Guerilla Tactics

[cumbria123]

maybe not

[Glenn UK]

If you have the suit why not put it on and hang from the Information Commissioners Office's chandeliers, 'fathers for justice' style?

Or isnt that what you had in mind?

[jb79]

Hihihihihihihihihi, there are plenty of perfectly legal ways to disrupt illegal activity. I say this because the kind of tactics I am now actively pursuing would be illegal if it were not for the fact that I am seeking to disrupt the Illegal activities of the institutions. I am trying to be careful in that I am considering if any of the implications of my actions create difficulties in the legal operations of the institutions involved.

At the end of the day a very small percentage of charges are being recovered and this is not acceptable. The banks continue because they are still profitting from the charges regardless of the costs they incur from our actions.

2 wrongs don't make a right and we aren't wrong yet.

[blueskies]

jb79 please be aware that the actions of the banks are unlawful, not illegal, we deal with contract law rather than criminal law and although some people, myself included, believe criminal law has, in fact, been broken, it would be virtually impossible to prove it.

[jb79]

With the right organisations taking the correct actions all evidence could be aquired in a matter of hours. Something along the lines of minutes of their legal advice and the actions taken on the back of this. I refer to the recent changes in T&C's for the required smoking gun!!!

[tamadus]

This in itself is probably small fish but with publicity and the backing of all CAG members it might have an affect.

I am challenging MBNA over charges on 2 accounts totaling approx £3500. In one of their letters they stated that they were reducing their charges to £12 in line with the OFT's recommendations. They also stated that if I was not prepaired to accept their revised terms and conditions they would have no choice but to close my accounts. ( cheers loudly) I plan on closing them anyway but now I have an even better reason. My ultimate plan is to reclaim all charges and then close the accounts, My days of credit cards are numbered.

If all our members actually wrote refusing to accept terms and conditions which still make charges of £12 and sufficient publicity was generated about the thousands of accounts being closed, what situation would it leave the banks and credit card companies in?

Personally this is MY money they are supposed to be keeping secure for ME. We, the public have gone along with their introduction of plastic (and now chip and pin, which is more secure for them and less secure for us) because they painted a picture of convenience for us. That convenience came with a heavy price in charges, interest and for many personal financial ruin. Not to mention the harrasement from DCA companies.

Revolutions are always started by those who are most affected, and invariably lead to the cudgels for change being taken up by those who profit most.

We are already seeing signs of charging for bank accounts, we see Bank base rate fall to below 5% but credit cards still charge up to 40% ( I know one card that charges a massive 65%) As soon as bank rate increases the card companies increase their rates.

CAG is perfectly poised to become a real consumer champion because it consists of consumers, not TV personalities. WE can be the start of a revolution that could change the face of the banking and credit industry worldwide and probably extend it to other areas of consumer injustice.

Sorry this is so long but I needed my daily rant comments would be appreciated.

Tamadus

[jb79]

The 60% interest rate is evidence of collusive pricing and as such requires investigation.

[tamadus]

Originally Posted by jb79

The 60% interest rate is evidence of collusive pricing and as such requires investigation.

And its always aimed at those who can least afford it

[jb79]

I am sceptical about if the people paying 60% interest were unable to afford debt before but they certainly can't after!!!

Personally that rate of interest would eat up a large chunk of my income.

I am very intersted in opening credit card accounts at 60%+ interest by way of an ongoing investment scheme. I would open an account run up a couple of hundred pounds in charges keeping the ballance as low as practical, then wait 5 years and claim back the charges with interst i rekon the return would be very nice.

[angeljen]

Good idea JB!

I feel sorry for the poor sods who have an account with the 60%.apr.card - Can you imagine?! One minute it's 20% or whatever then it's hiked up to 60% - Is there anything the consumer can do if interest has been hiked up so much before you had chance to repay the debt or if the customer couldn't afford the repayments? I believe that the apr you signed for at the beginning or the contract SHOULD be the apr you pay for the duration. Any info/comments/suggestions I would find very interesting as I'm not exactly that knowledgable on the subject of interest! lol no pun intended