You signed the T's and C's. If you don't like it go to another bank, there are plenty of them out there!!

If only people thought of that. Silly them for not taking in a team of Magic Circle lawyers to negotiate the terms of their banking facilities.

FFS – that's one of the most naive statements I have ever read on here.

Leave the thinking to the grown ups, eh Xan?

You signed the T's and C's. If you don't like it go to another bank, there are plenty of them out there!!

Actually, they write to you telling you that they are going to change the T&Cs that you did sign, and either like it or lump it. And it's not always easy moving backs if you in the trap where you are always using your overdraft / have a low income.

kaesae – top tip, don't come on shouting at companies calling them crap names.

You didn't like it when the same happened to your ebay enterprise.

Although i am a keen user of the banks money and have terrible personal finances i fully acknowledge the bank are not a charity and if they charge me then they charge me. My tough luck for being crap with money.

I guess it's my fault for thinking I was banking with a reasonable company who charge reasonable fees…*

Now I know that they are waiting for me to slip up, getting ready to shaft me thoroughly for as much as they can, I will be much more careful. 🙂

Seriously though… 20,000% interest? I doubt a skinhead on the street would get away with lending at that rate… (not that it's a loan, but you get the gist)

*and not being up to date with the T&C's, but how many of you know your banks overdraft charges off by heart?

Actually when I spent 2 years on the dole in the early-mid 90s I didn't have an overdraft because I made sure that I didn't spend money I didn't have. Maybe I was doing something wrong?

HSBC are no better.

I wasn't concentrating over Christmas and New Year and crept to £150 overdrawn. Three of my direct debits had slipped back a couple of days from their normal payout date so got charged when I was overdrawn and HSBC tell me they charge £25 for every transaction you make when overdrawn.
Thus they wanted to charge me £100 for borrowing £150 which I have already paid back anyway. AND I had £700 in a deposit account at the same bank throughout this period.
I went in to the bank to discuss it but they are not interested and refer me to a phone number in Leeds. I ring them and they were not interested either. So I sorted all my direct debits to a new account at the Nationwide and went into HSBC to withdraw all my money and close my accounts.
They won't let me take my money until I've cleared it with their floor manager. I'm kept waiting like a dog until this is done and I leave with all my money thinking I have closed my accounts. Seven days later they charge this same account that I closed and which has no funds, £50 in charges, and they are still paying out a direct debit on it that I told them I could not track down but didn't want to continue paying. One of their departments is writing saying I owe this £50, another that I owe a lot more. The phone bank says I just owe the £50 but details debits that suggest I owe the larger sum.

Forgive them, they know not what they do.

Actually when I spent 2 years on the dole in the early-mid 90s I didn't have an overdraft because I made sure that I didn't spend money I didn't have. Maybe I was doing something wrong?

I've never been on the dole. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

Touché. Just wait for the double dip.

lol..I was just trying to make the point that everyone's circumstances are different and everything isn't always black and white.

PS. I never double dip – social death at parties

I've never double dipped, but then i've never been to a swinger party anyway.

Ba-dum-tish.

I've never double dipped, but then i've never been to a swinger party anyway.

Ba-dum-tish.

Remember – if you are going to double dip it. Double bag it.

Better safe than sorry.

I think it stinks and am quite surprised at some of the "I'm alright Jack" attitudes on this thread. I do agree that it is a little naive to blame the “evil bankers” when it is obviously a high value fiscal recovery policy designed to put off high risk borrowing and to guarantee high reward to the banks investors thus refloating the bank as a viable commodity however…

If you agree one set of reasonable T&Cs such a proportional set of interest rates and accept that the fee is offset by the reward such as a working or new bike to take an example close to this forums heart. To then find that you are now risking insolvency because your previous payments of around £20 now no longer even cover the monthly fee whereas they previously covered the interest charge and a moderate percentage of repayment is pretty harsh IMO.

If the spend was for something less lavish and was for an essential such as a new boiler, kids shoes or something equally annoying but essential it’s a little rough to hypothesise that anyone in this position is a fool and a victim of their own circumstance.

This forum has some conversely intelligent and helpful threads around support for those who have lost their job etc in the country’s current rubbish state and the impatient comments here are quite eye-opening.

Most people also seem unaware on this thread that this fee is for an ARRANGED overdraught. In my personal experience the joyful new Halifax T&Cs are £1 a day for arranged ODs and £5 a day for unarranged.

Fortunately I do not have one of these accounts I do however shiver at the prospect that it could have been me going from financially tight but just afloat to risking bankruptcy and am surprised that very few other people share this sense.

Maybe it's just that most people read the T&Cs (arranged or not, it's unimportant really), accept the risk and make sure they don't fall into that trap, and feel little empathy with people who don't do the same to protect themselves.

Don't spend money you don't have, or can't afford to pay back at the arranged rate. I've had an overdraft for years (since the start of my student days), fortunately free for the first 1K. I've never touched it, I've come close but I made damn sure I didn't. I've been charged for missing a payment on a credit card, it was 5x the value of the missed payment. I've not done it since, and I didn't blame them.

If only people thought of that. Silly them for not taking in a team of Magic Circle lawyers to negotiate the terms of their banking facilities.

I've never found the Ts and Cs hard to follow. But if I did I'd ask for an explanation of them, rather than live in ignorance of what I'd signed up for.

