to get it all sorted, payment for all the calls I have had to make to them to chase it all up, payment of my charges on my credit card as I wouldn't have been using it and a really really nice bottle of champagne and box of chocolates."

Are you for real? I mean good luck - but I fear you will not be getting chocs and champagne anytime ever from Abbey. If you incurred charges on your credit card (which you state you wouldn't have used) then you must have not paid off the balance in full. Hardly Abbeys responsibility imho.

If you are so angry about this, vote with your feet. Send a letter to the CEO explaining why you are leaving the bank - and then leave. I use Nationwide and they have never given me a problem, in 20 years of using them.

I have been with Abbey about 18 years or more (they took over the building society I was with). I have always stayed with them even whilst being a student with all the other banks having student offers on...I stayed faithful with Abbey. I have a loan, credit card, ISA and current account with them.

Four weeks ago I went into a branch so I could change my address. I was then told that they had sent out to me a new debit card as mine was to expire in October and that I should have definately received it by now. I hadn't and I had just been over to my old address to see my friends and there wasn't any mail for me. So, the Abbey employee at the 'help' desk said she would organise another one for me. Great! However, when I went to the ATM inside the branch to withdraw some cash, the machine took my card. It dawned on me that the lady at the help desk had done something she shouldn't have. I go back to her. When told of what had happened at the ATM she gasped and realised WHAT she had done. She had logged my card down as LOST. This then cancelled my current valid card, meant I had no more internet access to my account and made it difficult to do any telephone banking. From this point onwards, if I need any cash from this account I must go into a branch with ID and get it over the counter. Very inconvenient as it means taking time out of my lunch time or weekend standing in a large que to do this as they are shut on my way into work and on my way home. It has forced me to use my credit card of which a couple of months ago I had completely paid the balance off and didn't want to use it for a long time.

I was told that my new card, pin, internet banking and telephone banking had been ordered and will be 7-10 working days.

Four weeks on I still do not have anything.

I finally got a letter to go and collect my new card from a branch that I do not live or work near and that wasn't open on the weekends, so I had to take time out of work to go and get it. It now turns out that it was the original card that was sent to me to relplace my other card before the Abbey help desk lady put it all down as lost. So this card is in fact useless.

So I still have nothing.

I have called Abbey numerous times, calls taking at least 20 minutes at a time for them to tell me there is a new card etc on its way and that the complaints department have spoken to the branch that this all happened with and that I will get a call soon from them. I never got a call.

At last, yesterday I spoke a nice chap that it seems had the only brain cell for the company that day and sounds like he understands what has been going on and could see that in fact there hadn't been any replacement card or pin to have been ordered at all. So he has now ordered it all and it should arrive by the end of next week...fingers crossed.

So I just wonder what on earth all the other people I have spoken to at Abbey have been doing all this time.

I fail to understand how in the 21st century a company like Abbey who is part of one of Europe's biggest financial groups cannot sort this problem out that has arisen by the incompetence of their employee and get the new card etc etc to me quicker than the bog standard 7-10 working days and still use Royal Mail to do this at a time when that in itself is a bit hit and miss to whether you get your mail at all. I wish they would courier it to me ASAP with no charge to me!

I will be wanting compensation for all the stress, the time it is taking to get it all sorted, payment for all the calls I have had to make to them to chase it all up, payment of my charges on my credit card as I wouldn't have been using it and a really really nice bottle of champagne and box of chocolates.

I do so hate to have to moan however after everything my patience has dwindled and I know I am not the first nor will I be the last to suffer such inconvenience, lack of customer service and incompetence at the hands of Abbey.