Angry at Myself

chilli_dog

Usually pretty good with budgeting and money but have dropped a monumental clanger.

Pay day on the 31st and no more direct debits to come out. so all the money is sweeped into the savings account.

Went online to check everything tonight and i've forgotten the new direct debit for my ISP. With it being the first payment it's not on my Direct Debit list.

AAAGGGHHH!!!


£38 of my hard earned money to Natwest for the charges.

Sorry, feel better now

NervousYetFeisty

Couldn't you phone them and tell them of your oversight? They might waive the charges - my DP is with Nat West and they've been very decent about this kind of thing in the past. Or if the ISP hasn't taken the money yet, could you call them and see if they'll take another form of payment just this once?

inmypocketnottheirs

These charges are illegal. Take a look at https://www.bankchargeshell.co.uk for more information.

If this is the first time you have had this charge applied you will probably get it refunded just by phoning up and complaining. That does not however justify their charge. These punitive fees are unenforceable in court, I have just had over £1300 refunded this month from the Co-op Bank regarding these charges over a six year period.

Pleasetake immediate action to get your money back!

Hope this helps!

Dagobert

The same thing happened to me a few weeks ago and I was pretty annoyed with myself.

I wrote a polite letter to cahoot explaining that I had genuinely believed I had deleted the standing order online but presumably forgotten to press "submit", that that was the first and the last time I got overdrawn (all true, honest!). And I asked whether they would consider refunding the charges on this one-off occasion.

They refunded the £25 immediately!

innovate

Do you not have an 'overdraft buffer' on your account? E.g. on my Cahoot account I have a £100 interest-free overdraft - not a lot, but don't want a real overdraft, I just want peace of mind that if something makes my account dip into the red by a few quid, I don't want to get into this silly debate about punitive charges.

May I ask why you have your account with Natwest, anyway? Unless I am mistaken, they pay diddlysquat interest on positive balances (which by the sounds of it you normally have). You would probably do much better with the likes of Cahoot, Nationwide, Smile etc.

But I would not recommend A&L as an alternative, despite their 5% interest rate - I am just in the process of closing my recently openend A&L accounts because they told me twice that "if the bank makes an error, it can be corrected. If the customer makes an error, that can't be corrected". Beg your pardon, A&L, which planet are you on??

inmypocketnottheirs

innovate wrote:

I don't want to get into this silly debate about punitive charges.

What is silly about a debate about illegal charges? If I stole money from you, would that be silly?

What is silly is people lacking the conviction that these charges can be challenged, and banks will refund when it is rationally pointed out the illegality of these charges. Why else do you think the Co-op refunded me over £1300 last week, just because I wrote them a nice letter?

Anyone who wants to roll over and be fleeced by these money grabbing behemoths are welcome to, but the right thinking of us deserve fair treatment, and that means fair charges on a fair and square basis. And that is not what the OP has received here. They have had a punitive fee charged to their account that does not reflect any true cost to the bank involved.

chilli_dog

Thanks for your replies,

I do not have an overdraft with the Natwest.

I have not had one for about three years, since i got all my finances sorted out and started behaving myself financially. Just spoke to Natwest to explain that it was an honest mistake but they aren't 'bovvered'.

I will be popping into the branch tommorow to stick some cash in to cover the charges, which will be on the account tommorow? I think i will try and claim the charges back based on the advise i have read on this site. Nothing ventured and all.

My account is always 'in the black' even by £1, the reason i opened an account at Natwest is (please dont shout at me) they had a car park.

I like the idea of a bank that you can walk into and pay money at the counter? is that old fashioned?

Maybe it's time i looked at getting an account from a reasonable bank, or does such a thing not exist?

Thanks all again

Martin

inmypocketnottheirs

chilli_dog wrote:

Maybe it's time i looked at getting an account from a reasonable bank, or does such a thing not exist?
Martin

No it doesn't!!!!