Was just wondering whether the banks are actually reading stuff on here ??

Clearly if they are, surely they may be following some of the claims they are actually dealing with ?

As many people have put it...

"SO?"

Simply put, we are morally right, we are legally right and we also have a great support network.

Let them look on and shake.

oh i do hope so

If they are then they are acting illegally in contravention of the Computer Misuse Act unless they have notified admin first...

I believe Dave is monitoring the situation...

I do know that one particular organisation reads this site and "bank charges hell" as a relative of mine works in the very dept that deals with our sort of complaints.

Without giving a blow by blow account of our conversation my relative told me to go through with the claim (my other relatives are not so supportive) as despite deliberate delays you will get your money back, also that this particular organisations members of staff are also doing this to their banks.

so now we know !

.... more than likely.

I work for a bank and i read and leave posts on this site, (trying to offer a bit of insider help, so please don't be too harsh to me:) ). If my employer found out that I'd been leaving threads they'd go

also just because someone works for a bank doesn't mean they don't get fees as well. I didn't know anything about the template letters everyone is using until I saw one at work.

Now I've seen hundreds of them, plus some of those that have sent the second and third letters in (anything after this doesn't go through my dept) and seen that people are getting their ££££'s back so decided to jump on the bandwagon.

Good to know !

Odd that bank staff are also doing this; aren't they required to have an account with the bank they work for, and be paid into that? Aren't they severely disciplined and/or fired if they go into the red?

So why would bank employees even be GETTING charges?

But still, good to hear that the shop floor staff agree with us and support us, despite the official claptrap they have to send us back in the post!!

Personally I am more than a little bit suspicious as to their motives on here.

As employees they presumably have a duty to exercise certain loyalties and no one forced them to do their job.

I suspect they were aware of the penalties BEFORE the recent public awareness but I bet nothing was said then..

There remains an opportunity to gain knowledge here which by nature of the fact that they actively work for the very institutions that this site is taking to task,could be predudicial to some people here.

I am not saying that is the case with all the posters,but I can certainly see it being so with some.

Lets put it this way...........................Do you think the banks would be happy for US to log into one of their internal programmes in an area which is dealing with their legal issues ??

Personally I am more than a little bit suspicious as to their motives on here.

As employees they presumably have a duty to exercise certain loyalties and no one forced them to do their job.

Sounds a little conspiratorial doesn't it? I don't think that your regular bank employee gives two hoots about how much money is being refunded. I can't imagine a team of office employees living from wage check to wage check logging in and placing posts to gain our trusts to try and then change the tide...

Ultimately, we are campaigning for what is rightfully ours, we're not being underhand which is why we can be transparent about our actions and discussions. There's nothing on these posts that the banks could read to help their defence, so let them read, and let them worry.

If we are being so open why do we not use our real names on this site? Perhaps I may answer my own question by suggesting that we don't want to be recognised and black listed by other financial institutions.

I'll try not to be too verbose but when I was a youth, my girlfriend and I were thought a bit strange, by our contemporaries, because we had bank accounts.

It was not the "done thing" in working class families.

How things have changed! - now you need a bank account for your benefits and state pension to be paid into.

So what happens if you do get black listed? (unofficially because we wouldn't want the OFT or FSA to know what we were doing would we)

By compelling even the poorest of us to have bank accounts, the Government have ensured that the financial institutions acquire a captive customer base. Only more stringent regulation can counteract this market bias. In the meantime, the Bank Action Group is the only organisation which seems to be acting in support of the consumer.

Keep on frightening them. Let them read the threads. Better still send them copies of the more sensational and articulate contributions. With the writer's consent, naturally.

To quote Shelley from Ozymandias - "Look on my works, ye mighty and despair" but without poor Ozie's Statue's ultimate demise of course.

I think that the government announced plans to force banks into offering basic account facilities following its withdrawel of its regular benefits payments.

After a few of them decided to offer it I dont think the government actually did anything else.

A pity they did not go further.

No, I am not forced to have an account with my employer. Yes if I choose to get an account with them and we have fin diff, I could get sacked.

However, i have a bank account with a high street bank. I get charged £39 every time I go overdrawn, have a direct debit or cheuque bounce and then on top of that I get an additonal charge of £28 for having an unauthorised overdraft.

So why shouldn't I get the same help that you'll all getting, to get my money back? :-?

As for having our own names displayed. if banks are watching, and they saw an employees name on this sight it would be instant dismisall.

And yes I couldn't give too hoots about the amount my employer is currently refunding back, the fees don't pay my wages.

Hey I'm all for everyone getting their charges back - no problems for you here.

By compelling even the poorest of us to have bank accounts, the Government have ensured that the financial institutions acquire a captive customer base. Only more stringent regulation can counteract this market bias. In the meantime, the Bank Action Group is the only organisation which seems to be acting in support of the consumer.

I like the example set by Ireland. The have a large number of credit unions, a lot of which have high street branches. The benefit of credit unions is that they are owned by the members and the decisions are all made by the members. These don't have extortionate fees for getting into financial difficulties and are much more supportive.

The legislation in this country also allows this but hasn't been taken up.

