A High Street Bank Employee's View

Pammy

diane105 wrote: »

Just started to read the thread but thought I would like to put my 2 pence worth in.

I work for a high street bank who was NOT bailed out. I work behind the scenes deaing with customer compaints and at one point was on a team dealing with customers requests for refund of bank charges.

Knowing the ins and outs I do agree that £30 and £35 is a ridiculous amount of money to charge for being overdrawn/having an item returned unpaid and does not cost the bank this much in admin, however some of the reasons customers gave me were beyond belief. Yes some were genuine mistakes people made or went overdrawn through no fault of there own but the amount of times I heard' well how am I supposed to know what is in my account' was ridiculous. We even had some customers who wanted a phone call when they were ABOUT to go overdrawn as if we knew exactly what they had spent!!! As the customers were politely told there are many ways to access your account and just spending then expecting to get the charges back was no excuse -I have even had to counsel people on budgeting.

There are valid arguments on both sides however. As you may see from my sig I am not entirely innocent in the debt department but this is different from incurring bank charges. Everyone has different circumstances and I listened to every one and tried to help them. I have had a few charges and took them on the nose normally through my own fault - I just feel that the issue does not lie fully with the banks

Diane this is the complication with the issue. I agree its not totally a bank issue. People have to take responsibility for their finances and I believe in the climate we have had up until recently there has been this rather laid back attitude from many people where everything is on credit. We have a culture which has encouraged people not to take responsibility and Im not saying thats totally the banks fault.

So the problem comes when its how does it make it fair, as in not a £35.00 charge or led into a spiral of debt and at the same times doesnt encourage people not to care if they go overdrawn.

Sol00

Spirit_of_Truth wrote: »

To be fair, if charges ever got to even near the £1000's level, someone from the bank would be CONSTANTLY ringing you!!!

I can vouch that that is not true, certainly not in all cases. I was the victim of identity theft 3 years ago and, due to their not being funds in my account, the bank continually added charges up to just over £500. This was only resolved when I received a letter from Rosebys alleging that I hadn't paid for the items and to make payment immediately. The bank were useless!

euronorris

Agreed, whilst I may not agree with some of his points, he is entitled to voice his opinion on the matter.

mackers8923

Spirit_of_Truth wrote: »

To be fair, if charges ever got to even near the £1000's level, someone from the bank would be CONSTANTLY ringing you!!!

Spirit

I can assure you that I never once had a phone call or letter asking me to explain for my actions on account. Each letter that arrived simply told me how much I was paying, never did it offer me a helping hand.

This rolls me on to another:

The banks have been very clear recently about all these new super accounts that they offer for people, little do they tell you that they will probably nail you at the credit check stage and fire you in with a basic bank account and with cheques going what the hell use is a standard card! Average Joe needs at least a Debit Card these days....

pmcg01

Honest_Banker wrote: »

I am an adviser, on the frontline of a high street bank, who has been bombarded for weeks and weeks by some rude, insulting members of the public 'demanding' their charges back immediately.

I for one am glad that the banks have won the case. I can not believe that people who go over their overdraft limit do not expect to be charged. I completely agree with the ruling that the terms and conditions of accounts are clearly stated when customers sign for a bank account.

I appreciate that there are some customer who fall into genuine hardship at some point, but I see so many people who claim to be in financial difficulty and were 'demanding' their charges back. On further examination of their accounts during this so called hardship, so many customers still have their sky subscriptions, mobile phone contracts, evenings out at restaurants etc etc.

I am also fed up of people saying 'you were bailed out by OUR money' I defy anyone to pop down to HM Treasury and ask them for THEIR money, I'm sure they will be happy to give you whatever amount you want!!!!!

Only today I had a meeting with a customer who said quote: "I was gutted when I heard the ruling, I was planning a holiday with that money!!!" At that point I lost all sympathy for the customer who was in the branch looking at ways to get out of his overdraft. Just shows the mentality of some people.

At the end of the day, banks are not charities, they are a business like every other. Banks get bad press for for reckless lending, which in reality is what is occuring when people go over their agreed overdraft, but then also get bad press for not lending - so we cant win. If I came to anyone on this board and said - "Can I borrow £1,000 off you, dont know when I'll pay it back, if at all, cause I cant afford to pay it back. Oh, and then I might need a bit extra on top" Would you give me the money? Er NO.

Ok, Rant over, but in reality, banks are not the greedy ones, the customers trying to claim charges back because they cant manage THEIR finances are the real greedy ones!!!.

You are spot on, I have backed the decision on the other thread and I do not work in a bank.

I also earn les than the average wage, and my property is worth less than average, so I am not a rich toff or capatalist that people with this view are often labelled.

loveangel88

at the end of the day if you go over, banks should charge what it actually costs them to deal with your account going over. It does not cost £35 to send me a letter. Cost of a stamp, 10mins for someone to print out a template letter, put my account details on it and stick it in an envelope... :S Thats my issue with the bank charges, i mean come on!

orc_2

OP, you have some cheek, you should hang your head in shame. I could say more, but will refrain. Eat humble pie sonny and grow up, smell the glove, so to speak.


You raised the issue of bank charges and the bank crisis, you made the link. I continue with that as you invited comment and expect it. Thanks for the invite, I won't pass it by.