High street banking in the UK is the most profitable in europe (so i heard on newsnight)
having recently managed to blackmail* the country into just bending over and accepting the charges they levy
they will be looking to rip people off in as many more ways as they can think of to cover the losses made buying all those dodgy american mortgage debts

* and it was blackmail they threatened to increase account fees accross the board if they couldnt keep ripping off the poorest people in the country

Whether or not it is legally right, and whether or not it is my own fault (which it is, because I had money elsewhere), it is my opinion that extorionate fees are not morally right. Of course, it's just an opinion, and there's nothing I can do about it.

frame checking business been slow recently then ?

poppa wrote, "and not being up to date with the T&C's, but how many of you know your banks overdraft charges off by heart?"

I do. But then I'm a total nerd. So, because I know the HBOS charges I also know that like many other people the new charging policy is better for me than the old one.

>they threatened to increase account fees accross the board if they couldnt keep ripping off the poorest people in the country

The UK is one of only a handful of countries in the World that offers free banking. They have to make their money for their shareholders one way or another. Shareholders are often pension funds so just think of it as an investment 😉

You signed the T's and C's. If you don't like it go to another bank, there are plenty of them out there!!
If only people thought of that. Silly them for not taking in a team of Magic Circle lawyers to negotiate the terms of their banking facilities.

FFS – that's one of the most naive statements I have ever read on here.

Leave the thinking to the grown ups, eh Xan?

I think you have just shown how naive you are if you think you need a lawyer to open a back account!!!

I can't say i agree with the charges that HBOS have introduced, they were not going to work out for me so i jumped ship (a fair old bit of hassle) but was glad i did it.

What pi55es me off the most about it all is how banks advertise there accounts, get £5 a month for using this acount! what a bunch of bo!!ocks. No obvious by the way there is a £1 a day charge for using an arranged overdraft or £5* charge per day for an unarranged overdraft.

I mean you have warnings on everything now a days, from bottles of beer telling you not to give it to pregnant women, cigaretts saying they can kill you in clearer writing than the manufacturer name, gambeling sites telling you to be carefull and not bet too much, matches saying don't light near face.

If they are going to change there rules, accounts and the way they opperate after lulling the public into unhealthy practices surely they should be doing more to clearly advertise what they are actually selling.

* figure taken from earlier post

OP;

They tie the court system up in red tape to cost us more money and even if we do win the court case, all we get is our money back and the interest on top!

Err yes…

"What pi55es me off the most about it all is how banks advertise there accounts, get £5 a month for using this acount! what a bunch of bo!!ocks. No obvious by the way there is a £1 a day charge for using an arranged overdraft or £5* charge per day for an unarranged overdraft."

It's actually extremely well publicised and presented- it's been trailed by mail to all account holders (and not at all hidden in obscure terms and conditions) and it's all over the literature.

Example, here's the blurb off their website, this is the front page ad for the current account in question:
"Bank of Scotland Current Account

Everything you need in one simple account. A straightforward current account that's ideal for day-to-day banking. The Bank of Scotland Current Account has all the essential features you need.

* 24-hour telephone and online banking services.
* A Visa debit card. Your best way to pay – everyday, everywhere for everything.
* Overdraft facility with straightforward daily fees that are easy to understand. Any overdraft we agree is subject to status and repayable on demand."

You can't really say fairer than that. The exact amounts can be brought up with one click and again, there's no lack of clarity or attempt to hide it away.

I don't think you can say

Where's Kaesae gone, it was more fun when he kept posting……all this serious gumph is getting me down!

Sorry 🙁

I got my hair cut on thursday just there. The young woman that was cutting my hair is giving birth in 15 weeks. She owes them £200 in £5 a day unnauthorized over draft charges and has already paid a good amount. As long as they have influence over our lives things will get worse for us all.
In the 60's people said we were there!
In the 70's people started saying sh1t happens.
The 80's rolls up and it's sh1t creak, as life stinks all the time in general.
The 90's hit us and sh1t happens a lot in the rat race becomes a popular saying..
Now we just started a new millenium and on an all time high!
A full blown complete and utter Global Sh1temare.

End of the day we are at WAR!!! with these scum bags.
who ever controls the resources of our species determines the destiny of us all.
What do you think that destiny will hold for the generations that follow?

What do you think that destiny will hold for the generations that follow?

This isn't really about bearings anymore is it?

Hello Crikey. it's good to hear from you. How are you?

Pretty well, bit tired after nights, how's your good self?

Not bad at all. My backs healing very quickly since I got private health care. I had really bad memory loss and my IQ was about 90, basically I'm getting my life back.

I have two protruding discs in my back so I'm still in a bit of pain but not too much. I'll be able to ride in 3 to 6 months and I can't wait.

I'm also very tired not exhausted though so not too bad. I have to keep mobile all the time and do 2 hours of excercises each day, it takes it's toll but I get by. Just been up arthurs seat to feed the swans and ducks and geese and seagulls. Pecked a few times but that's cool.

I hope your well I always have time for bikers and people who are fair.

3 to 6 months?
Sounds like a long time, but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end. Have you got a 'first ride' planned?

Hey. Shops and back! I don't care as long as I have a bike underneath me. Injured my upper back 5 years ago been in constant pain since, injured my lower back 2 years ago and couldn't walk at first, then about 6 months ago I discovered osteopaths and started paying for treatment.

After two weeks I was getting better. After the sh1tstorm I've just been through 3 to 6 months is fine by me. If you need any bearings crikey let me know I'll give you them at a massive discount and if you need any help fitting bearings into a hub or frame just say the word.

Good speaking to you! if you need anything just use the email I logged with my profile.

Farewell!