This is a rant

Broadwood

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

I used to have. Loyalty, supporting locals building societies etc etc. Not any more. Not after seeing the way they exploit (other) customers and IMO overpay directors.

I take great delight in closing accounts and, especially in branch where I can say quite loudly that I'm moving money because I can get much better rates elsewhere.

It's very easy to keep track of savings accounts by using either a simple spreadsheet or a diary.

I mirror you in all of that, but I can sympathise with the OP.

It's the way that banks etc operate which makes me so hostile towards them. They promote such a positive picture in their adverts and online banners, like describing 1.2% as a "Great" savings account rate which "You will Love" (when inflation is over 4% !!). They ARE taking the piece!

Yes they are businesses, but anything less than the rate of inflation for a savings account can only be described as a "Rip Off". A "Great" Rip Off. They should make their money by borrowing from us at inflation plus a bit (like Index-Linked NS Bonds) and lending to punters at inflation plus whatever they need to cover their costs. (say inflation plus 3% to cover costs AND BONUSES!)

But........Hey........Life's a !!!!!...and then you die !

cyclonebri1

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

Whilst I'm an avid 'ranter' myself, I do find myself particularly sensitive to misplaced rants like this one.

I'm no lover of banks. But there is no 'extortion' going on here, and no 'preying on the elderly'. We have more than enough legislation about transparency and there are simply no excuses for anyone to 'forget' about the expiry of a 12 month deal. This isn't extortion, it's simply 'marketing' and getting new customers.

Every other business does it all the time. If you see Gordon's Gin in Sainsbury's "Reduced from £18 to £15 until end of July", then do not rant that the 20% price increase on 1st August is 'extortion'. It isn't.

As for old or 'preying on the elderly'well.... our Nanny State Media does it all the time. When a 'Rogue Trader' pretends to replace your satellite dish when all he did was plug it back in, then that's a rip off. But it's just as much a rip-off to a 30 year old man as it is for a 60 year old woman, or an 80 year old blind widow.

When a signal failure happens on a train and people are left stranded on the train for 4 hours, then that's [probably] bad management. It should be exposed as such, but the fact that one of the occupants is pregnant has nothing to do with it. What do people expect? A little guy on every station for every departure? He sees a pregnant woman get on, and so telephones RailTrack to tell them "Make sure there's no signal failure on the 8:42 because there's a pregnant lady on it"????

I am over 60. If the bank wrote to me twice because of that, the second time in 'Large Print' I think I would be far more offended than if they didn't write to me at all.

Rant by all means. But rant about things properly! !

Whoa chap did I say;
'extortion'
'preying on the elderly'
'preying on the elderly'well.... ????
This isn't extortion, it's simply 'marketing' and getting new customers.



And I don't rant regulaly but I'love to know how to rant well/properly??

In reply to the red bit, and this is the essence of my rant, why when I complain do they offer me the same rate as a new customer simply by switching accounts within the same bank, Santander, for those that asked

VT82

Broadwood wrote: »

They should make their money by borrowing from us at inflation plus a bit (like Index-Linked NS Bonds) and lending to punters at inflation plus whatever they need to cover their costs.

Nonsense I'm afraid.

A ) Interest rates are used to control inflation as they are supposed to depend on each other (in an efficient market). Saying that inflation depends on interest rates which should just be inflation rates makes the function a cyclical formula, which plain doesn't work.
B ) No borrowers would agree to borrow at an inflation linked rate, as it is something they have no control over and could not hope to forecast.
C ) Inflation is in the eye of the beholder; everyone has a different personal level of inflation depending on their spending habits. RPI is overrated and I don't know why people constantly whine about their savings being eroded by inflation as measured by the mythical RPI. If you are saving for a house deposit, you should be more bothered about your savings keeping up with HPI for example, or even better, HPI in the region you are planning to buy in.

VT82

In reply to the original point, in the last couple of years:

-For every savings product I have had, the firm has let me know when the introductory bonus was about to expire or the rate about to be reduced.
-Everyone I know who asks me for savings advice has let me know that they have had correspondence to say wthat their rate was ending in plenty of time to come to a decision.
-The financial institution I work for has let customers know whenever there has been any rate change or bonus expiry.

My own personal theory is that the people moaning the loudest about being ripped off by evil banks are the ones most ashamed about having been so careless in the first place.

VT82

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Your thesis seems to indicate that the solvency of the banking industry is based on the lethargy of it's funders, :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

- Banks propped up by the government? Clearly not.

- Other banks, and large building societies which have diversified into 'no/low interest' current accounts and 'other income' products like credit cards? Maybe not, but it's fundamental to their business plan.

- Smaller building societies? Absolutely.