So I'm closing my Nationwide flexaccount...

giraffe69

Banks get blamed for a lot and much of it justifiably but this is pathetic.
You choose to start using this account as a "reserve business" account
You don't see why you should keep an eye on what is in it and whether you have the money to pay the amounts charged to this account
You decline to have internet banking which is available at no charge and can make life easier

The only thing I agree with is that if a member of staff offered to cancel two of the charges then they should stick to this.

Jake'sGran

bylromarha wrote: »

Oh, how I love MSE.

I put a thread up, knowing I'd get flamed, in order to help people who may think a debit card is still a debit card, and not get stung like I have been.

I love the way lots of you agree with Nationwide that a £60 fee for a total of £20 transactions in my reserve, which I never asked for, never wanted, and cannot turn off without internet banking, is acceptable.

I hope this thread helped someone!

Just thought I'd tell you that Smile Bank give a "no charges" 12 month overdraft amount
on current accounts. I have never used it and in fact, don't like it. They even show it in the available balance figure when you get a mini statement after getting cash out of an ATM (is that the proper name?).

I am sorry you have been charged so much by Nationwide but you should be more aware of how much you can spend.

jamesd

missile wrote: »

Why do some find it so difficult to make a note of how much you have and keep a tally of how much they spend?

Some of us have to deal with companies like Zopa that tell you they will take a direct debit one month then take it a month earlier and for a different amount than advised. That's the sort of thing that can break well made plans, though safety margins, including agreed overdraft facilities, can help to reduce the potential aggravation.

Gorgeous_George

Have you raised a query with your bank and/or with Zopa jamesd?

The Direct Debit guarantee...

Under the rules of the Direct Debit Scheme, should any money be taken in error, then the customer's bank or building society must, on request, make an immediate refund to the customer's account. This is the Direct Debit Guarantee. This covers situations where the originator has not given the required advance notice regarding a change of amount or date. It also protects customers should an incorrect amount be debited or if a debit occurs earlier than the specified, agreed date, or in error.

GG

jamesd

Yes, I contacted my bank, which was happy to play its part and return the payment. I decided not to do that. If I thought I could trust Zopa's systems not to report it as a missed payment I would have done. When I get the phone bill I may ask Zopa to reimburse that cost.

Given that this is automated it seems likely that Zopa is doing this for a fair proportion of those who change bank accounts, so it'll be nice if their response includes fixing it sometime. At least they seemed to fix the problem they used to have with taking payments a day before bank holidays instead of after as they should have done, so I assume that eventually this will be fixed as well. Looks as though they just reused the notice and payment calculation that they use at the start of a loan.

Glad they got the rapid return feature in place, should help Zopa broaden its base of users.

Gorgeous_George

jamesd wrote: »

Glad they got the rapid return feature in place, should help Zopa broaden its base of users.

Rapid Return (RR) is a great facilty for lenders but, at the moment, it is borrowers that Zopa needs to attract IMHO.

GG

olly300

jamesd wrote: »

Yes, I contacted my bank, which was happy to play its part and return the payment. I decided not to do that. If I thought I could trust Zopa's systems not to report it as a missed payment I would have done. When I get the phone bill I may ask Zopa to reimburse that cost.

I think you need to start a thread elsewhere with the problems of Zopa to highlight their inefficiencies if you don't want to put in a formal complaint to them and then report them to the FSA for not treating you fairly.

missile

jamesd wrote: »

Some of us have to deal with companies like Zopa that tell you they will take a direct debit one month then take it a month earlier and for a different amount than advised. That's the sort of thing that can break well made plans, though safety margins, including agreed overdraft facilities, can help to reduce the potential aggravation.

I find it hard to believe Zopa would do that but if they did you should make a claim under the direct debit guarantee.

jamesd

A bit too much drift from my intent (how even well managed bank accounts can have surprises) so hopefully this post will be the last one on the Zopa digression.

Gorgeous_George wrote: »

Rapid Return (RR) is a great facilty for lenders but, at the moment, it is borrowers that Zopa needs to attract IMHO.

Since I'm taking out most of the money from my offers later today I agree. But the new year is coming and that tends to produce an increase in lending activity, so I expect that to help, along with any benefits from Zopa's planned advertising. Hopefully that combination will work well.

olly300 wrote: »

I think you need to start a thread elsewhere with the problems of Zopa to highlight their inefficiencies if you don't want to put in a formal complaint to them and then report them to the FSA for not treating you fairly.

Zopa's activities for borrowers are regulated by the OFT rather than the FSA and their investment activities for lenders are unregulated so the FSA doesn't come into play. This is minor irritation territory, not the stuff of complaints to the FSA or OFT. Companies get direct debits wrong or provide wrong notices, it's just a fact of life and as the poster in this discussion found, that breaks normal plans sometimes. While some Zopa employees appear to think I'm opposed to Zopa, I'm not and I don't have any interest in creating a Zopa-bashing topic. This doesn't mean that I always agree with Zopa or think it's the best deal available, though - a big difference.

missile wrote: »

I find it hard to believe Zopa would do that but if they did you should make a claim under the direct debit guarantee.

Not worth it. All the guarantee provides is return of payment and consequential loss cover and I expect that if I'd had the money returned Zopa would have recorded it as a missed payment. While it was irritating, it wasn't worth the hassle of sorting out the credit record at the moment - it could interfere with far more serious matters.

tianimo wrote: »

Hi JamesD, I'm from Zopa.

I changed bank account for loan direct debit. The direct debit notice said that the first payment would be higher than usual and taken on nn December. The first payment was actually for the usual amount on nn November. I'd relied on the notice for the direct debit being correct. Not a big deal but still Zopa breaching the terms of the direct debit system by issuing an incorrect notice. If you look at the payment history you'll see the usual amount taken on the usual day so nothing will look odd until you check the direct debit notice. And you may not even have any record of that to see.

Getting back on topic, what protected me from charges was:

o having enough funds to pay the old direct debit in the original account in case there was a problem with that.
o having a safety margin in the new account even though I'd trusted Zopa's DD notification. That prevented the account from going overdrawn even though the payment was a month before I'd been told to expect it.

Zopa isn't alone in this. Last week I called a Santander to change a direct debit for a credit card to the same bank account I'd switched Zopa to. I was told that due to timing the normal payment wouldn't be taken and I'd have to make a payment by hand. No problem, did that. Then this evening I find they took the direct debit from the old account anyway, so I made two payments. As with Zopa I kept enough money in the old account to cover this if it happened so it's irritation territory, not bank charges territory.

It'd be nice if companies including banks were always perfect but that's not the real world. Safety margins matter.

dealsearcher

The banks are all as bad as each other when it comes to charging. I always ensure I have plenty in my current account. It doesn't pay any interest but even the savings accounts pay little interest nowadays. However the charges are high if you go overdrawn and it is just not worth risking it by maintaining little in a current account and having a just in time attitude to topping it up from a savings account, especially if you don't have internet banking.