[Closed] Cooperative Bank - should I withdraw my money?

Deposits are protected so there's no risk to you from the Chairman getting high on Meth 😉

But you see this is what happens when you leave hard-nosed financial decisions to a bunch of wet woolly liberals. They'd have done much better investing in BAT, Phillip Morris, News International and BAe rather than The Labour Party, Yoghurt Knitters Association and Sandals'R'Us.

😉

😀

I would base your decision on the returns your are getting from the Co-op and the need for access first. The safety of your deposits is probably ok and is guaranteed up to a level in the event of a failure. It wont be instant access in that case though.

I can see someone withdrawing money in protest at the shambles their approach to management seems to be - I've considered moving my overdraft elsewhere - but the money itself is safe.

Stoner - Member

Deposits are protected so there's no risk to you from the Chairman getting high on Meth

But you see this is what happens when you leave hard-nosed financial decisions to a bunch of wet woolly liberals. They'd have done much better investing in BAT, Phillip Morris, News International and BAe rather than The Labour Party, Yoghurt Knitters Association and Sandals'R'Us.

Utter, utter bollocks I'm afraid.

I worked for them for years - their success was achieved when they were an ethical, genuinely Cooperative movement.

All the difficulties started when they abandoned their principle about 10 years ago and invited a bunch of shysters and speculators to take over.
And they buggered it up just like they did the rest of our financial services industry.

Would you leave your car in a garage, for a full engine rebuild, having found out that the mechanic doing it wasn't actually a mechanic at all? But to be fair to him he once worked next to a garage, 40 years ago. And he seems like a nice bloke. Puts some cracking parties on!

Oh... he'll probably have 12 pints before he starts the job. And recently when asked by a bloke in charge of inspecting garages 'how many wheels do most cars have?', he thought the answer was 23

amusing reply Stoner

My money is still there but we all know all bankers are ****ers the good ones are just slightly less ****ish 😉

I like binners' analogy even better.

Who'd have thunk it. The head of the Co-Op was the Toronto Mayor of UK banking?

There, there, Rusty. I can put some more smiley's on my dig if it makes the pain go away...

My money is still there but we all know all bankers are **** the good ones are just slightly less ****erish

Genuine question ... Why then?

Why do you use a bank to keep your savings?

And they buggered it up just like they did the rest of our financial services industry

Which neatly falsifies the argument that bankers do bad things because they are only interest in their shareholders.

Bloody mess the coop. Perhaps if you pay a CEO about 10-20% of the salary of the CEO of most high street banks then your drive him to meths? Alternatively, as the saying goes, pay (relative in this case) peanuts.....

Ro5ey - good point, risk aversion. Despite negative real interest rates money is flooding into short term Overnight deposits across Europe. Its one thing that is screwing up monetary analysis and monetary policy. Govs would love people to think like you and do other things with their money. But they are not doing it......

Why do you use a bank to keep your savings?

What do you want me to do buy gold bars or invest in fine arts?

Savings is a somewhat overestimation of my three figure [ not counting the pence] investment

[i]What do you want me to do buy gold bars or invest in fine arts?[/i]

Local Credit Union?

JY, there's a nice painting coming up for sale soon in Edinburgh. Going for a song apparently!

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overestimation of my three figure [ not counting the pence] investment

Right, so it is an investment.

You are trying to make more money from the money you have.... you are trying to make a profit.

I didnt think that was allowed

Oh .... and I'd defo not buy gold... art on the other hand

Bloody mess the coop. Perhaps if you pay a CEO about 10-20% of the salary of the CEO of most high street banks then your drive him to meths? Alternatively, as the saying goes, pay (relative in this case) peanuts.....

To be fair, the woes of the Co-op bank stem from their 2009 purchase of the Britannia B.S. [url= http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2bfa51c0-bbcd-11e2-82df-00144feab7de.html#axzz2lBVEC5VN ]citation[/url] - the opening of their glitzy HQ does seem to echo the last days of RBS.

