grr flippin bank

[Esk247]

why don't they listen!

i get a letter in the post today from a Senior Manager Collections << doesnt even make sense saying i'm £4.79 over drawn!

yep...even though I dont have an overdraft facility and i've already told them that the account will have very little in it so if it is down to the last £10 lock the account and don't take any more out...or...do not allow for the account to become overdrawn in the first place!

they've let me order something even though last month when i did order something with this particular card it said 'card declined due to insufficient funds' which is fine! that was the system i asked for...now that system has gone so i never know when this card has run out of money!

they don't even send me any statements any more!!!! now i've gotta spend monday morning sorting out a problem i already sorted out last month!

rant over.

 

[Matt1959]

sorry if I seem to keep picking at your posts but it sounds like you are expecting your bank to manage your finances - I can't see what they've done wrong or have I missed soemthing

 

[estwig]

Matt has it mate, this problem is of your own making, don't spend money you ain't got, or the bank will screw you for it.

 

[Esk247]

no thats not the point. i have a debit card for an account that i use to pay petrol with only..its my petrol account for days out etc. i put a block on this account with a letter to the bank saying that the account should never become over drawn and i dont want an overdraft facility.

this worked fine...so when i used to pay for petrol and hadn't topped up the account it said 'card declined' which is fine i'll just pay cash or with my other card but now it's been taking money from my account anyway without me being aware that i was overdrawn..2 weeks later they've now sent me a letter saying 'oi you owe us money' when i have already told them NOT TO ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN!

it's nothing to do with keeping my finances in order..they're absolutely fine. i have different accounts for different things.

1) an internet based DEBIT card for online purchases
2) business CREDIT card for the business
3) petrol DEBIT card & general spend on anything
4) personal account with DEBIT card

yet its the petrol DEBIT card that they're now allowing to roam free even though all my other cards have a limit of...when it reaches £10 in the account stop any further purchases as there is either something wrong or my payments havent gone in.

 

[Dawg]

It might be that after having declined your card several times the computer algorithm decided that you are not a worthwhile, (profitable), customer and is now hinting to you to bog off.

Just a thought.

 

[Esk247]

It might be that after having declined your card several times the computer algorithm decided that you are not a worthwhile, (profitable), customer and is now hinting to you to bog off.

Just a thought.

this may very well be true actually. well on that account anyway! i've never had problems anywhere else and they happily take money from my credit cards don't they and charge a hefty interest rate just because i'm a 'business owner' which means ofcourse i have loadsa dosh hidden under my mattress.

i'm making a bit of a strop over nothing but it's just a waste of time having to go there tomorrow to tell them what i told them a few months ago. if they don't like the fact i pay up on time and they can't charge me any interest on anything then why don't they just tell me to go elsewhere.

 

[estwig]

I still don't understand, why do you use your debit card, if you don't know if there is credit in the account???

It is not the banks job to decline your card if you are, close to overdrawing on your account. It is your responsibility to know how much money you have available, or to make contingency plans, possibly in the form of an overdraft.

Take responsibility for your finances and stop blaming the bank, then you won't have to waste your Monday morning arguing with them.

 

[Esk247]

I still don't understand, why do you use your debit card, if you don't know if there is credit in the account???

It is not the banks job to decline your card if you are, close to overdrawing on your account. It is your responsibility to know how much money you have available, or to make contingency plans, possibly in the form of an overdraft.

Take responsibility for your finances and stop blaming the bank, then you won't have to waste your Monday morning arguing with them.

then why do they ask me if i want an overdraft limit? they may as well just give me one anyway.

i know what you're saying but from my point of view an agreement was already in place as that card is going to be used up..i slap £100 a month in to it and use it up for trips to the beach or a random journey to collect something..it always goes to zero and then i know i need to put another hundred in next month!

the way you're talking about is if i have to find a cashpoint all the time to check whats on the card at any one time...which i dont with this particular card.

i know how much is in every other account or should be at this exact moment because i have the statements and the business has the account book which gives me the monthly totals but this card is my 'lets buy a pizza if theres anything left on it' card...it prevents the girlfriend from using any other credit cards or debit cards, if theres nothing on it we cant use it! ta da!

that was the agreement i had with the bank...just block it, its not tricky for them to do because they've been doing it for 6 months. whenever it went near the zero they stopped it now they've all of a suddent let it go over drawn.

 

[Gillie]

Some mothers sons!! You aint sure how much you have in the bank on this account and card and yet whinge about it?? I would be too bloody embarassed to admit not knowing what I was spending when etc ...

I am sure that if you speak to the bank tomorrow they will be delighted to remove this card from you totally!!!

