Bank Charges Refund

[chrisinflight]

Last year, I, like many others on this forum, successfully won my money back that LLoyds tsb unlawfully took. They paid up the day before the court date and asked me to keep hush about it. Those of you who claimed late last year will be on hold- but according to the current status of the big trial it seems like it `s going in our favour!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7364422.stm

Ha Ha, all those greedy bank shareholders..... the days of robbing the poor are over!!

[Albannach]

Unfortunately it'll also mean the end of free banking for those who stay in credit. They have to recoup the money somewhere.

[chrisinflight]

Good, like the rest of the world. At least it will be in proportion to the amount of banking you use and not just funds "robbed" off the poor!

[MattF]

Good, like the rest of the world. At least it will be in proportion to the amount of banking you use and not just funds "robbed" off the poor!

That is untrue. Making sure ones account never goes overdrawn has zero to do with wealth. That is merely people making certain they only buy what they know they have the money for. People like I will get shafted for the sake of the people who borrow, go overdrawn, get into debt, etc. My, I can really see the fairness in that.

[yoshie]

Well said Matt.

[chrisinflight]

Matt, the economy would stop if nobody borrowed money. How would a person ever buy a house or car if they have to save the money first?
To pay for a banking service is normal in other countries- it`s just we have grown used to free personal banking. What`s fair is paying for the service you receive. You write a lot of cheques-you pay more etc. I dont think paying a small monthly fee to run a current account is a definition of being "shafted".
My point here is a bank or any business should not rely on funds derived from the less fortunate or less financially astute in the form of excessive fines and penalties.

[POPEYE]

That is untrue. Making sure ones account never goes overdrawn has zero to do with wealth. That is merely people making certain they only buy what they know they have the money for. People like I will get shafted for the sake of the people who borrow, go overdrawn, get into debt, etc. My, I can really see the fairness in that.

There are those who through no fault of their own find themselves shagged by these greedy ba$tards tho matt, we are currently in the process of shifting banks from the abbey to the halifax, mainly because since the takeover of abbey by (forget the outfit) it's been one f##k up after another, we've now incurred £150 charges because they paid a direct debit that had been cancelled three weeks previously thereby putting us "overdrawn" then they slapped us with a £50 charge, they also paid something twice, resulting in another charge, and lost a payment total charges £150, were due to go over there next tuesday and finally close the account and i'm gonna have a f##king good go at them, and demand out money be returned, so i've been watching this court case with some interest, and i think this martin lewis guy deserves and round of applause, it's about time the banks were held to account for their ineptude and over chargeing, dont get me wrong! anyone who lives beyond their means deserves all they get, but getting a £30 charge because you went over by £2 (like we did) and thats after being told by one of their call center tw@ts that a payment had gone in when it actually had'nt
well that is robbery, infact i think the banking and mortgage industry as a whole is the biggest rip off going and it's about time they were held to account and made to pay back what they've robbed from thousands,
being "old school" i dont buy what i aint got the money for or aint sure if i can meet the payments, so our account(s) are and always have been in the black, been with the abbey for near fourty years and they go and f##k us over like this, i hate em with a passion and if i could get hold of the "person" at the top who's responsible i would happy'ly put a bullitt in his (or her) head,
and have no probelm eating my dinner afterwards,

phew!!! done

[MattF]

Matt, the economy would stop if nobody borrowed money. How would a person ever buy a house or car if they have to save the money first?

A mortgage is one of those rare things where one has practically no choice. You do, however, pay a notable amount of interest on the loan, so they have recouped their costs and made their profit directly. Shafting everyone so that people have the priviledge of obtaining a mortgage is another thing, however. Again, same if you need to take a loan for a vehicle, or anything else which you may be in dire need without. They recoup what is required directly.

Plus, on a side note, they've boll0cksed the economy through letting people borrow silly amounts of money they could never hope to repay. The economy wouldn't stop. The people at the top and banks would make less profit, that is all.

To pay for a banking service is normal in other countries- it`s just we have grown used to free personal banking. What`s fair is paying for the service you receive. You write a lot of cheques-you pay more etc. I dont think paying a small monthly fee to run a current account is a definition of being "shafted".
My point here is a bank or any business should not rely on funds derived from the less fortunate or less financially astute in the form of excessive fines and penalties.

No, but if you use the money, you and you alone should pay the cost. Would you think it fair if the Govt. introduced a monthly £5 fee for all of us to cover the people who obtained speeding tickets, so that they themselves didn't have to pay? Different scenario, same principle.

Also, banks have created a reliance upon them, due to the fact that you get screwed for not paying by direct debit or such these days. They have created that dependency, and then decide they may introduce whatever charges they wish because you do practically have no choice than to use them anymore.

