Bank charges

bookworm1363

Good morning, all.

I am not going to go on much longer, primarily because I had promised myself I wouldn't get drawn into any more of those pointless arguments where no-one is willing to even try and meet the others 1/2 way, which I find incredibly sad.

What strikes me here is that even if someone offers a possible solution, and I agree, there are things to be ironed out, solutions to be found which are acceptable for both sides, not one of you is willing to listen. For you, the current situation works well and you see no reason to change it. Instead of working with it and seeing in which way it could be improved to make it work, you jeer at it, shoot it down and instead go back to your acusations of "theft" and "blame the irresponsible borrowers".

There but for the grace of God goes I. Maybe if I had been lucky enough never to experience hardship, I would also feel so self-assured. But I did encouter extreme hardship (through no fault of my own, may I add) and now that I am one of the privileged ones who can just about manage to pay her bills from month to month, I am still very much aware how quickly it can get all taken away and how little it takes for things to spiral out of control. In these insecure days, very few of us are safe.

Personally, I'll keep on working both with and against the system to try and create a solution that will be both lawful and fair to all parties.

natweststaffmember

When you said no charges whatsoever bookworm and then spoke about Tesco you lost me.
Personal opinion is that there are certain charges I think are unrealistic, for example, exceeding the overdraft limit, I think that without doubt that you can simply have an interest rate that is exorbitant plus Returned item fees can be lowered to maybe £2 which is the amount roughly that the yorkshire whistleblower gave. What has happened in the past has been one charge has created another charge with no leeway whatsoever.
Guaranteed card payment fees I can see the charges in theory but in practice it is honoured card payments that takes the customer over the limit. The only loss to the bank is interest which again is another reason why that should not be penalised with a fee.
I think that you can have a fairer banking system without a loss of the free if in credit model of banking. With those irresponsible with their card then you can specifically withdraw the card from the account for a period of 6 months from the transgression. I'm not saying that this will solve all problems but it is a solution of sorts to mull over.
Are there any other ideas from others?

bookworm1363

Just to throw this in the pot with your thoughts: A card which only allows ATM withdrawals, not paying in shops, I believe there are already existing on basic accounts. Then you are back with a cash economy, over o/draft set at £0, if you have the cash you can withdraw it, if you don't you can't. How about that? (and no chequebook, obviously, I believe that is already the case with basic accounts too)

Nathan_Spleen

BarclaysManager wrote: »

That's not the message that is being put across, though - the advocates state that bank charges are wrong, full stop - the only reason the word "fair" even enters in to their argument is the Unfair Terms etc.

People aren't reclaiming as they think the amount is unfair, they straight off think they should not be charged at all.

This is simply not the case.

The general and overwhelming consensus of the reclaiming community is that one should be charged something. It is the level of the charge that is the concern. MSE itself - a group clearly representitive of reclaimers - signed up to a charter proposing a figure £5.

It's all acedemic anyway as if the charges are ruled unfair reclaimers for past charges will be required to pay nothing by law.