The Kintyre Forum

Hi,

I just wanted to draw your attention to a petition:

"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to follow the Bank Charges Reclaiming Charter, which aims to end both the current suspension of reclaiming & the financial misery caused by unfair penalty charges. "

Submitted by Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert.com – Deadline to sign up by: 13 November 2007 – Signatures: 37,965

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/BankCharter/

Please pass on...

You've not seen bank charges until you have dealt with an American Bank

We all deal with American banks.

which ones

Capitalism sweet boy capitalism.

I don't use a bank, i use a credit union.. and they are the best. I've had charges that were either due to timing or even my own fault, and invariably they have taken them off without much ado.

On the other hand, my daughter took her check to her bank last week on a friday, put the money in her account, they gave her a receipt. The next day she used her ATM card to buy a soft drink, and later two other small purchases. Later in the week she found out that they didn't actually post the check until Tuesday, and were charging her $38 for each of those purchases!

She called them two or three times, went down to see the manager twice who wasn't available.. The third time she said she would sit there until the manager was available... she got them to take all the charges off, but she is changing banks. First because they should have credited her account immediately and not days later, second because she doesn't have overdraft, so the ATM card should have never been allowed to make purchases if there wasn't sufficient funds to cover it.

Don't stick with banks that don't treat you right.

I claimed all my bank charges back for the last 6 years and got them. All it cost me was the price of a recorded delivery letter. Keeping every piece of paper that comes into the house pays off sometimes.

Hadn't realised it had been suspended though, I must have got mine in just in time.

I think the guy that started the petition is the same one whose web site I used.

One of the problems in recent years with the banks has been the demise of the local branch manager and the absence of anyone with any authority with whom the buck stops. This has been coupled with a universal reliance on credit blacklists to assess applications for finance. Here are my views on the subject:

THE BANK

Dedicated to all those who have suffered at the hands of these conscienceless and avaricious institutions

1
When your back’s to the wall and your debts are not small,
And you really don’t have any answer,
Then you’d better suppose as your deficit grows,
That the bank will just think you’re a chancer,
They’re not there for you, but the shareholder crew,
Who are proud and important financers,
The buck’s passed around, You’re stamped into the ground,
Just as if you were some form of cancer.

2
The staff are most pleasant, they’ll talk to a peasant,
You really think you’re on a winner,
Then a letter comes in and you’re chucked in the bin,
And they’re treating you just like a sinner,
You’d be best to refrain, don’t ask them to explain,
As your patience will quickly grow thinner,
When you realise that you’re so much despised,
That they won’t risk the price of their dinner.

3
They don’t care about you, you’re the dirt on their shoe,
You’re a leper and don’t you forget it,
With a bad credit score you are shown to the door,
Once they’ve met you and managed to vet it,
Don’t try down the street, they don’t want to compete,
For your business, they don’t want to get it,
They all work together, whatever the weather,
You’ll get nothing from them, you can bet it.

4
When a prisoner’s done time and he’s paid for his time,
It’s good then to let him restart,
But if you’re on a blacklist, it’s deemed a bit tactless,
To ask for the smell of a fart,
They won’t entertain you, they will further stain you,
With ease at the speed of a dart,
They’ll list your request and the fact it went west,
Thus adding still more to your chart.

5
So if you need money, and I’m not being funny,
You’d be better to give them a swerve,
They’ve only agreed what you don’t really need,
And it’s truly a hell of a nerve,
When it comes to the crunch they’re a merciless bunch,
And will sink you with greatest of verve,
At best they won’t feed you, they’ll certainly bleed you,
Until you’ve got no more reserve.

Nationalise them all I say

Now that the taxpayers have bailed out the private company, Northern Rock, and 'temporarily' nationalised it, will it really become a publicly owned service?

Personally, now that the gamble has already been taken, I am hoping it will stay in public hands. Obviously with a new management that aren't paid millions to waste our money. I am sure that most folk would like the profits from their banking to go into paying for public services rather than tax exiles' s pockets. I am sure that most people would like fairer banking which would need to be looked at if it was publicly owned.

What do others think???

It would be great if some good came out of this saga, but I think the Chancellor has been placed in a no win situation where he is going to be criticised no matter what he does.

Do you all have credit unions there?

THey do Bobby, but there are very small as I recall, nothing like the ones here.

deirdreh wrote:I am sure that most folk would like the profits from their banking to go into paying for public services rather than tax exiles' s pockets.

I read recently that a large number of Northern Rock shareholders were actually pensioners living in the North East.

deirdreh wrote:I am sure that most people would like fairer banking which would need to be looked at if it was publicly owned.

Do you not already have this option by banking with The Post Office?