MSE News: CONFIRMED - OFT gives up bank charges battle

discoass

alexjohnson wrote: »

Hardly. Citibank gives a £500 interest-free overdraft, to name but one. But you won;t know unless you look. Which takes a modicum of effort.

a 500 pound interest free overdraft eh ,well whats their unautherised OD fee

discoass

alexjohnson wrote: »

No they weren't. You had a six year window, right? Reclaiming became big news in 2008. Let's say you were early - 2007? So you're saying that for the prior six years you followed a pattern of behaviour which meant you incurred hundreds? thousands? of pounds of charges? I doubt access to the internet had very much to do with it.

Im not saying it hd anything to do with it ,what i am saying is prior to internet banking you had a very limited knowledge of what exactly was going on in yr account on a day to day basis :j

chrisharri

G_M wrote: »

What rubbish! We live in a free society. Individuals CHOOSE to go into debt. You're right banks encourage debt. They are businesses and their job is to make money. (though they DO also make money from non-debtors).

If a shop offers an expensive item for sale, I can choose to spend the required price, or not buy it. Same with an overdraft or credit card loan. If I choose to use it, I pay the price.

Barry was being constructive. Consumers should learn to take responsibility for their own actions rather than looking for scapegoats or someone to bail them out when they dig themselves into a financial hole.

Since when have we lived in a free society? We have to pay for everything! Nothing is free.
Surely people asking for their money back from banks is them taking responsability for their own actions?
I used to be in loads of debt. I now owe nothing thank goodness. However, I feel that the banks should repay me past bank charges. I don't need the money to get me out of a hole, as I'm not in one. The bank charges system just makes it harder for people to get out of debt. One month you owe a charge of £35, the next £70, so on and so forth.

mark55man

but are we all absolutely convinced that the consumers are completely blameless in this. we all blame the banks for their herd mentality and major deficiencies in their forward planning, and then we blame them when we show the same symtpoms.

and yes I have paid bank charges, authorised and unauthorised, and yes I am currently OK, and glad to be free from that worry - with a free agreed overdraft that I have used, but not too often and not exceeded for 2 years now

BOB_A_H

natweststaffmember wrote: »

BOB_A_H wrote: »

natweststaffmember wrote: »

I was talking of the poster you quoted rather than yourself. The comment was ridiculous and offers nothing to the debate but irrational rantings.

Fair enough, but it is only one of very many "irrational rantings" on this thread.

BOB_A_H

The_White_Horse wrote: »

i went to cinema once, and they charged 4.00 for a large pop corn. However, that corn cost them less than 2p. I think we should have a word with the OFT about this. A profit making company making a profit is just completely unacceptable. I mean, i am just saying it should be FAIR and the popcorn should be charged at 4p not 4 pounds.

also, if i have 20 quid in my account and I need to pay for something that costs 40 the bank should just give me 20 quid. no questions asked. i think maybe they should charge me a few pence for the privilege, alternatively, i could just not spend more than is in my account.

Yawn yawn

discoass

alexjohnson wrote: »

What's the point? WHO CARES? Look it up yourself. Point being, if - big if - you could treat an overdraft as an occasional buffer rather than a pot of someone else's money to gorge yourself on, then you might find that £500 was more than enough to cover unexpected changes to direct debits etc. You might also find that you could arrange an authorised overdraft in advance.

Or you could sit on your backside, do nothing, and whinge about how the world isn't fair.

Boo bloody hoo.

you are obviously missing the point ,in an ideal word an OD as a buffer is fine until a domestic unforseen circumstance arrives at yr door in which u have to use be it ,a death,a car problem a new baby,redundancy ,well u get it (although i doubt it) then accidently go over be it a DD which was more than u expected it then spirals and those that r on low incomes cant get out of it. You have probably heard it a thousand times and r probably bored with it but if u looked at it from a different perspective other than your own maybe it might sink in

orc_2

BOB_A_H wrote: »

The_White_Horse wrote: »

Blah Blah

White horsie is a bit extreme in her views, Bob.

discoass

alexjohnson wrote: »

You mean you didn't.

Anyway we are clearly not of one mind and never will be. But I would bet from what you've said in the past few posts you will always struggle with financial services so good luck.

speak for yrself tory boy ,i dont struggle as a matter of fact but that doesnt stop me from been annoyed at people like you

orc_2

mark88man wrote: »

but are we all absolutely convinced that the consumers are completely blameless in this. we all blame the banks for their herd mentality and major deficiencies in their forward planning, and then we blame them when we show the same symtpoms.

and yes I have paid bank charges, authorised and unauthorised, and yes I am currently OK, and glad to be free from that worry - with a free agreed overdraft that I have used, but not too often and not exceeded for 2 years now

Not too sure what your angle is here Mark.

I don't think campaigners all blame banks for everything. Reclaimers have a responsibiltity as well, obviously.

I am glad you are free of the worry. Personally, I am too- now. At one time however, I was not.