Basic bank account feedback thread

Bloomberg

shirleymarye wrote: »

I wasn't borrowing anything,these charges were incurred by the bank because they moved the goal posts without telling me. The court agreed with me. These were all charges on top of charges by the bank,new bank manager who changed the rules without telling me. I still say that to charge £35 is disgusting when you think of how much they pay out in the form of bonus to people.

Let me get this straight, you were not in an unauthorised overdraft which is borrowing without permission. You were not trying to borrow money without asking in the form of failed direct debits. So what were they charging you for? They clearly tell you that the charge for certain breaches is £35, like any other product/service it is from the consumer viewpoint take it or leave it. You took it and then moaned about the price afterwards. The information about charges was available before the event so what is your grievance?


Are you trying to say that you are totally blameless in the handling of your finances? from what you tell me it was wrong that you got your money back, the high court ruling in favour of the banks was the right one.

People need to realise that the bonus culture is part of banking whether they public like it or not. Banks are themselves in competition for good people who make them a lot of money. I am myself an investment banker and know how hard these people work for their bonuses. Some stay awake for thirty six hours at a time monitoring the markets. Even when I am out with my family I am checking the markets on my phone. Contrary to what you think the rewards are not without the sacrifices.:mad::mad:

pmduk

COIAHLGW wrote: »

Do people get many calls asking for an "account review" for the basic bank accounts? I'm looking at opening up a basic bank account with my UK credentials/passport (not sure if I'm still on the electoral roll) on my next UK visit but I am an expat in America. Obviously if they call me for an account review I'm not going to be there . My preference I think would be Barclays because of the BofA connection.

I have a couple of basic bank accounts, but I've only had one or two calls about account reviews. A couple of pointed questions from me about why they ignore the marketing instructions on my Account, together with mentions of referrals to the OFT and the calls have never been repeated

shirleymarye

Bloomberg wrote: »

Let me get this straight, you were not in an unauthorised overdraft which is borrowing without permission. You were not trying to borrow money without asking in the form of failed direct debits. So what were they charging you for? They clearly tell you that the charge for certain breaches is £35, like any other product/service it is from the consumer viewpoint take it or leave it. You took it and then moaned about the price afterwards. The information about charges was available before the event so what is your grievance?


Are you trying to say that you are totally blameless in the handling of your finances? from what you tell me it was wrong that you got your money back, the high court ruling in favour of the banks was the right one.

People need to realise that the bonus culture is part of banking whether they public like it or not. Banks are themselves in competition for good people who make them a lot of money. I am myself an investment banker and know how hard these people work for their bonuses. Some stay awake for thirty six hours at a time monitoring the markets. Even when I am out with my family I am checking the markets on my phone. Contrary to what you think the rewards are not without the sacrifices.:mad::mad:

What happened was this,I paid my cheque into the bank,my manager knew me well and always allowed me to draw against it every week,the manager left and we had a new young spark who introduced himself to me and told me that I was overdrawn on my account and had charged me for it,I explained that I had a long standing arrangement and left it that. Every week he charged me a further £25 as it was then,I continued with my previous arrangement as I had not received anything in writing prior to the first charge on my account about the arrangements being changed. This continued until it got to £3000 and then he started ringing me at work and late at night at home. I changed my bank and then he took me to court but the solicitors dealing with it didn't serve the papers on me correctly,the first time I went to court they didn't turn up,the second time I received a document the same morning I was due in court,the judge asked me about the paper I had just received and it appeared that it should have been sent 14 days prior to the court appearance. The result was the judge threw it back at them and said he was dismissing it because after looking through the papers he decided it was getting money under false pretences because it was all charges from the bank,I paid money in and I drew money out,never a penny more than I paid in. He said it was very shoddy work and he didn't want to see any more rubbish from this bank or the solicitors involved in it. You can think what you like in your ivory tower!!

julesfh

heppy23 wrote: »

I just phoned my local Barclays to find out opening a basic bank account. Have to make an appointment which is fair enough.
So I asked how long the appointment might take (so I can think of a time to fit round work, school run etc).
AN HOUR AND A HALF!

They insist on undertaking a full financial review. I told them I am a tenant on a DMP, I have no savings. I already have car, home, life insurance and my pension is sorted. What can they sell me?
The branch is only open 10am to 3.30pm!

Bonkers. Forget it Barclays.

Hmm my experience has not been good. I decided I wanted an account to help me to budget and after much research decided to go with the Barclays Cashcard account. All my payments go out of my main account where my salary is paid into (with the dreaded HSBC) but I wanted an additional account where I could put what's left over from my current account (not much) and any additional income I make via Ebay, Surveys etc.

A sales advisor from Barclays rang me to make the appointment. He was very nice and helpful but told me that I couldn't open an account and that if I did the bank would close it after monitoring it for three or four months as it wasn't opened for the activity I would be signing for?

I was a little confused at this point and suggested that perhaps they didn't want my business because they wouldn't really be able to make any money from me (all very jovial of course, not aggressively). He said that banks were cracking down and suggested that I move all my direct debits to the 1st of the month in my existing account (most of them are anyway) to help me budget.

They did seem very keen on me moving my current account to them though.

scropter

brat673 wrote: »

Hard sell when applying for a basic bank a/c should be forbidden. Banks should have to write to the new customer with all the advantages & disadvantages spelled out.

For clarity, perhaps I could have substituted "hard" for attempted. Bearing in mind the call centre operative that handled my application is simply following a script. This was not overpowering. Your comment on written benefits of account types etc is absolutely correct. However all these details are clearly explained at point of online application. I commented on the process of opening being seamless based on my experince of doing it and studying all elements of that process relevant to my actual needs and acceptance.

COIAHLGW

For the Barclays cash card account, it says there is a choice of Visa debit card or cash card. Is that a choice the bank makes or is it the choice the customer can make? Does it depend on income?

stclair

COIAHLGW wrote: »

For the Barclays cash card account, it says there is a choice of Visa debit card or cash card. Is that a choice the bank makes or is it the choice the customer can make? Does it depend on income?

No it dont depend on income it just depends on your preference.

I hear it does not matter as far as the bank is concerned which you have whether it be a cash or debit card.

book12

COIAHLGW wrote: »

For the Barclays cash card account, it says there is a choice of Visa debit card or cash card. Is that a choice the bank makes or is it the choice the customer can make? Does it depend on income?

You will automatically get a debit card.

I have this account, and didn't specify what I card I want.

COIAHLGW

book12 - Have you noticed any restrictions on the debit card so far... for instance for offline usage at pay at pump, etc?

scropter

COIAHLGW wrote: »

book12 - Have you noticed any restrictions on the debit card so far... for instance for offline usage at pay at pump, etc?

If it helps you I can advise the Coop Debit card does not work on pay machines on petrol pumps. As far as I am led to believe no debit card does. This is because the machines on pumps are not real time configured unlike most POS swipe machines which check your account in real time on the spot.

Dont know if you can get it activated by the issuer to authorise real time payment. I know you can do that with the Mastercard from Cashplus, which incidentally is fantastic. £ 4.95 a month if you have funds in it and thats it. A great PAYG MC solution. Hope this helps.