Royal Bank of Scotland Bank Charges - WARNING!!

stuart1266

I think I should have not been charged a penny!! Bear in mind, I paid interest on the amount I went over, which will be in the region of 25-30% apr. I think that is fair and I have no problem paying that, it was my mistake.

Jim02

davidcampbell wrote:

this is fair now?

I reckon so, given the amount of money they make out of investing the customer's money!

Personally, I'm willing to pay for my errors, and I don't think many people could conscionably say otherwise. What I won't accept (and nobody else should) is an arbitrary penalty that bears no resemblance to the costs incurred by the bank for that error.

If someone spills your drink, do you expect them to buy you 5 in return?

Being in the trade, do you think that the bank should enter into negotiations with the customer to ascertain exactly how much the error has cost the bank, then fine the customer that amount? That would cost more than the amount recouped!

The fact is, banks make more money out of the ignorance of those who pay without question, than they would if they charged a fair and enforceable amount for all. That's why the practice continues, and that's why most banks will refund the charges for those who (rightly) complain. The same thing is true of late payment penalties on credit cards. They're unjustifiable too, but a lot of people just pay without question. And the banks rake it in.

Jim02

This website is quite interesting, should things ever go too far.

http://www.bankchargeshell.co.uk/legal.html

grumbler

Jim02 wrote:

...most banks will refund the charges for those who (rightly) complain...

Usually banks just do a favour and remit only the first mistake. If you make mistakes on regular basis even (right) complaints will not help you. And this is fair.

grumbler

Jim02 wrote:

...If someone spills your drink, do you expect them to buy you 5 in return?...

If somebody takes your money without your permision do you expect them just to return the money in a week (for example) with extra 0.5% (for example). I.e., I steal your £10 and return you £10.05 in a week. Are you happy with this? I don't think so...

JanCee

Bank charges are levied by computer and most staff are happy to refund charges when situations like this arise. What suprises me more is that people seem to spend more time on sites like this complaining about the banks than checking their own bank accounts online.

Jim02

grumbler wrote:

If somebody takes your money without your permision do you expect them just to return the money in a week (for example) with extra 0.5% (for example). I.e., I steal your £10 and return you £10.05 in a week. Are you happy with this? I don't think so...

I think I'd be happy given the fact that they're giving me money each month which I'm using to invest, and keeping the lion's share of the return, yes.

In fact, if I had a million customers who all borrowed £10, then repaid me £10.05, that would be 50 grand profit, not bad for a week's work. I certainly wouldn't try and charge them another quid on top just for the privilege.

If some stranger with whom I had no formal relationship nicked a tenner off me, I didn't know where he lived, I didn't have any visibility of his income, financial history or honesty, then no, I wouldn't be happy. However, even an idiot could see this is not a valid comparison.

grumbler

Jim02 wrote:

I think I'd be happy given the fact that they're giving me money each month which I'm using to invest, and keeping the lion's share of the return, yes

Don't tell me that you do not have anything in return. What about free banking (including branches, cards, cheques, guarantees, protections, ATMs, transferrs...), customer services, not to mention interest...

If some stranger with whom I had no formal relationship nicked a tenner off me, I didn't know where he lived, I didn't have any visibility of his income, financial history or honesty, then no, I wouldn't be happy. However, even an idiot could see this is not a valid comparison

Yes, you are not a stranger. And as a result you can apply in advance for an agreed overdraft limit that is based on your 'income, financial history or honesty'.

And NO, I don't work for neither bank nor any other financial institution....
And YES, I am aware about huge profits, but we live in market economy and even an idiot can see that competition between banks and BSs is very intense...

bargains83

I don't know why your all arguing about this:

YOU open a bank account
YOU get a set of terms and conditions of the account
YOU get a book of tariffs and charges for the account

The terms and conditions clearly state that if you overdraw your account you will have to pay X amount, fair or not. By depositing money and continuing to use your account you are agreeing to operate within these terms. If you break those rules you are penalised. These are the facts, if you aren't satisfied with this, cut up your cards, throw away your cheque books and keep your money under the matteress.

Jim02

grumbler wrote:

Don't tell me that you do not have anything in return....

I never claimed otherwise. That's not the point. Unless you're claiming that banks make no money out of those who never slip into the red for a few days, and they're forced to recoup out-of-proportion costs from those who do?

grumbler wrote:

Yes, you are not a stranger. And as a result you can apply in advance for an agreed overdraft limit that is based on your 'income, financial history or honesty'.

Again, not the point. The point is that with the best of intentions, slip-ups sometimes occur. And when they do, some leeway from the bank is more helpful than a blanket, unjustifiable penalty. I'm not trying to say it's okay to go over your limit; it isn't. But the charge you receive should represent the costs incurred.

grumbler wrote:

...but we live in market economy and even an idiot can see that competition between banks and BSs is very intense...

And three out of three. What's competition got to do with it? Are you claiming that banks need to rip their customers off just to stay afloat... well, maybe I'll give you that one. Big business is never honest. That doesn't make it justifiable though.

Consider this: If you have a bank account with a £100 limit, and you go £110 o/d, how much more does it cost the bank than if you had a £200 limit? Answer: Zero. So to levy a charge of £20 on your account is nothing but an arbitrary punishment. How can that be justified?