AndyRST

Ginge it was ment as a joke about the thread being a long one and no it was not ment to belittle you or offend you or make you a cunt of the joke (as you put it) but as its obviously been taken the wrong way, i'll apologise for it now.

Benni

Chill out Ginge mate, I'm sure Andy had no intention to offend you. Take it in the content it was written mate. A light hearted joke.

Ginge !

andy theres no need to applogise, ive said my bit and aslong as we both understand how we both feel about it then its delt with, im not one to hold grudges or bother with tiny things like this, but i wont bottle up anger when things anoy me and that did

as said make fun of anyone who you like but if your gonna make a "joke" comment about me then please only do if after you make ACTUAL TIME to talk to me also, im sure you dont make jokes to other regulars in your pub who you never talk to even if they are too loud or bore you/talk shite

that was my point, your not the only one and tbh im telling people know to save the embarressment when i tell a few others to there face if they carry on

as said i dont mind meing a court jester,,, but to people who i talk to

Ginge !

see you missed the point i AM chilled, ive not gone on some war path, i dont like the coment for the reason i typed, i EXPLAINED IN DETAIL WHY so he understands

i gave other examples when people and why they wouldnt be made to others and i also appriciate its a trend on here to join in the band wagon of "joke "insults

if it was radders,,, i wouldnt of said a word, if it was dancossie, i would have replyed back

if it was off a new member i would have replyed just the same as i did there,,,, and if it was you i would have replyed just the same

im not a member saying " do i know you" im a member saying " do you choose to know me, NO,,,, then why are you making jokes about me if you choose not to know me ?

hope you get the point

Benni

I think I do Ginge. Take care of yourself mate I'm off to bed.

Christian and Beccy

iTrader: (14)

Well, that set up a proper divide!! This thread only follows on from me trying desperately to understand this whole situation in a previous post.

I saw the other big bank charges thread appear and read it briefly, but as it didn't appear to apply to me I moved on. However, when it got to 20 odd pages, I had another glance and couldn't believe the amount of people that appeared to have managed to accrue several thousand pounds worth of charges in 5 or 6 years, so I asked the question on there. 'How is this possible?'. That wasn't me attempting to upset anyone, but more to try and understand if I had missed something.

All I could conclude and this is still the case, is that people appear to have been clumsy with their finances and are now claiming the money back.

Now, I don't disagree that the charges are probably wrong and if they are wrong, then the excessive amount should be paid back. That is perfectly clear. The issue here is wondering how the fuck people manage to run up SO SO much in charges.

This thread has answered that question in some ways. I now understand that some people have circumstances such as redundancy and family problems that may lead to a few months of trouble with their bank. To those people, I apologise if I came across the wrong way.

However, I know for a FACT that the majority of people that are claiming back charges have simply lived beyond their means and have seen the opportunity for an easy 'windfall'.

My hang-up is not with the people that get charged half-a-dozen times in 5 or 6 years, but with the people that have managed to run up thousands of pounds. There can be no reason for that. If you really are in that much shit and losing that much money in charges, then surely thats the time to make other arrangements, like a loan or borrowing money from a family member? I HATE bank charges, so would do EVERYTHING within my power to NOT pay them. I wouldn't go month after month after month beating my head against a wall. Remember, when the charges were being made, you didn't know you were getting them back, so as far as you were concerned you were posting money down the drain. Even a bank loan at 30% APR is better than losing £50+ per month in charges.

I wish more people took the time to understand the point I am trying to make, rather than jumping on me for going against the grain. This isn't a criticism of those that aren't quite so well-off.

There are so many comparisons I could make.

Take the recent fuel problems. We all knew there was a problem, it had been all over the news. So, we stopped buying the problem fuel.

Getting charged month after month for the same thing without making other arrangements is the same as carrying on buying Tesco's fuel after you knew there was a problem. It was the fault of the fuel supplier, of that there is no doubt, but you had a choice whether or not you took action.

RichardPON

Yes, but you miss the point.

