matt.bowey

Anybody know if Nationwide are still closing down accounts if you complain about bank charges and then get a refund?

I made a silly mistake a few months ago and got stung for £30!!!

Trouble is I have a mortgage, cash ISA and shares ISA with them, as well as a current account!!

Not sure its worth complaining..........?

Any comments appreciated!!

Matt.

Abdabz

Dont know if they are still closing accounts, but if they value peoples custom that little, then grab all your investments / debts and take them somewhere else
Childish smellybanker pooopyheads

KiwiGTI

Although someone on here will always be an exception, most banks will not want to continue their relationship with you if you pursue them for bank charges/fees.

Chrisgr31

Is it worthchasing them for £30? A quick letter to them apologising for the mistake may get your £30 back or reduced, but you're not going to go the whole hog for £30 are you?

I am interested in this as bank with Halifax and have loa, living health insurance etc, so is it just my current account they wont want? for

milf hunter

if you made the mistake then £30 a small price to pay
or spend all day changing banks and direct debits i think that will cost more than £30 and the hassle that goes with it

David Lock

Own doorstep and all that............

moses

thats sad that aint it all coz we want the excess charges back and still wanna pay them the lil cost of a letter etc


down wae the banks, may God annihilate their evil bosses and board members

bonerp

Lets get this straight guys - you incur a charge cos you can't manage your account properly. Whos fault is that?

Banks only close accounts when these people repeatedly do not manage their accounts properly, for example go overdrawn when they do not have an agreed overdraft set up/bounce cheques/can't complete Direct Debit payments etc. this costs the banks money! These people get charged and accumulate these charges, then take the banks to court to get refunds! Why shouldn't they close these accounts when its costing the bank (and ultimately the other customers in lower rates!) money???????

Currently you all get free bank accounts. Look at it this way, if these charges are removed by the good ole OFT cos of small minded greedy customers, you will all end up paying a fee for banking.

Is that what you want? Still got the same view about it??

No I doubt it. And yes I do work for a bank and see this daily.

People need to stop believing everything watchdog says, and manage their own lives more appropriately than spongeing (sp?) off others.

KiwiGTI

Why should they when all the institutions and role models in society have no morals and try to make money through any means possible, especially when it is illegal or not in the spirit of the legislation.

Jerome

I agree with bonerp, you don't want banks to get rid of free banking.

In Canada, they do not have free banking. I had to pay £12.50 each month to get 50 transactions a month for "free". Using the cashpoint, paying a cheque in, making a DD payment etc all counted as transactions. A cheque book cost £12.50 on top of that for a book of 50 cheques.

Also, do you think your bank will look favourably on you when you want a loan, mortgage, OD etc if you've just claimed back a load of charges?

For the record I'm with Nationwide and have been on the recieving end of £30 charges several times. I blame myself for poor financial planning rather than the bank for being greedy.

bonerp

Would you go shopping at Tesco without any money or cards on you??? What would happen if you walked out of the store without paying?

Same as if you didn't pay your gas bill, it would be cut off. Why should the banks/building societies and as stated previously YOU, take the hit for other peoples poor financial management? We are here to make money the same as everyone else so if its illegal we will make it another way by charging you for the servince.

Sorry, its reality.

KiwiGTI

Rubbish, they have been charging extortionate charges and penalties which they have not been entitled to do. A reasonable amount is to be expected - but does it cost the bank £35 because your account went £1 overdrawn?

I couldn't care less about paying a monthy or transactional charge to cover the costs.

Banks are making record profits and also deliberately offer easy credit in full expectation in increasing bankruptcies and bad debts. STop being such a sucker and thinking they are hard done by.

bonerp

and you think we make all of our money by charging you??? YOU really are the sucker!

Banks and BS make the vast majority of money by raising it through treasury and share dealings. Thats how most large organisations make their mint!

By doing this the customers get a service through being able to get mortgages and savings vehicles. Jeeze....

I agree banks do need to look at levels of charges based on the 'crime', but this arguement is about people repeatedly abusing the system and then claiming it back! I am saying people should manage their accounts within the boundaries of the terms and conditions. If they don't they get penalised. Years ago when credit and debit cards didn't exist, if the cash wasn't in your pocket, you didn't buy your required purchase.

Charges are there not just for us to recover costs (and don't believe what you see on watchdog about it costing £3 or whatever) but to discourage people from going into debt.

Look at it this way, if you want a solicitor to write a letter for you it costs £35-£50 around my way. And you seriously think it only costs £3 for us to do that? If you take into account the time to investigate some txns it can take a fair while! This costs.

Want us to charge for each DD that comes out of your account? Cos guess who currently covers that cost?? The banks!