True driex, I was being a triffle flippant!

Stoner - Member

There, there, Rusty. I can put some more smiley's on my dig if it makes the pain go away...

So it was just a joke?
Of course.

Bailed ages ago after the Britannia fiasco. Now with Halifax. £100 for joining, £5 a month for nothing. What's not to like?

I like that idea Woppit. Would seem rude not to really!

That sounds about as sustainable as a long term business plan as most of HBOS's previous genius activities

Just remind me how that went again?

Some of Santanders accounts are great if used correctly. But then again "profits" go back to Spain don't they and we can't be having that!!!!

Yoghurt Knitters Association and Sandals'R'Us.

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THM - I thought there was still a moratorium on the repatriation of any funds by Santander - incl profits

there's a nice painting coming up for sale soon in Edinburgh. Going for a song apparently!

You are trying to make more money from the money you have.

Isn't it academic where the profits end up really? Its not like banks pay any of it in tax, is it? 😉

Stoner, I am not aware of the moratorium. But again, I was being flippant in my break!!!

careful now. this is no time to [s]be humorous.[/s] attempt humour

That sounds about as sustainable as a long term business plan as most of HBOS's previous genius activities

Just remind me how that went again?

In 2007 I had a Halifax savings account that paid 10% interest,

Its not hard to see where it all went wrong to be honest

FWIW we have approx £1.5M of business banking with them at the moment, which doesn't appear to be covered because of our turnover. So we are taking most of it out.

Well, you would be contributing to a self-fullfilling prophecy. If everyone took their money out tomorrow, it may cause problems for more than just the Co-op.

We do all our banking with Co-op. I did look a while back at other 'ethical' options, but there doesn't seem to be much competition TBH.

We're saving for a house deposit ATM, I'm not concerned about the security of the cash. But I am dismayed with the current state of affairs.

A real shame as the service from Co-op has always been first class.

At least we now have an answer to the question "What sort of drugs do you need to be on to think that Ed Balls would be a good chancellor?".

binners - Member

That sounds about as sustainable as a long term business plan as most of HBOS's previous genius activities

What does?

Its funny that this seems to be an issue when our coke n hookers loving chancellor can do no wrong?

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Is not what you know Kimbers, it's who you know (Andy C?). Did you not know that?!?!

A real shame as the service from Co-op has always been first class.

It's very annoying, if that's the right word, that the only bank which at least tried to be ethical in the past, has come to this 👿

Guido Fawkes' new House of Commons gallery correspondent has a great style:

Considering the aggregate of recent events Stephen Brine enjoyed quite a range of options with which to open the Government batting at PMQs. He said: “The nightmare of my disbelief at the Opposition Leader’s gay-porn male prostitute front bench million pounds for hard working mums and dads against Ed Miliband’s Welfare party on amphetamines?”

The Prime Minister agreed that there were questions for Labour to answer, about who knew what when, why, whither and who in the Labour party had put the meth in Methodist.

“Edward Miliband!” the Speaker called in such an impartial way that a stress fracture broke out in his forehead.

Ed Miliband rose to speak for the children of Chipping Norton. They were having their Children’s Centre closed. “Children’s lives are being destroyed by the Conservative cost of living crisis,” he said. “Heartbreak soldiers pride in British children with a fair wage, without VAT tax evading fraudsters pouring money into the Conservative party because their leader is a LOSER!”

The Prime Minister handled it with ease and some asperity. “What he doesn’t say, because he’s pathetic, is that now there’ll be one fewer set of school gates where Labour donors can peddle crack cocaine!”

That played into Ed Miliband’s line of attack: “I think we have established that the out of touch Prime Minister just doesn’t understand that the price of crack cocaine now puts it totally beyond the reach of squeezed children who are being forced into coke banks by pay day Tories!”