Do you realise how much of a drop in the ocean refunding bank charges is to someone like HSBC?

If they were to refund £5 million, it wouldn't even begin to make a dent in their overall turnover as a company.

The ONLY reason the banks will tell you that they "have" to find that charge money elsewhere is because they CAN.

Most international finance companies like HSBC, Barclays etc would probably drop their high street banking facilities if they could, if they hadn't set an obligation to customers.

cfoster

With regards to 'picking up the tab with shitty interest rates, fewer beneficial services and higher charges' surely if banks were run efficiently enough they shouldn't have to rely on the fines that they have been charging people? Or perhaps Banks have been relying on that extra source of money for all these years?

I see where your coming from though and I cannot understand how people can clock up literally thousands of pounds, but if they have and the opportunity to claim it back came along i'd be at the front of the queue! I built up £700 worth of charges over the last 5 years without even realising and i have always had a healthy income etc so can possibly see it happening to others...

Chris

jumpin jack crash

when i was younger, 18-19 i was a bit of a cunt and never paid direct debits etc went about a year or 2 not giving a fuck wether i got them or not. this i regret to this day and havent had a bank charge since then until i got last week where i got one for paying for fuel at the bp, went over my limit by a £1 and where as i thought if paying with your debit card it wouldnt get authorized if you didnt have the funds available. i went into my bank to question this and got told that its not upto them to authorize this. now is that right???

i am gonna claim the money back. not to make a quick buck or anything like that as i know these charges were my own fault and i was prepared to pay them at that period in my life but i am gonna make a claim out of principle that its now come about that the banks have been robbing you blind. so for that reason alone i will make a claim just as anyone would do with anything thats been robbed off them.

and at the end of the day if it means that the banks will stop charging these over exaggerated charges then im all for it as no one should have to pay 30 odd quid for going over a limit... takes the piss imo. and for all the ones who are predicting what banks will do in the future ie different ways of gettin their money back. they would probably do this wether people were claiming the charges back or not as there all money grabbing cunts!!

S1rst

A few thousand over the 6 years seems a hell of a lot of money.

What happens if say you have 5 direct debits due to come out and you have no money in the bank? I assume you only get charged one £35 fee, and not 5 x £35.

Based on a £35 charge, if you get £1000 back over the 6 years, it works out at about 5 charges a year. Not as bad as i thought really. Although ive heard of people getting 2 or 3 grand back, which means they payed the charge 10-15 times a year!

PastyKing

its £35 per failed transaction i believe
im sure i have had a double charge before!
IM A PROPER BAD BASTARD
has anyone else noticed that a year or so ago the banks had a £10 "buffer zone" so if i went up to that over my authorised overdraft i wouldnt be charged providing it was under the £10 limit!
but the banks seized the opportunity to make some more illegal money
i wish i didnt have to have a bank account

Muska

If this has been covered before on this thread then i appologise, i'm not going to read the lot, i'm going to make my point and stay out of it.


Christian,
If you think for one moment that the bank has not made interest on the money they have taken from people in 'charges' that far outweighs what they have now had to pay back then you are not as bright as i have previously given you credit for. Lets not also forget that not everyone will claim back their charges, and alot of people will settle for an amount that is not the full amount they were charged over the years/months/whatever.

do you seriously think the banks have lost out...?


somehow, i highly doubt it.

I don't think it's right for people to continually stay in/over their overdraft (and i have been one of them) but the banks do people no favours when you are forced to pay over a huindred pounds a month for doing it. Catch 22 perhaps.................

Anyway, all this ranting will do nothing about it now, it's wrong, they are having to pay it back (to the people who try) and tats the end of it.


Matt.

PastyKing

couldnt of put that any better if i wanted to

Mr S1

iTrader: (2)

I said exactly this months ago when everyone was patting themselves on the back thinking they were oh so clever for getting their £30 refunded. The banks will get their money back, they make billions a year profit and they ain't going to let that slip. It just means as Christian says that instead of those who take the piss paying for it, now we all will.

