Grrrr Stupid bank!!!

saintly_2

i dont know, all ethel wanted was a bit of support and she got pounced on!! she made a mistake, people do, we are not all perfect!!!

GirlRacer_2

Hi Ethel, Sorry your really down at the moment about the charges. My e also left me with £££££ in debt and sometimes all it takes is one lot of charges to have a knock on effect with a budget.

Hope you manage to work it out. Big hugs.

frugalpam

Most of us are here because we have debt problems and spent a long time with our heads buried in the sand. I never dared open bank statements, or demand letters - like many people drowning in debt, it was easy to put them in a drawer out of sight and pretend it wasn't happening.
After the event, it's easy to think 'I should have cancelled the DD's, spoken to my creditors and negotiated lower monthly payments, got help from the CAB or similar' At the time, when the stress of not being able to pay bills is overwhelming, it just is not possible to think straight. I'd think a lot of us have been in Ethel's shoes at one time or another. If I'd been able to think straight, I could have done these things, and avoided going down the consolidation route (what a disaster that was).
Let's support her - not berate her.

Pam

GirlRacer_2

Thanks UKPam2000, you summed up exactly why we should all be posting on here. Your so correct in what you say. I've found myself in Ethels shoes on more than one occassion and what I founf happened was once the initial charges were made to my account in totally messed up my budget for months to come. An extra £100 is a lot of money to pay out when your on an already strict budget.

However, since having my LBM I am now in a positon to have an emergency fund that I use in these instances.

Lets hope that Ethel can get herself out of this mess.

keeperbear

saintly wrote: »

i dont know, all ethel wanted was a bit of support and she got pounced on!! she made a mistake, people do, we are not all perfect!!!

I don't think she was pounced on. Her post did imply that it was mainly the bank's fault, rather than her own. She recently reclaimed £2,200 of bank charges, but still expects her bank to adopt a policy of goodwill on an unfunded direct debit. No matter what your budget or personal circumstances, you cannot have it both ways. Banks are in business to make money, not to help us customers in times of money problems.

angelavdavis

Ethel B,

If its any consolation, I paid off my egg card, feeling very pleased with myself!

I then discovered to my alarm that they had proceeded in taking out the dd that would have been the minimum payment had I not paid the card off!

What do you know, it bounced (there was a four day lull but because silly me I thought clearing the balance - including interest - would stop the dd transaction so didn't budget for another payment to come out)!

Well, I didn't have the money in the bank (why should I?) so I got charged £35 by my bank (thanks Virgin!) and then £23 by Egg.
I appealed to both and was refused!!!:eek:

Egg then raised another dd for £0 which I expect got paid!:rotfl:

frugalpam

keeperbear wrote: »

Banks are in business to make money, not to help us customers in times of money problems.

That's true - and its a nice little earner charging someone up to £35, even if they've overdrawn by a few pence. No wonder the banks announce such huge profits :rolleyes:

Pam

tesuhoha

I think after reading all this that you have nothing to lose by writing to the bank's Head Office. A letter is often better than a phone call. Tell them your circumstances and what the regular pattern has been for the last few years. Say that if you can just have your bank charges this time you will make sure that it doesnt happen again. Say that you are trying to manage financially and this doesnt help you at all. You need that money orf you will have problems next month/week. Ask them to refund it out of goodwill. Be civil but explain your case. If this fails all you can do is go through the courts. To all the people who have had a go at you, remember that the banks are charging way over what they should and it has been said that a £4.50 charge would suffice in most cases.

January20

Ethel B,

I have nothing of real value to add as all the good advice has already been given. I totally understand how you feel. It's a really unfair situation and as if you didn't have enough on your plate with your DD in hospital! Easier to say than to do but hang in there, be strong and ignore the judgmental comments you had on here!

EthelBloggs

Thanks everyone

My real issue was the logic in refusing a debit for £36.54 and then charging me £35 - so the end result is almost the same bar £1.54 - that was the logic query of my original post.

I have been in this position before, when my ex husband ran up £30k of debt in my name.. because he forged my signature of course it was pretty much impossible to prove that it wasn't me so I had to pay it all off, and I did I'm proud to say, finally got debt free last august, although I haven't been able to save very much and what I did have has been depleted by various circumstances over the last few months. I did reclaim my charges because I felt that in some small way it was payback for all the times I had to rely on my mum to feed my children, or cried because my son had outgrown his shoes before I had enough money to replace them, all because the bank had taken my shopping money in charges, even tho they knew the original debts weren't mine and said so but because it wasn't provable.. they enabled my ex-husband to cripple me financially. Incidentally, he has never paid a penny in maintenance nor even sent the children a birthday or christmas card since we ran away from him, even tho he knows where they live etc.

I am a good money manager, its just that I don't get money on the same dates each month, it varies according to what I've done and when. My bank have been very good at being understanding of my situation and made allowances accordingly, so when they didn't this month.. it completely threw me and brought back all those horrible feelings I had in the past when I had those debts to pay. I felt sick, miserable, scared, panicky etc.. however, the money is now in my account and I will write to the head office as suggested above and hope for the best.

Thanks to everyone who's been so kind and supportive and to those who wagged their fingers and got on their high horses.. rememeber.. judge not lest ye be judged.