Don't let the Banks rip you off

MAGICCAT_3

Thanks - they are going to refund the charge. Shame they were so heavy handed in the first place - I was about to apply for a £95000 mortgage with them and I've cancelled £130 worth of house insurance with them. An awful lot of business lost because of £7.

Fatboy_NSS

Well I doubt any bank would give you a mortgage if you'd been over their overdraft limit.

Don't Barclays give you mobile phone insurance with their premium current account now. Seems like a deal if you're paying the exorbitant £5+ a month they can charge.

Tim_L

There's a very good argument that this sorf of £35 charge is illegal. As well as being pathetic customer relations.

See http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian_jobs_and_money/story/0,3605,1312102,00.html

Rafter

Tim,

Agree that the £35 is extortionate but it is a tricky arguement. How do you get people to keep within their overdraft limit or credit limit without high charges?

Bad debt cost the banks billions of pounds a year too. How can they tell that you have made an honest mistake and aren't running up debts that you won't be able to repay?

Why should the government have a monopoly on fines too. Paying tax late - £100 fine. 65mph in a 60 limit on an open clear road in good weather £60 camera fine. Don't seem very fair to me either!

If I owned a bank, for the first offence in a 12 month period I wouldn't charge - just issue a letter. Second time, a fine seems ok to me. If I can't manage my money, the bank has every right to charge me, unless it is their mistake, in which case I know they will refund me.

MAGICCAT_3

Banks already make a fortune out of their customers - interest from current accounts, savings, agreed overdrafts, loans etc. I like to think I was a good customer for 9 years and at the first opportunity the y tried to stick the boot in
P.S. Thanks Tim, that was a good link - very informative

Cas

Banks already make a fortune out of their customers - interest from current accounts, savings, agreed overdrafts, loans etc.

That's very true but if you want to avoid penalties then you should adhere to the agreed facilities on the account. If you breach your overdraft facility then you're taking money that doesn't belong to you without permission.

And before any one berates me for that last sentence I work for a bank and if I don't adhere operate my account within its agreed overdraft facility then not only do I get penalty charges I also run the risk of formal warnings, the ultimate sanction being dismissal.

MAGICCAT_3

Where is the justification for charging £35 for going £7 over your overdraft limit on one occasion. It is a total rip off and is totally indefensible. I for one am walking away from HBOS - they can shove their ' customer service - (ha) where the sun doesnt shine. The real shame is that the Bank of Scotland were a really good bank until they got into bed with the Halifax who are only interested in ripping you off and then telling you how much they care about their customers - yeh right!

Cas

I agree that if it's the first time you've breached your facility then there's grounds for a refund but you have to ask for it and the majority of times you'll find you'll get it if you ask. If the person you speak to doesn't refund it then just phone back later and you'll probably find the next person you speak to will refund it.

Banks are just like every other business, some of the money they make comes from customer inertia.

Rangdo

As someone who works for a CC company that specialised in the sub-prime market, high fees are an excellent income generator - might not seem ethical but great for business.

With sub-prime, year-on-year we were highly profitable, since being bought out and moved to prime things aren't quite as rosy.

dag_2

Thanks Tim for the excellent link.

And before any one berates me for that last sentence I work for a bank and if I don't adhere operate my account within its agreed overdraft facility then not only do I get penalty charges I also run the risk of formal warnings, the ultimate sanction being dismissal.

That makes me wonder what would happen if you took the case to an industrial tribunal. If banks aren't prepared to claim their unauthorised overdraft fees in the county courts, then I guess they're unlikely to defend themselves in industrial tribunal action brought for the same reason.

The bank you work for just wants to see if you will really believe that your job is less important than a few quid and a half-baked "principle". It sucks, really. Are you casual or permanent?

As someone who works for a CC company that specialised in the sub-prime market

that wouldn't be Capital One, would it? Just curious - not that it matters.