PastyKing

like any big company they will always find a way to make more money whether the charges are reclaimed or not?
its greed at its best

Mr S1

iTrader: (2)

I Agree entirely - and the banks are the worlds best but what people haven't yet realised is they've played right into the banks hands. Instead of only those who abuse any facility paying, now we will all pay for it. The banks make even more money.

But as I said, Joe Soap who thinks he's done well getting his £30 or whatever it is back will end up paying far more than that back over the future. Years mate, years.

Do people still think they've been clever ? All they've done is shot themselves (and everyone else) straight in the arse. They never looked at the bigger picture and thought that if they didn't take the piss out the overdraft in the first place none of this would have happened.

Benni

But like I said Mate, if we all started to manage are money so they could not charge us you would be in the same position you are now and they would be still left with a way to get there money back. So even if we all become financial experts we will still be paying for it for years?

Hope that makes sense mate as I'm not the best of putting what I have to say into words.

S1rst

Ok, heres a question for all those who think they've been hard done too..........................

If say speeding fines, parking tickets, fixed penalties etc could be re-claimed, would you lot turn round and say........''well im not going to claim any of the money back as its not fair on the people that have never had fines or tickets before''. ''The councils will get the money back from somewhere and i wouldnt want any non-offenders to suffer from my financial gain''

Somehow, i think not.

When the boots on the other foot, people seem to look at things VERY differently.

Benni

S1rst Well put mate, very well put.

RWD_cossie_wil

iTrader: (9)

Without doubt, this is the most fucking arrogant stupid head-up-own-arse post i have EVER seen on passionford , Christian you have really come across as a COMPLETE cunt - It's a bit like saying " I don't see why those stupid ethiopeans don't move, to save starving to death "

A lot of people get caught in a spiral, the £30 charge for the month before gets taken out on the 1st day after payday, but then of course £30 is missing for the end of the month now, so ANOTHER £30 charge is made due to going overdrawn, and a £30 charge for a missed direct debit of £15, but that £15 wasn't there due to the 1st charge........ Start of the next month, £60 is taken by the bank, so of course you are now £60 down before you even start to sort your bills out..........

I think you will find that the vast majority of people racked up most of thier charges when they were young, and struggling with lots of stuff like moving out, new jobs, maybe getting married, starting a family etc.... or doing what I did, spending lots on silly cars like cossies, but you live and learn....

And with regards to "you" picking up the tab for "us", it's just like "us" paying our taxes for the police to catch your stupid arse speeding/racing, then taking you to court at the expense of the tax payer, so I think we will call that one quits.....

And if people are stupid enough to pay for thier current account beliving its due to the drop in the ocean that are the returned charges, they need thier heads looking at.. It's a bit like fuel prices, they are at an all time high, just like shell and BP's profits, but who are the mugs buying it??? Typical Britain, fight amongst each other rarther than unite against the common enemys that bleed us dry

Anyway, the short version of what I am trying to say is don't spout off shit about somthing you clearly have a very narrow perspective on

Mr S1

iTrader: (2)

Yeah i know I'm just playing devils advocate that's all thyere's two sides to each story that's the point I'm trying to make. The elation will be short lived by those who think they have been clever getting money back as in the long term the banks will get it all back - and some.

Christian and Beccy

iTrader: (14)

The Ethiopians don't have a choice atall though. If they were starving to death because they didn't want to eat the Aldi food then that would be a fairer comparison. But they have NOTHING. These people who have racked up thousands in charges did have other choices in most cases (NOT all cases agreed).

So, once you know that you are £60 short, why not talk to the bank about it? That's what I did. Or I would have asked my Mum or someone to help me out, I certainly wouldn't have let one failed DD spiral into £6k's worth of charges.

CJBear

How ignorant and stuck up are some peeps its like classism you rich arseholes looking down on those less fortunate. Its not a case of overspending by accident one month, i admit getting into debt coz of bank charges i fell ill and couldnot work for few months, i used to make enough money to scrap by on i managed my money well enough to survive.