Chrisgr31

And that is the whole issue. Do you work for a bank as I think you have just done some serious damge to their case.

Legally banks are only allowed to recover their costs for these letters and charges. Legally than can be no additional charge in order to discourage people from going into debt.

In any event these charges actually put people into more debt. You have a direct debit fro example and you happen to fail to ensure there is enough money to cover it. The Bank decide to let it go through, but charge you £30 for the priveledge. They also charge you £30 for the unauthorised overdraft. Hence a mistake over say £6 has cost you £60. Once that happens the charges very quickly build up.

Equally with my bank I get an email about charges. How much does it cost the computer to determine I am over my limit and autogenerate an email to me? A lot less than £30!

The banks may argue people know about the charges in advance, but just because I tell you I am going to punch you, doesn;t make it legal for me to punch you!

bonerp

I was implying it costs more than £3 to look into it and communicate with the customer. Sorry for being unclear.

Yes I agree with what you are saying concerning overdraft emails which is also a point I made that banks need to charge a representative fee. This would stop a charge of £30 for a £1 overdraft, but how do you set the limit?? A £30 overdraft makes a £30 fee ok?

My statement was about repeated offenders and that they are the people taking money out of your hands! Not the odd individual that may recieve a charge once in a blue moon. I have never been charged because a) I make sure my overdraft is suitable to cover any excess spends, and if I do go overdrawn I just get charged interest and b) I manage my account. If the bank or bs needs to manage your account they will charge. Whats makes it so difficult to manage your finances that makes charging unacceptable????

The thing with all this is, and if I can give you an example just to balance things up a little, if your account is used fraudulently for whatever reason (whether its your fault for not taking care or a fraudulent merchant), it costs the banks millions to investigate, attempt to recover (which usually has to be written off as a loss) and cover your losses. They don't charge for this! Same as they don't charge for many other aspects, so if you spend money you don't have, a penalty is applied. Take a credit card. If you go over your limit, you get charged and you know this will happen. Does that make this acceptable but not current account charges?

You have to put things into perspective, thats all I am saying. Yes charges are too high currently and has to be looked at before the OFT come down on all the banks like a tonne of bricks. It will happen and is happening. But again, banks don't want repeated offenders who then takes them to court for refunds. hence the account will be closed. Is this unreasonable?

DCI Gene Hunt

Offenders! If Joe public IS getting refunded via 'the courts' it is because Joe public is entitled to it under the UK Legal system.....

Therefore the banks are wrong to close his account.... not his fault that bankers are all useless *******

Chrisgr31

If my account is fraudently accessed and it is not my fault then why on earth should I pay anything to the bank to sort it out? If its my fault then I should pay, and I suspect the banks might try and make me pay.

As regards credit card charges correct me if I am wrong but haven't they already been forced to reduce their unfair charges?

bonerp

I'm trying to go back to the point I made earlier that there are plenty of services which we don't get charged for in banking. If you take away fees for misuse you will be charged a monthly fee instead. Does that make sense cos of the mistakes others make? As a customer, I don't think so.

DCI Gene Hunt

No you won't....... the banks would have to improve customer management to achieve greater efficiency (that means work for a living)

Chrisgr31

Hmmm so if everyone stopped making mistakes tomorrow and therefore paid no more charges the banks wouldn't look at another way to charge us all?

Whistleblower this evening on BBC1 could be interesting as it apparently features Barclays.

Diesel

Aint that the truth - its a standard letter not a solicitor crafted masterpiece!

Doubt anyone would moan at a £5 fine for exceeding overdraft, but they can stuff the £60! Maybe a percentage would be fairer and stop the penaltys that can far outweigh the size of the infringment, and ironically hammered at you when you can afford it least...

Not sure if Nationwide would play dirty and cancel accounts? I found them a lot better than the grabby multinationals - they are a mutual after all.

D

wrightylee

If banks are so eager to discourage from people going into debt then why do I get a ton of junk mail from them encouraging me to take out loans?? The fact of the matter is if no-one was in debt then there would be no money in the country. Our present monetary system is based entirely on debt.

Markus

It's a joke, it really is. Coming from a country where I've never had to pay to have an account let alone pay for transactions or a cheque book it strikes me as very odd indeed. Having said that one of the political types is looking into abolishing ATM fees, at least bank ATM's, and I'm wholeheartedly backing this move.

I'm sure if Banks in the UK can operate accounts with no fees then Banks over here can do the same thing. I believe some US banks, wamu (Washington Mutual), being one of them, offers a free checking account, which from what I've read offers free checks for life, free wire transfers, free ATM's, free online banking and no monthly fees. Hopefully other banks in the US and, here's hoping, Canada, will do the same.

Diesel

Who uses 'checks' anymore dude