Generally, to the bankers. It's the bankers taking decisions, I'm referring to here ie the fat cats, not necessarily the one's contributing to what the banks call a service, the ones offering so called "advice", (which we can get from alternative, cheaper or free and more trusted sources thank you) as those workers don't really count in the grand scheme of things. Not an opinion from me BTW, but from the senior executives of banks, that after all is why your jobs will be continually cut and outsourced in the drive for greater profit, using resources from abroad.

Bankers, you've brought the western world if not the whole world to its knees.

Bankers, you have grown greedy on taking what you want, when you want and how you want. You expected to continually make money by gambling, cheap easy money for you and your shareholders, continually repackaging debt, off loading it and rebuying it. You did not even know what debts yopu owned- that is how rediculous the whole scenario was. You could not even trust each other- thats why you would not lend to each other.

Bankers, you simply serve virtually no social value. You grew too powerful and the government and regulators should have taken action earlier. You will pay for that however, hopefully with tighter regulation.

Bankers, what gives you the right to do anything- unless of course, you are told what to do and how to do it? We have baled you all out because of your mistakes and greed. It will take years to put things right economically in this country. Bankers, thats your fault.

Bankers, because of your own greed, you are the architects of the biggest ever financial crisis and it is in the main, entirely down to you. You don't even have the decency to acknowledge the impact your actions have had on every family in this country and elsewhere in the world, the misery and worry it has caused to "the little people", as you refer to us.

Yes, governments and regulators come in not far behind you, but at failure, you are the worlds best, you really have excelled in that, with flying colours . You even lied to government about the true state of your liquid reserves. You, by consequence, lied to shareholders. The issue of criminal proceedings against those responsible must be pursued.

Bankers, learn humility, please. It's surely not too much to ask. Put an end to your arrogance and denial.

We have learnt a lot from you though, over the years when you ignored our voice, when you treated us with contempt and scorn, viewing us as some sort of personal cash cow and more recently with the economic crisis you created.

The main thing we learnt was:

no one trusts you
no one respects you
no one really wants to deal with you unless they really have to
you are probably disliked more than any other organisation or profession there is.

The only good thing to come out of it is

We will watch you and we will challenge you all the way whn we think you are wrong. We will help and skill others to do the same. We ain't actually frightened of you any more. We have become empowered to do so. For all of that , I offer my sincere thanks.

Bank charges,......................... it is not over yet. The fight goes on. The judge at the SC hearing even suggested a course of action. Wait and see what the end result is.

Honest Banker- bring it on!!!!!!!!!!!!

orc_2

Honest_Banker wrote: »

Can I ask 1 question: Are/were you a homeowner when you were diagnosed?

If you were then you would have been offered advice regarding protecting your home and income in order to provide you with a solution to avoid the circumstances you describe should it happen.

This protection helps so many people avoid having their homes repossessed should they come into difficulty. I ahve been personally thanked so many times by customers who have suffered an unfortunate event in life, but they took my advice and had adequate protection in place to avoid getting into any financial difficulty.

And what about the countless other people that are sold worthless policies, that don't pay out when needed, because the emphasis was on sales targets and profit, not what the customer needed. Those policies were mis sold. Remember, banks don't offer whole of market advice and are restricted to particular products from within their own organisational framework.

What about the misery that caused banker? Good hard earned money spent for nothing!

Why is it that PPI policies sold more than a year ago are virtually all being repaid when people challenge the worth of those policies?

Any answer on that banker???

"Honesty",.............................................................. my !!!!!

pingchris

Honest_Banker wrote: »

I am an adviser, on the frontline of a high street bank, who has been bombarded for weeks and weeks by some rude, insulting members of the public 'demanding' their charges back immediately.

I for one am glad that the banks have won the case. I can not believe that people who go over their overdraft limit do not expect to be charged. I completely agree with the ruling that the terms and conditions of accounts are clearly stated when customers sign for a bank account.

I appreciate that there are some customer who fall into genuine hardship at some point, but I see so many people who claim to be in financial difficulty and were 'demanding' their charges back. On further examination of their accounts during this so called hardship, so many customers still have their sky subscriptions, mobile phone contracts, evenings out at restaurants etc etc.

I am also fed up of people saying 'you were bailed out by OUR money' I defy anyone to pop down to HM Treasury and ask them for THEIR money, I'm sure they will be happy to give you whatever amount you want!!!!!

Only today I had a meeting with a customer who said quote: "I was gutted when I heard the ruling, I was planning a holiday with that money!!!" At that point I lost all sympathy for the customer who was in the branch looking at ways to get out of his overdraft. Just shows the mentality of some people.

At the end of the day, banks are not charities, they are a business like every other. Banks get bad press for for reckless lending, which in reality is what is occuring when people go over their agreed overdraft, but then also get bad press for not lending - so we cant win. If I came to anyone on this board and said - "Can I borrow £1,000 off you, dont know when I'll pay it back, if at all, cause I cant afford to pay it back. Oh, and then I might need a bit extra on top" Would you give me the money? Er NO.

Ok, Rant over, but in reality, banks are not the greedy ones, the customers trying to claim charges back because they cant manage THEIR finances are the real greedy ones!!!.

whats up pet you have a bad day at the office ?

pingchris

while your on mse seems you work at a bank can you get me the actual costs incurred by your bank that justifies a £39.00 charge,i think youll find its under the cost bit of the annual budget,oh and its about £2.00 thats under the £2.00 column.