upset - help to buy isa closed below min - lost all.

eskbanker

bowlhead99 wrote: »

the OP couldn't even be bothered to use capital letters in their thread-opener here

Some people can't even be bothered to use them in their user names on here

Although I do get where you're coming from and am normally happy to sing the personal responsibility song, I think you're being a bit harsh in this case, given the initial remark that "i didn't even know what a help to buy isa was until the bank encouraged me to do this before i buy my house". I'm imagining that the bank is offering the goodwill gesture on the basis of accepting shortcomings in their processes that led to this, rather than purely out of sympathy - those of us who were first-time buyers many years ago perhaps forget how utterly baffling the process is (and it's probably worse now than in years gone by, given regulatory pressures, etc) so would be inclined to cut the OP a bit of slack!

bowlhead99

eskbanker wrote: »

Some people can't even be bothered to use them in their user names on here

I think you're being a bit harsh in this case, given the initial remark that "i didn't even know what a help to buy isa was until the bank encouraged me to do this before i buy my house"...

...so would be inclined to cut the OP a bit of slack!

I'm trying to not be too harsh, by still saying well done and adding a smiley... but as the person didn't even know what a help to buy isa was until the bank encouraged them to do it, they had no expectation of getting any free money whatsoever without the bank's initial suggestion (which in the end, they then didn't actually qualify for, by needing to pull the money out after only two months) so there should be no moral reason that the bank would throw them 'compensation' to the ISA account, even if there was less-than ideal levels of staff training seen along the way.

If the delay waiting around at the end didn't cause too much in the way of mental anguish (hard to put a value on) or consequential loss (pretty easy to put a value on), and the OP admitted they didn't understand the product and didn't read the terms of the product, it's probably not a several-hundred-quid-per-person problem that the bank should fix.

Though as mentioned, well done on pursuing it and at the end of the day, good luck with the new house. It's of course possible to be sympathetic or empathetic to someone who's distressed - because we're all human after all - without actually believing they deserve a payout!