why do people get so offended and angry when i tell them they can't have an overdraft

virgin_moneysaver

explanation of an overdraft: its a limit, not a TARGET ;-)

Gromitt

JuicyJesus wrote: »

"I'll cancel my contract" - wrong, you'll have to pay the rest of the term plus what you haven't paid already you muppet

I remember doing that for someone. They demanded (and wouldn't listen to reason) that their contract be terminated immediately. So I did so, and then said "Ok Sir, your contract is terminated as requested. As specified in the terms and conditions you must now pay for the remainder of your agreed term, so thats 10x£30, £300 please payable within 30 days of today.". They then demanded to speak to the manager who told them the same thing, so they tried "Cancel all the charges now or I'll talk to trading standards!". Never heard from him again.

MoneySaverLog

Gromitt wrote: »

I remember doing that for someone. They demanded (and wouldn't listen to reason) that their contract be terminated immediately. So I did so, and then said "Ok Sir, your contract is terminated as requested. As specified in the terms and conditions you must now pay for the remainder of your agreed term, so thats 10x£30, £300 please payable within 30 days of today.". They then demanded to speak to the manager who told them the same thing, so they tried "Cancel all the charges now or I'll talk to trading standards!". Never heard from him again.

I wonder if he paid the £300 after going to trading standards?

opinions4u

Back to the original question, there are a number of cumulitive reasons for people getting upset.

1) A moment of truth in their financial lives has just hit.
2) A sixth sense will be telling them that they need to change their lifestyle to pay the bills and they won't want to do that.
3) There is a frustration, becasue a few years ago the bank would have been far more likely to say yes.
4) It's easier to be rude to a faceless individual.
5) It's easier to blame the bank for a decision than to blame yourself for reckless overspending.

NatSte

It's quite weird reading this about overdrafts versus credit cards. I wont lie - my credit is very poor! However, my bank has given me quite a large overdraft! Strange, considering I can't get a credit card with them (I can't even get a sub-prime credit card!) Saying that, I have been a terribly good girl and managed my current account superbly over the 2 years I've been with the bank. Hoping when they see I can be trusted with my overdraft they will reconsider their decision not to give me a CC. :cool:

googler

abbas5001 wrote: »

I work in a call centre part time for a bank and often we have people phone up to see if they can get an overdraft, more often than not they cannot have one and people are usually extremely snotty, rude and even abusive when i tell them they can't even when i try to be as nice as possible and explain why it might be.

...because some of these customers have been clients of your bank, since.... let's say, the 1970s. They're used to dealing with real people. They're used to talking to a real-life Bank Manager, and having the Manager consider individual circumstances, and having the autonomy to decide what happens within his/her branch themselves.

Now, the Branch Manager is reduced to the role of an admin assistant, and , as I've found out with a certain Scottish Bank, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, and the client can quite easily be re-directed to seven or eight different departments when asking for anything outside of the norm.

Now, long-term clients have to deal with a call-centre operative like you - reading from a script, unable to take responsibility, given no flexibility, and at the end of the day - a faceless voice on the end of a phone

Frankly, from my experience in the last few years, having been a customer of my bank since 1976, I'm not surprised theirs and other call centre staff get shouted at.....

tagq2

googler wrote: »

Now, long-term clients have to deal with a call-centre operative like you - reading from a script, unable to take responsibility, given no flexibility, and at the end of the day - a faceless voice on the end of a phone

Why is this the fault of the faceless voice at the end of a phone?

The baby boomers - in more specific terms, those who have had more experience of human than automated banks - have enough capital to get together and form their own bank/society on their own traditional terms, perhaps in the style of the Co-op. I'm sure younger people would appreciate it too and move over. But instead of channeling anger into productivity, it is simply unloaded upon the least powerful worker in the organisation.

Where are all the new high street banks?

opinions4u

...because some of these customers have been clients of your bank, since.... let's say, the 1970s. They're used to dealing with real people. They're used to talking to a real-life Bank Manager, and having the Manager consider individual circumstances, and having the autonomy to decide what happens within his/her branch themselves.

To be honest, as this sort of bank manager really hasn't existed for 20+ years, they really should have made the adjustment by now .

googler

tagq2 wrote: »

Why is this the fault of the faceless voice at the end of a phone?

Where did I say it was the fault of the operative in the call centre?

It's fairly clear it's the banks' fault.

googler

opinions4u wrote: »

To be honest, as this sort of bank manager really hasn't existed for 20+ years, they really should have made the adjustment by now .

Frankly, I've never had to approach my bank on these terms between 1976 and 2010, so haven't experienced any 'adjustment'.