George Osborne heckled: “Shove it up your forearm with a turkey baster, you sick, bent, rent boys!”

Visibly deflated, the Opposition leader concluded his attack with, “What he has shown today is that he has no answers!”

“I may not have answers,” the Prime Minister laughed, “but you don’t have any questions.”

“Touché,” all sides cried and repaired behind the Speaker’s Chair where the crack pipes are kept.

Note. Reconstruction. Dialogue may not represent actual dialogue. Steve Coogan appeared as David Cameron and Johnny Vegas as Ed Balls. Ed Miliband was played by himself.

So what happens to my Coop mortgage if there's a Northern Rock type run on the Coop and it all goes to ratshit? Theoretically speaking like, not that I'm particularly concerned about it happening, cos if they did go down the pan then my mortgage would be written off and I'd own my home outright, wouldn't I!!??? 😉

The chap in question is just doing what a lot of other people do who have loads of spare cash, spending it, subsidising the less well off and giving work to rent boys, who are providing a service for those that need the service.

Problem was he was caught with his pants down, and will be the first of many probably.

The other problem with the coop was not enough branches,sop they bought britania, then built a huge office block for them to count all their profits in manachster city centre, opposite their old office, a huge waste of cash and effort, they should have gone to an estate in a lower working class area, and provided jobs and services there.

, then built a huge office block for them to count all their profits in manachster city centre, opposite their old office, a huge waste of cash and effort, they should have gone to an estate in a lower working class area, and provided jobs and services there.

They used to be a flagship employer until about ten years ago - they were very, very proud of the way they treated the workforce, which generally commuted into Manchester from the surrounding, poorer areas.

The wages were never the best, but they did things like providing free lunches for the staff every day - they reasoned that if they increased the pay and stopped the free food, people would spend the extra on their family rather than on feeding themselves properly.

It was a wonderful, inspiring place to work until the profit motive became the be all and end all.

While that all may be true, I can assert, from visibly ageing in the queues at their checkouts, that they tend to employ the most work-shy layabouts you're ever likely to encounter in any retail environment.

Me and Mrs Binners regularly see who can break the record for the longest wait at the tills, while 4 members of staff studiously ignore you and have a long chat about their favourite biscuits, as the queue lengthens to completely fill one aisle, and snakes round the corner into another one.....

See what happens when I leave? 😀

Which branch, btw?

All of them Rusty. They're all like that!

Its seriously become a competition between us to see who can receive the most appalling service at a Co-op. I think the one in Darwen is the worst. we've been known to take a deckchair in their to have a sit down with the paper, while waiting for them to conclude their ongoing chin-wag about the weather, as 37 people look on in bemusement.

Sometimes it'd be quicker, even if you're just after a tin if beans, to drive to an out of town supermarket. In fact, sometimes it'd be quicker to order it on the inter web for next day delivery

You ACTUALLY WENT to a [i]building[/i] and STOOD IN A QUEUE? That's SO far back into "last century"...

I recall reading a number of articles in the financial press recently about the Co-op being under attack by numerous hedge funds. I'm sure those interested can find them.

All of a sudden Co-Op in the news for irresponsible leadership. Journalists lose interest in News International trial and pursue story of foolish habits on someone of previously very limited public exposure. Co-incidence?

Pinstriped fool takes coke v hacking into phones of murdered kids.

PS - Opinion possibly influenced by recent completion of 'A Week in December'

Who'd have thunk it. The head of the Co-Op was the Toronto Mayor of UK banking?

The bank has a huge whole in its finances. How they could 'oops' that much for so long smacks of something.

There are also rumours of problems in the other parts of the Co-op.

Personally in 2013 if my bank hid a 1.4billion hole I'd bloody be concerned.