And with regards to less fortunate, we've all seen the sh*t end of the financial stick at some point, (and some more than others), but I would still expect only myself to pay any costs incurred. In all these years I have only ever overdrawn once, by accident, (and the overdrawn amount was less than the banks notification fee, ironically), but I paid the charge and would have expected no different.

[MattF]

There are those who through no fault of their own find themselves shagged by these greedy ba$tards tho matt, we are currently in the process of shifting banks from the abbey to the halifax, mainly because since the takeover of abbey by (forget the outfit) it's been one f##k up after another, we've now incurred £150 charges because they paid a direct debit that had been cancelled three weeks previously thereby putting us "overdrawn" then they slapped us with a £50 charge, they also paid something twice, resulting in another charge, and lost a payment total charges £150

That is a different scenario, however, Ian. That's merely down to the banks complete and utter ineptitude. Which, to be totally honest, is something banks seem to excel in these days. Hell, they can't even put their notes all the right way round these days, ne'er mind owt else. In that situation, there is only one method to use. Give them hell over the fact. I see no point in beating around the bush with institutions/bodies/businesses who should and do know better. Those mistakes and/or attitudes they display should never arise to see the light of day.

[Apache]

Is it just me who thinks that if I stay in credit, i should not have to pay bank charges? If my account is in credit they make money on my money. Multiply that by the millions of people who also keep their bank accounts in credit and they make LOTS of money. Why the hell should I pay them ON TOP of that?!

Sorry, i shouldn't get stung because of the people out there who are in hock for everything from their car to their bl00dy NEXT charge card!

[RodLeach]

since the takeover of abbey by (forget the outfit) it's been one f##k up after another

Santander

Biggest Banking company in Europe i think!?

My Mum works for Abbey

First thing santander did is introduce a brand new system... which doesn't actually work!! Its a heap of sh!t. Everyones had enough, staff and customers.

I dont blame you for wanting to change banks mate an i doubt my mum would either!

[gwh200]

my business account ranges from thousands in credit to thousands in to the over draft,and i fully expect to pay charges for using the banks money.
my personal account i do not see why the bank should have any charges from it !!!!!

they make enough by having the use of my cash to do what they will with.

[Predictable Bob]

No, No, No !

I think I'm turning into old grumpy boll0cks ........

Well said Matt !

We always stay in credit and the only money we owe is the mortgage. The bank pays us interest on the money that passes through our account every month (and also makes a profit as well) - the cost to them of running our account is minimal whereas somebody that fails to control their account properly inflicts additional costs on the bank .....

Pass the flak jacket please !

[Sancho]

I have to agree. I stay in credit all the time.

It annoys me that people are taking the banks to court over 'unfair' overdraft charges. Yes, they are out of all proportion to the costs to the bank, but it's not like they were hidden.

The argument for paying back charges as a saver is that you get a better interest rate overall and then pay extra for certain services so that heavy users pay more and people that barely use them at all pay a little more but get it compensated for by interest. The jury is very much out on whether the banks would actually do that.....

[nero279]

my issue isn't with who pays, but the amount - £30 for sending an automated letter saying you're £5.17od. I know i'm fecking £5.17 od it's cause some fecker took their monthly account fee out yesterday and then my phone bill left today and I've got three cheques paid in but waiting to clear.

OK i got no-one else to blame, i'm running my account on it's o/d limit. Not gonna make excuses for that, other than to say that the same bank gave me an overdraft while i was still 17, a loan within a week of my 18th and a credit card within a few months aswell. That was 7 yeears ago, and if it weren't for the account fees i'd be well back in the black by now. That's purely working on the monthly account fee (£11.50/month for the last 6 years) for upgrading my account to give a lower interest rate on my borrowing. If i went through it wouldn't surprise me if i didn't have a further £5000+ of referral fees and letters from the last 7 years.

So for around £3500 of borrowing i've repaid that £3500 + whatever the interest works out to be, plus a further £9000 in fees. So if i put £3500 in a bank account today will it grow at the same rate and be worth £12500 + interest in 7 years time? Obviously not, gone off topic but....



....banks gotta earn money somewhere, that's why there's huge differences between the interest rates on savings and borrowings. Account fees or whatever fair enough that's just a case of working out what account is best value for yourself, whether you're better off with a standard (read free) bank account or whether a paid for account with extras is better for you. The banks are earning plenty of money out of those two points, so why the excessive fees to tell you what you already know? It costs the bank 25p absolute maximum to send you that letter but you pay £30+ for the priveledge of them sending it to you.