Well annoyed, banks are crap. Have they screwed over my little sister? Is this fair!?

p00hsticks

TangerineDream wrote: »

I have listened.

Do you get a thousand pound fine for failing to buy a parking ticket for the first time?

Do you get a thousand pound fine for speeding the first time?

No, PROVIDING YOU PAY THE FINE AS SOON AS YOU ARE ASKED TO.

Similarly, if your sister had paid the initial charges as soon as they were debitted, she would'nt be in the mess she's in now.

Going by the statements you have posted, your sister appears to have completely ignored around 15-16 separate sets of charges over an eighteen month period.

I have some sympathy - it's a very hard lesson to learn (I know, I learnt it myself, although I wasn't quite as big an ostrich as your sister). But I think it will help her most in the long term if she accepts that it is her fault and makes damn sure she never lets things slide in the same way again. I did, and it was the most useful lesson I've ever learnt - and apart from a mortgage (paid offf in my 30's) I have never been in debt again.

innovate

TangerineDream wrote: »

.... my little sister....... She is a bit immature when it comes to handling money......... She also has real issues with dealing with anything ‘grownup’ or outside of her comfort zone.

Surely you / your parents have known this for a while - - so where were you / your parents when she needed preparing for dealing with bank accounts, overdrafts and letters from the bank?

It's all very well being "disgusted" with those posters here who don't tell you what you want to hear (presumably that now includes me, too), and to rant about the nasty banks.

But instead of blaming just about everyone else for failing your sister, how about looking into what you / your parents

1. have failed to do to prepare her for managing her own bank account
   .
2. can do now to rectify her lack of knowledge and capacity to manage her financial affairs?

Raving and ranting on here, having an article printed in the Press, being disgusted that posters don't tell you what you want to hear etc etc will do precisely nothing to improve your sister's capability to handle money.

TangerineDream wrote: »

She is off to uni this summer and she is worried she won't be able to open a student bank account because of bad credit.

That is quite possible, because she has proven she can't handle her finances. How will she learn between now and when she goes to Uni how to deal with money? Surely she has the brains to grasp the concepts, she just needs someone who she trusts to help her understand money management. How are you going to help her with it?

k12479

TangerineDream wrote: »

...[FONT=&quot]failed to view it or look at it, or open her post...[/FONT]

You don't seem to be grasping the importance of these and they fact that they make it completely her fault.

[FONT=&quot]

TangerineDream wrote: »

How is this conducive to helping anyone other than the bank earn money?

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Social Services, hospitals, charities and the Fire Brigade are there for help. Banks aren't.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]

TangerineDream wrote: »

Most of your lack of empathy is disgusting.

[/FONT]
So is your sense of outrage. Try blaming your sister. Or your parents for failing to teach her responsibility. Or perhaps even yourself for failing to look out for her knowing she was 'immature' and 'naive'.

Anselm

Hahaha man up OP. Clearly your sisters fault.

Loanranger

If I had a sister who was this dim I'd not want the whole world to know. Just sayin.

Credit-Crunched

Your sister entered into a legally binding contractual agreement with the direction to stay within the level of her credit limit, i.e no overdraft usage.

She is of legal age and of sound mind, therefore the bank (morals aside) is fully within their rights to charge your sister.

Sadly naivety and age are not a suitable method to negate a legal contract.

Does your sister park on yellow lines and then say that the parking ticket is unfair, unjust and scandalous because she is young and does not know any better.

Does your sister breach any agreement she so wishes as she is young?

Sadly I think that you need to take an impartial cold hard look at the facts here, you don't like what we are saying, but for once I feel the general concerns on this page is correct.

PLUS if she is off to UNI next year, there will be gas bills, rent etc and she needs to learn now, how to deal with finance. In a weird kind of way this could be the breaking she needs prior to the making.

pmduk

TangerineDream wrote: »

I can see where you are coming from. But if you honestly think it’s justifiable on this earth that being a couple of pounds overdrawn can turn into over a thousand pounds debt, simply for doing nothing, is totally ludicrous. It is not right. ...It is still morally wrong.

Of course it's wrong. However, it's your sister who is at fault, nobody else.

Credit-Crunched

Your sister entered into a legally binding contractual agreement with the direction to stay within the level of her credit limit, i.e no overdraft usage.

She is of legal age and of sound mind, therefore the bank (morals aside) is fully within their rights to charge your sister.

Sadly naivety and age are not a suitable method to negate a legal contract.

Does your sister park on yellow lines and then say that the parking ticket is unfair, unjust and scandalous because she is young and does not know any better.

Does your sister breach any agreement she so wishes as she is young?

Sadly I think that you need to take an impartial cold hard look at the facts here, you don't like what we are saying, but for once I feel the general concerns on this page is correct.

PLUS if she is off to UNI next year, there will be gas bills, rent etc and she needs to learn now, how to deal with finance. In a weird kind of way this could be the breaking she needs prior to the making.

VfM4meplse

Anselm wrote: »

Tell her to set up online banking, It's a lot easier to manage your finances then.

Unfortunately it won't make a jot of difference to those who are incllined to ignore such things.

Rupert_Bear

Southernman wrote: »

I work for Natwest too (seems to be a few in this thread) don't even get me started on cold handoffs that seem to escalate to my department. Charges for unarranged o/d fees that are never the individual's fault seem to head in my direction with customers majorly bad tempered and mouthing off at me. I wish i could be as blunt as JuicyJesus above, but alas...

I worked nearly 9 years in a complaints dept for a very large institution and I did have flexability to offer compensation and waive certain charges BUT if the customer was foul mouthed and bad tempered and had attitude I just switched off and towed the companies line. So if anyone does have a gripe better to be nice and you will get a lot further.