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Bank Charges


CliveH

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As the Banks go to court today to try to ascertain if certain charges are in fact punishments and therefore ilegal - I thought we may like to review what apparently an 86 year old New Yorker wrote to her bank:-

 

Apparently the bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in the New York Times.

 

Dear Sir:

 

I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I endeavored to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the check and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it.

 

I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire pension, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only eight years. You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account $30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank. My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways.

 

I noticed that whereas I personally answer your telephone calls and letters, when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, over-charging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become. From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person.

 

My mortgage and loan repayments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank, by check, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate.

 

Be aware that it is an offense under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope.

 

Please find attached an Application Contact which I require your chosen employee to complete.

 

I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about

him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative.

 

Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Notary Public, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof.

 

In due course, at MY convenience, I will issue your employee with a PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me.

 

I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modeled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

 

Let me level the playing field even further. When you call me, press buttons as follows:

 

 

#1. To make an appointment to see me

#2. To query a missing payment.

# 3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.

# 4. To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.

# 5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.

# 6. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home

# 7. To leave a message on my computer, a password to access my computer is required. Password will be communicated to you at a later date to that Authorized Contact mentioned earlier.

# 8. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through 7.

# 9. To make a general complaint or inquiry. The contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service. While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call.

 

Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an

establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement. May

I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous New Year?

 

Your Humble Client

 

 

XXXXXX

 

 

 

 

 

Food for thought?

 

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Janine,

 

I have been watching a programme about this as well . I seem to of done as the above lady / chap submitted something a nano second before my wage had gone in.

 

£38 for this i think this is discusting trouble is how do you go about claiming it all back over the years it must be thousands. :-(

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Guest caraprof

I shall watch this thread with interest to see if all of the people who say that any motorist caught driving over the limit, even if done accidentally, deserve their punishment.

It's easy to slip over the limit when concentrating on other things but personally, I've never paid my bank one penny in unauthorised overdraft charges.

The same applies to my business. When I was building it up we had overdraft facilities and as far as I was concerned, a deal is a deal and my word is my bond. If I had £X as a limit, I never exceeded £X.

Once, we had a terrible Christmas and couldn't meet all of our bills so I didn't try to con anyone, I phoned my two biggest suppliers and explained the position. The credit controller at Olympus U.K. was so impressed by my honesty that when I said that £20K for another two weeks would see us over the hump he said "Take four weeks if it helps."

The irony is that J9's son will now have to halt his claim against the bank until the outcome of this case, which will probably take two years.

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I have to say that I'm with Frank on this one.

 

As with any other form of business transaction, a deal's a deal.

 

Your bank tells you IN ADVANCE what it's charges would be.

If you then decide to take advantage of an authorised, or even unauthorised overdraft; or to break the deal that you agreed with them by having insufficient funds in your account to make a payment that you want them to make on your behalf - then you pay the charge.

Unlike most other countries around the world, private customers of UK banks are often able to get free banking so long as they stay in credit and honour their side of the deal.

 

If at any time you don't like the deal at your bank, simply move your money somewhere else - it's your choice.

 

People seem to forget that banks are commercial businesses, just like any other.

They are not a social service. They are run to maximise profit and return-on-capital for their owners (the shareholders - who risk their own money buy investing in those shares, and expect returns in exchange for that risk).

 

Hard, I know, but reality often is.........

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I too have sympathy with the Banks in this regard.

On the two occasions that my credit / debit transactions have 'crossed in the post' I simply made suitable representation and the Bank fully refunded the punitive charge.

If I hadn't been the victim of the 'crossed in the post' scenario I would have taken the charges on the chin. I am, and should be, responsible for my own financial management.

How much money will be levied on other products and services if those who can't manage their finances are not held accountable?

Yet another example of how reasonable and careful people may well end up footing the bill.

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I totally agree, and even running three businesses I do not pay more than transaction charges.

 

Unfortunately my son works freelance in the entertainment industry, often abroad, and money coming in from agencies is not reliable. He is still learning, unfortunately the hard way, how to manage his finances.

 

But my motto has always been 'if you don't ask, you don't get' so he has put in a claim to the bank.

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Guest caraprof

Despite my comments above I do actually feel that the charges are too high. £39 for bouncing a cheque is far too steep and perhaps one good thing that may come out of this is that the banks will lower their penalty fees.

I suspect that the banks will win their case though. If someone opens an account and accepts the terms and conditions then they haven't a leg to stand on. There have already been some cases and the banks won.

I think that now they have got fed up with all of the work that's being caused by the thousands of people using such things as the Consumers' Association standard letters to reclaim money, that they've decided to test it all the way.

As I said earlier, all pending claims will now have to be put on hold until the outcome, and then there may well be an appeal and eventually it will go to the Law Lords! Two or three years at least!

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It must be 30 years since I have been close to being overdrawn, so you would think it doesn't affect me, but I wonder, just got a letter from bank telling me the higher rate of interest paid on my current account now stops at £2500 it then reverts to 0.10%, so now I need to make sure I don't leave too much in account.

Also what I think is unfair is that banking is becoming a closed shop, if you are a pensioner soon the P.O. card account will be closed and you will be forced to have a bank account, so a low income pensioner will be at mercy of banks, I know as my memory is getting worse I can well imagine going to bank on a wednesday withdrawing £100, forgetting and taking out £100 pound next day.

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Guest caraprof

I don't know who you bank with Colin but I'm with Alliance and Leicester and they pay over 6% on account balances but only up to £2500 as well. However, they also have a linked account called Plus Saver. In that account you get 5% so I keep a couple of thousand in my Plus Saver account and when it's needed, such as when my credit card is to be debited in its entirity, I log on and zap a few quid across.

Transfers are instant by the way and it really works well for me. My A & L account also comes with free travel insurance, which saves me a few more pounds a year. When I go abroad now all I do is take out breakdown cover should I have an accident and need repatriating. That costs about £25.00.

Needless to say, you have to be happy to do Internet banking but I think that that's the best thing since sliced bread anyway!

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I have a similar arrangement with Halifax.

Their High Interest Current Account pays interest of 6% up to a maximum of £2,500. This is linked to their Web Saver Account which currently pays interest of 5.25% increasing to 5.75% on the 1st of August.

It's very easy to move money between the two accounts and it's transferred immediately.

Finally persuaded my daughter to transfer to the Halifax, she was previously with Nat West and the interest on her current account was 0.10%.

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Hi,

 

My bank manager once commented how it was strange that his customers always made mistakes in their favour. On thinking about it, I decided that was unfair.

 

If I think I have more money than I really do, I write a cheque and go overdrawn. The bank manager sees that I have made a mistake.

 

But if I think I have LESS money than I really do, I do not write a cheque, do not go overdrawn, and my bank manager is not aware that I made a mistake.

 

Last time I was hit with such charges was over 20 years ago. I wished to close my Girobank account, found it would cost me £10. So I dropped the balance to 34p, and let it lie dormant. Four months later, a trader presented a cheque for £1. Instant penalty of £12. Which escalated to £24 cos I didn't act quickly enough. I howled in protest and the bank refunded the penalties and closed my account FOC.

 

Our UK Euro account had a penalty of £35 per month if it dropped below €2000. My wife tranferred money out, to our French bank, but immediately moved money in from our UK cheque account. Next statement showed a £35 penalty. .....expletive deleted....The bank were sensible enough to not annoy her any further, and promptly refunded the penalty.

 

602

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My account paid the high interest rate up to £5000, and is linked to 'internet saver' account, I would let it build up to say £4000 then transfer £2000 across, I will now have to keep a closer eye on balence.
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