As an aside - having spent a lot of time associated with banks and now dealing with 'em, I love it when some come on here and tells half a tale expecting sympathy when I know the workings of the various banks and what the story behind the tale often is ...

 

[Geoff T]

Am I missing something here? What's wrong with internet banking, and good book keeping?:|

 

[Matt1959]

tut tut Esk, this is the thread that never should have been posted I still waiting to see why its the banks fault and how they deserve a rant

 

[estwig]

You know what Esk, I despise people like you, here is a short story for you, a hard lesson I have learned about life just this week...

here's a link


This person, Mrs x, had a new heating system and rewire done by us over a year ago, she didn't pay the final invoice of £3,200.00, fast forward a year, and via the small claims on line I had my day in court.

I was a bit surprised, the court house was a dark, mouldy, dingy place, I wouldn't keep the estwig bunnys there, what a dump. The court room turned out to be a small scruffy office. The judge had presence, a man of standing, fair emough I thought, me and the other side had our say. At the end the judge found totally in our favour, with costs and interest, Mrs x had a new heating system and a full rewire and now she had to pay for it, quite right I thought.

The thing that really, really shocked me, was the look on her face, when the judge said she had to pay, for what she had. Mrs x was devistated.

A couple of weeks afterwards we get a court thingy to say Mrs x owes over £70k on cerdit cards etc, yes £70k, Mrs x takes no financial responsisblity for her actions.

She does not understand that if she wants something she has to pay for it, she, and I would like to point hat it could just as easily been a he, does not take responsisbilty for their own actions. It is always someone elses fault.

Esk, grow up mate, be a man, take responsisbilty and stop being a liabilty to the rest of us.

 

[estwig]

The point I was trying to get at is, the look on Mrs x's face when the judge told her she had to pay me, she was, surprised, shocked, almost devastated, that she had to pay for what she had bought. She had no concept of responsisbilty for her actions.

I was shocked by her reaction, it was genuine, until that day I thought she was out to screw me, she wasn't, she genuienly didn't understnd that it was time to pay for the work that she had done.

There are people in this world, who if they buy a pair of shoes, do not understnd that they have to earn the money to pay for the shoes. Scary!!

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

People siding with the banks?! What is this world coming too...

I do agree though. My friend once told me that 99% of bank problems are the account holders error if you dig deep enough into the story. Pay your bills, stay in the black and there won't be any trouble.

 

[Iwillmakeit]

Seriously come on. You have 60£ in your card £20 petrol and 35£ food which means you will have £5. Now would you go and spend £10 if you only have £5 in there. That's clearly your fault, look after your finances. Keep in mind how much you have in and how much you take out.

 

[Esk247]

eugh FINE! i should never have posted it...it was a spur of the moment thing!

i'm trying to say that every other time my card has been declined so i thought that would happen this time e.g. its declined before when there wasn't any money in it! but anyhoo <<< thats not spelt right is it.

and ESTWIG it's not to do with that. believe it or not when i get an invoice through for work from another company/self employed person guess what i do with it??? photocopy it, write a cover letter, fill out a cheque and post it the next morning on my way out. thats why people like doing business with me i'm a small business owner and don't believe in the 30 day to pay rule whereby the person pays on day 31! i pay on the very first day of the agreement.

when i had on of my websites built by someone else i paid him as soon as he'd got it online even before he'd printed out an invoice...i have no debts...no outstanding fines..no outstanding invoices and only a tidge on the credit card for the business because i've just bought some new web hosting...guess where i'm going at 2pm??? to the bank to pay it all off.

what i'm saying is that the bank had an agreement on that particular card not to allow the account to become over drawn...because its the one the girlfriend uses or i use randomly for paying for a bag of spuds or something. i know i have £100 per month to spend on that card, if it goes to zero within that space of time i just don't use it again till next month when i do my monthly accounts on the 15th of every month.

eee by gum!

 

[Dawg]

Lost in the financial wizardry of not using available credit and using unavailable credit, that's me!
You have a card for petrol that your GF uses to buy spuds with? But rationed to a ton a month? That's a lotta spud flambé.
Confused.
I shall have to ask Gawd-TSB to raise my credibility limit.

 

[estwig]

Here you go Esk, I have drafted a letter for you to send to the bank, next time you go overdrawn.......

Dear Sir,

I am writing to thank you for bouncing my cheque with which I endeavoured to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, three 'nanoseconds' must have elapsed between his presenting the cheque and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honour it. I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my Pension, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only thirty 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 attend to your telephone calls and letters, when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, re-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 payments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank by cheque, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate.

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

Please find attached an Application Contact Status 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 Solicitor, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof.

In due course, 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. A password will be communicated to you at a later date to the Authorized Contact.)

8-- To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through 8

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