MARTIN, HOLD THE CEOs TO ACCOUNT

KorkyKat

I hear what libragully is saying. I think some of the comments toward his post are a little unfair.

Why shouldn't we have a Ralph Nader in this country or a Consumer's Champion? Given the obscene pay-offs of late it seems quite natural. There is already a Member Of Parliament (John McDonell) who is trying to get support for members of the public to serve on bank's renumeration committees. The banks don't fund themselves and thus should have accountability not just to there shareholders but also their customers.

A revisit to the days of the original Co-Operative are in order.

IFA's? Don't make I laugh. So damn clever they have to work for a living. Right?

RayWolfe

Sapphire wrote: »

Martin is not 'just a journalist': he is influential and has instigated actions such as reclaiming bank charges in the past. He is one of the few people to work for the benefit of 'ordinary' consumers (whatever his motives).

Oh, I think you'll find he is just a journalist.
Reclaiming bank charges (a very bad idea) was started by Which.
He does what he does for money.

He is not the Messiah, he's just a very naughty boy.

baby_boomer

Get off your backside, Martin, and help your IceSave site members.

One TV appearance from you is worth one week of their collective efforts and would help concentrate the government's mind.

MSE thread - Will we see our IceSave cash before Christmas?

Where's your leadership?

Babu

RayWolfe wrote: »

He is not the Messiah, he's just a very naughty boy.

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Saucepot

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

- Kipling

baby_boomer

Martin will get away with his silence because TV and Newspapers (through best buy tables) have all done exactly the same as MSE.

So he knows no financial journalist will criticise him publicly (pots and kettles) - UNLESS he stands up for his own IceSavers. Then the Inquisition would get going - even if it wasn't justified.

The "poor" guy is trapped. C'est la vie .

libragully

Thank you to those posters who actually read the OP and took it in the spirit it was intended.

To reiterate Martin has been very publicly promoting the whole bank charges situation for months. Whatever the rights or wrongs of this campaign, he has put himself forward many times as our consumer champion.

Now, when us little guys could really do with someone punching above his weight in the all too mighty media, his appearences have been a little less frequent.

The sums involved with those placed at Icesave and KE far outway any bank charges.

IMO those who incurred charges knew that their activity would result in a fee whoever justified. Those of us with savings in Iceland or shares in B&B or NRK, have been well and truly shafted despite being wholly innocent and just saving for their retirement (govt advice I seem to remember)

Very simply Martin could redeem himself greatly just by doing what he does every other day, and that is looking after the little guy.

To the resonse of "Ihave been on every interview I have been invited to..." what about that half an hour each week on FIVE being given over to this kind of campaign, rather than talking about saving £2.30 on a cup of coffee.

My postings are not to criticise, but purely to suggest a real way for things to change. The mention of Ralph Nadar or a Michael Moore is interesting. Do we have such a man amongst with a similar style or profile?

How about Mark Thomas?

RecoveringAlcoholic

As Kipling has been posted, my turn.:)

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]God grant me the serenity [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]to accept the things I cannot change; [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]courage to change the things I can;[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]and wisdom to know the difference. [/FONT]


http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1cyWipTrNV4

.

MSE_Martin

Hi folks,

I've written my comments here

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1233693

And my analysis of what we need to do to get the story covered.

It'd be preferable to continue this there, sticking with Icesave as the subject.

Martin

PS. As for bank charges, its wasn't started by Which in fact Which wrote its first guide at least four months after the first one here. As you'll see in the Bank Charges News Article - it was started by a number of individuals taking the courts to action in late 2005. Some later formed their own websites (like Consumer Action Group and PenaltyCharges) but before that came to me in January 2006 to get me onside with the campaign.

Which i did, and used what resources I had to sell in the story to the media getting it on GMTV and Tonight and in my paper columns. Yet it took a year to get it to being huge - and that isn't time we have in this case.

We're also facing the problem that people have "heard it" this isn't new, and in news terms thats what counts. I can write what I like here on the site, hence why it has led my e-mail almost every week for 8 weeks in one form or another, but that isn't true in TV or papers - i don't have that autonomy. And when there's "no news" they don't want it.

Please read the other thread for an explanation of this, and how we "make it a story" again to get the publicity needed for the pressure.

Lokolo

Were you on Radio 1 earlier?

I swear on my way to lecture they said you would be on radio 1. Can't tell if I am hearing things or not!