As soon as 2/3 bank charges hit my doorstep that threw me into dispear i couldnt pay back £100 of bank charges within the next month so i would automatically be overdrawn anyway, month after im in the red and unable to meet the payments within 6 months ended up being thousands (could you afford to pay £800+ in just bank charges per month?) bank charges spiral so fast it does not take much to rape your wallet. I have claimed be a few grand in charges, money i did not have money i did not spend money unfarily forced out of me.
Ther so many way anks make money if people claim back millions worth of charges it STILL has little affect on banks, how do you feel when you put money in your account esp cheques, do you feel cheated when it takes 5 working days for it to appear in your account? The banks holding that money in ther suspense accounts earning interest on your money! wouldnt you like to earn interest on your own money?

Christian what do you expent people to do? turn to crime to pay money back? cheat benefits? fiddle things? i known alot of people go that far and beyond, a guy i knew of worked in the city high flying exec and lost his leg in a accident he got nothing out of it, into debt now he sells drugs and mugs people. a 52yr old professional man who did well for himself up until he lost his leg, nobody helped him and banks just poured on the charges, within a year he was £20,000+ in debt. Other people commit suicide on alot less, it ruins peoples lives and makes it worse for everyone else.

coco16i

Very true mate and probably the best post on this thread so far

Christian and Beccy

iTrader: (14)

Almost EVERY reply by me is me stating that I am not criticising those that have had financial bother, it was wondering how it is possible to let a £35 charge spiral into £6k's worth of charges. Surely after a few months of the same cycle of not having enough money to pay your outgoings, you either cut down on your spending or make some other arrangement? That's what I fail to understand.

I am NOT rich. That is a fact. I have a mortgage which is over £800 per month for the next 30 years and we do run things fairly close, but if we have a month where we do over-spend, then the next month we go without some stuff. Like perhaps the RS will stay in the garage or whatever, or we won't eat take-away twice a week etc.

Perhaps that's the reason I still have an 18-year-old RST at 32 years of age. I didn't choose to own a car that I cannot afford to maintain. If something goes wrong with the RST, it is unlikely to break me, but if I had an Evo or a Cossie etc, I probably couldn't afford to fix it. I MADE THE CHOICE.

There is clearly a 'North/South' divide on this one and I think it's best to let it go. I still, even after 3 pages of heated debate, do not understand how it is possible and that is how and why this started, but I guess for me that will remain one of life's little mysteries.

S1rst

I got the impression that a major point of the thread, and a few other who have posted, was to moan about the people who have claimed money back. If it was purely to try and understand how people can incur thousands in charges then fair enough mate.

So, would you claim your parking fines and speeding fines back though if you had the chance mate, as in my question above?

BRIGSPORT

iTrader: (2)

Christian,
As said before,if you've never been charged by a bank in your entire life,give yourself a pat on the back. If you have been charged then like myself you will have paid it,and got on with it.
The number of different circumstances for getting these charges would fill this entire forum,and its not for you to judge why this has happened,which is where the jibes about being rich,looking down etc. come from.
You obviously have no idea what its like to be in the situation that you get charged every month,and you never will by the sounds of it,so until you're there,you will never understand.
Remember,one day your up,the next your down,you could have a job one day,and be laid off the next.
And its not as if they give you your charges back for being in credit for a year is it?

cossiecrew

banks are cunts for it though i have one account set up to pay my rent etc and i put the money in on the day that it was due to pay my rent all the bank did was say its not there to said company they never paid for it or anything and then have the cheek to charge me £35 its a fucking joke

Muska

Where exactly does that ask about how people got into the situation of racking up bank charges...?

If i was still into fords i would not give the company you work for any of my custom as you would clearly look down upon me because of the way my finances have been handled in the past.

Matt.

Andy_R

iTrader: (3)

What amuses me is the fact that "Joe Public" can charge his/her bank 8% interest on top of charges........and its legal

£100 in charges 6 years back = £148 today(including statutory interest at 8%).

The big sums that we here about being returned, tend to relate to the total value of a personal claim and often include numerous credit card aswell as bank charges.