I echo the frustration of others. We have banked with Smile for 15 years I think, and they are nothing short of brilliant. Again, chosen for ethical reasons as well as service.
Flipping frustrating that this has happened, and again feels like a real change to the way things have been run just prior to the big takeover.
I spent a couple of days canoeing with the new boss Euan Sutherland, and he is fantastic. Genuinely likeable, not your usual CEO material in someways and yet insightful and driven still.
I too am torn about leaving, but am staying for now.

I'm a coop bank staff and member, I'm pretty angry that we've had poor managers as a result of the britannia merger and onwards and the credit trashing by Fitch was er unhelpful

retail depositors are covered by the FSCS, and nobody wants to see it go into resolution

the ethics and values are going to be written into the constitution of the new banking entity with a dedicated board committee to ensure these are upheld

Binners, please get in touch with customer services http://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/customerservices/contactus/complaints if I remember I'll find the email address tomorrow

It has also emerged that, at the time he was recruited by Miliband, Flowers had resigned from Bradford Council after pornographic material was found on his computer. One newspaper has claimed that the Labour party were aware of the reason for the resignation.

Weeks after Miliband appointing Flowers to his group, the Co-operative bank handed the Labour party a £1.2m loan.

Miliband has admitted to having at least one private meeting with Flowers. The Labour leader has also confirmed he attended informal dinners and had other meetings with the former councillor, one in Downing Street which Mr Miliband hosted with colleague Ed Balls.

Last July, Miliband hailed the Co-op Bank as his preferred model for banking reform, saying that the bank had "always understood that ethics of responsibility, cooperation and stewardship must be at the heart of what you do."

Flowers has also admitted sanctioning a fifty thousand pound payment to Labour Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, cash he claimed was handed to the MP for a "researcher to assist the shadow chancellor in the work that he needed to do,".

I think binners was a little confused and was talking about the Co-op food store seeing as they don't have checkouts in banks.

Scotroutes - there is a lot of muddy water swirling around labour and the coop and that should be correctly exposed. But lets not also forget that v recently Osbourne was also pressing the EU to give Coop special status and exemption from tougher rules.

It's a pity that his has become a political squabble now. Yes, Labour have dirt hands here but the Tories are not Persil white either.

Ed M is running a risky strategy here. He called Falkirk a disgrace and then nothing comes from it (yet) and now Labour acted with integrity over the Coop. We shall see......

It s Cameron who has appeared more rattled recently but Balls going on about Cocaine yesterday suggests he might be the one feeling the heat a little here.

politics and prostitues seem to go hand in hand

http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-british-leader-escort-agency-twitter-20131120,0,3421460.story?track=rss

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I saw that yesterday Kimbers. Quite bizarre. It would be fun to know the background!!!! Politicians' ability to do stupid things never fails to amaze. What is it about power corrupting???

nor even husbands of politicians, and Union leaders eh? 😉

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that ones ace stoner

For the one and only time in my life, my sympathies lie with Harriet.
🙂

I can accept that No 10 confused Carltons with the Carlton Club.

I just wonder what Jack confused "Big Black Gay Cocks" with?

I can accept that No 10 confused Carltons with the Carlton Club.

I just wonder what Jack confused "Big Black Gay Cocks" with?

To "favourite" one such tweet is an accident. Two of them, however?

From the comments section of the source of Stoner's post above! 😉

I must speak out in the defence of my poor colleague, Mr Dromey.

Internet related blunders can happen

..For instance, yesterday I was innocently searching for an antique car horn for my 1920?s vehicle restoration project. I needed a specific bulb horn that would fit snugly onto a smallish round bracket with a clamp. And perhaps some sort of automotive oil to help it engage easily.

Imagine my horror when I typed [b]Squeezey Massive Mature Hooters.. grip them Hard and Get my Hole moist[/b] and some unexpected images popped up.

I tried to delete the page from the interweb, but seem only to have managed to have favourited it, shared it on twitter and saved it to my bookmarks and also a special file on my computer marked ‘very boring man stuff relating to football, Top Gear and sheds..don’t open.’