The only large financial organisations in this country owned by the investors are currently building societies but even these have diminished rapidly by demutualisation. Most of the building societies around during my childhood have converted:

Abbey National, Woolwich, Alliance and Leicester, Halifax etc.

These have all converted because of personal greed by the (now ex) members.

I would like to see legislation to allow national credit unions to be formed without requirement of organisational or geographic links between members.

Benefits would then be paid into these accounts and people would not be lining the pockets of shareholders which are already, for the most part, wealthy already.

Do banks scan these forums ? - I am sure they do. They have departments whose function is to monitor news and reports and to react to issues that become damaging to their reputations, and it would be foolish for them to ignore this place. They require preparation time to comb the hair and feed some platitudes into the mouths of one of their tailor's dummies before he is wheeled out in front of the cameras if they face a negative campaign. Another purpose would be to update on legal tactics that are being deployed against them.

To be honest I don't think it is in any way illegal for them to visit here as it is an open forum, and has been said already, why should you worry - you aren't losing cases. I work for a Bank and am on your side, and would be dismissed in a trice for posting here. Ideally they would prefer the messageboard to be hidden from view - so much better to be in their faces don't you think ?

To be honest I don't think it is in any way illegal for them to visit here as it is an open forum

Bank staff visiting this site are in breach of the site's Terms and Conditions, and are therefore causing an offence under the Computer Misuse Act.

Posted by barracad

 

Bank staff visiting this site are in breach of the site's Terms and Conditions, and are therefore causing an offence under the Computer Misuse Act.

Sorry, I am not trying to create discord, but I am merely advising caution to Bank staff so that they do not add extraneous detail which may allow themselves to be identified, which seems a common sense precaution. I must admit that I did not see any T & C's to view the site, only when I registered.

I am by nature honest, and I didn't expect a big warm hug when I joined and mentioned my occupation, but I am not here to stand up for Banks, hopefully to offer some information which may be helpful.

I like the example set by Ireland. The have a large number of credit unions, a lot of which have high street branches. The benefit of credit unions is that they are owned by the members and the decisions are all made by the members. These don't have extortionate fees for getting into financial difficulties and are much more supportive.

 

I would like to see legislation to allow national credit unions to be formed without requirement of organisational or geographic links between members.

 

Benefits would then be paid into these accounts and people would not be lining the pockets of shareholders which are already, for the most part, wealthy already.

Given we have a common link - we've all been (edit) from by the banks - why not set up our own Consumer Action Group Credit Union ?

moderated whilst we understand your annoyance we have to remove any comments that could be seen as libelous

EDIT: You can't libel an undefined group. The banks and building societies, in general are [edit]. What they are doing is [edit]. Lets not beat about the bush here...

Anyway, since I am a co-owner of one of the "libelees" they'd best not try to sue in MY name.

[MODERATED: We will not tolerate these comments. FINAL WARNING]

[EDIT - so why not have the decency to tell me you've done so. You're not following the forum rules by simply moderating the truth away...]

The Banks are civil offenders, as demonstrated by case after case being settled where they have unlawfully taken money with the intent of permanent deprivation. Check section 24A of the relevant 1968 legislation quoted in the Legal Statutes library.

Please read the rules of this site that you agreed to when registering

I'm fully aware of the rules of the site. The owners of the site introduced the 1968 Theft Act (in the statutes library), I'm merely quoting from it.

I joined the forum thinking that banks were not allowed to join.

There was something on tv today about loan sharks and a reference to the govt speaking to the banks about their failure to provide credit facilities to the disenfranchised. sorry thats a bit vague but you get the point:)

Maybelline; bank employees are usually permitted join at the discretion of the admin team... if they ask permission. However the Banks themselves are specifically excluded from joining as the forum rules exclude them. Unfortunately there's nothing to stop them READING the forum... as it's an open forum to get the maximum publicity. The terms and conditions of the site make it quite clear that for bank staff to enter this site is a breach of the Computer Misuse Act. In this way the banks cannot take anything they see here into court or into their negotiations with us... EVEN if they employ someone specially to read it, he can do nothing with what he finds here.

I seriously think you are either misreading or misapplying the Computer Misuse Act.

I am 99% sure that if a bank staff were to join this forum they would in no way be in breach of the act.

The forum rules quote Section 1 subesction (b)- I do not think this is a stand-alone subsection, rather it is meant to be read in conjunction with subsections (a) and ©.

Only if all three are evidenced would there be a breach of the Act.

That's my interpretation of things anyway.

Sorry, that post above was me! I tried looking around for the T&Cs but couldn't find them, so thought it might've been displayed when i first registered, so registered another account to check! Eventually found them anyway.

For anyone interested in reading, here's a link to the Computer Misuse Act 1990: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts1990/Ukpga_19900018_en_2.htm

The forum rules quote Section 1 subesction (b)- I do not think this is a stand-alone subsection, rather it is meant to be read in conjunction with subsections (a) and ©.

 

Only if all three are evidenced would there be a breach of the Act.

If bank employees post on here without permission then all 3 sub-sections apply:

(a) they are accessing data

(b) it's unauthorised as it's stated in the T&C's

© they know this because it's in the T&C's