Banks will never let me forget....

[dave]

....why I hate them so....

 

 

Some of you who know me know that I do not have a bank account - at times this is quote difficult. Recently I set up a new website and the hosting company needed paying - the easiest way, they suggested, was by setting up a standing order for the initial amount and then cancelling the standing order.

 

My girlfriend did this for me - I gave her the cash, she set up the standing order. We waited until it was paid out of the account (took 6 days to get to the hosting company), then phoned to cancel it.

 

She was told that they couldn't do that over the phone. So....she went on-line to do it.

 

She successfully cancelled it and that, we thought, was the end of that.

 

...until today of course, when she checked her balance and tada!!! the standing order wasn't cancelled at all.

 

It seems that every time I have any dealings with any bank, they will cock it up somehow.

 

How have we allowed ourselves to become so reliant on such a sub-standard level of service, from such a low sector of society.

 

I would say it's incredible, but sadly I predicted this from the moment I knew I had to use a bank for something.

[diskmandave]

 

 

I completely agree though.

[kennythecelt]

I have a collection of Tesco bags for the big day!!;-)

[Michael Browne]

After a few similar experiences, I decided that any instruction/request to the bank must also have a paper trail, so always confirm anything in writing too. It's a pain, but it means they can't deny something later.

 

I now avoid SO and DD's, and am reasonably happy with my bank, but that's only because I don't allow them to do anything more complicated than pay cheques in and process cheques I write. Anything else seems totally beyond their capabilities

[Castlebest]

I agree totally but unfortunately I believe the noose is tightening and we will get less and less choice on how we pay.

 

My local Sommerfield supermarket and Spar convenience store both now refuse to accept cheques and in fact Sommerfield refuse to accept £50 notes because of forgery.... how long before £20 and £10 notes follow suit? then it will be card payment only.

[charleyfarley]

But it's possible to get Pay-as-You-Go debit cards, which work the same way as a PAYG mobile. That would get round that problem

[MilkTrayMan]

CASH is good...

[kennythecelt]

But it's possible to get Pay-as-You-Go debit cards, which work the same way as a PAYG mobile. That would get round that problem

 

Yes Charlie, agreed, but some of these have a one off join fee, annual fees and transaction fees. They can work out very expensive. I have a splash card to try out.

[diskmandave]

CASH is good...

 

Cash is excellent!

 

 

[skbuncks]

I agree totally but unfortunately I believe the noose is tightening and we will get less and less choice on how we pay.

 

My local Sommerfield supermarket and Spar convenience store both now refuse to accept cheques and in fact Sommerfield refuse to accept £50 notes because of forgery.... how long before £20 and £10 notes follow suit? then it will be card payment only.

 

Sainsburys and Tesco also no longer take cheques.

[Brassed off]

Dave I can really see where you're coming from.

 

I'm having lots of fun with my Bank at the mo. I don't have a Switch card or cheque book because of my dire credit history, however, my bank suddenly decided, a couple of years ago, that I was blind and lived in Scotland and decided to reflect that on my statements So although my address was correct on the envelope, the statements were addressed to some obscure address in Scotland

 

I've managed to get my account statements addressed to me at my correct address without "Articles for the Blind - do not crush" plastered across a jiffy bag and without a floppy disc inside and after complaining, I received a rather nice big hamper from them (the biscuits in it were yummy :grin:)

 

Unfortunately, for the last year they have now decided that they're going to bombard me with marketing letters for loans and credit cards and yes, you guessed it, their Marketing Department have decided I live in Scotland and I'm blind

 

After several letters to their Complaints Dept, I still haven't had it resolved so will be off to the FOS shortly.

 

Not being at my best at the moment, and having received yet another piggin' marketing letter from them, I decided to ring them up and let off some steam :grin: I spoke to their Loan Dept who after taking all my details, said they would pass me on to their Complaints Dept so I made a point of saying that could they explain the nature of my complaint to the Complaints Dept to save me having to explain my situation twice and was told that yes, that wouldn't be a problem.

 

Get put on hold for ten minutes without anyone coming back to say that they were sorry to keep me waiting (having to listen to some unbearable drone they like to call music gggrrrrr) they were probably hoping I would just put the 'phone down, finally get through to the Complaints Dept who ask me to explain my situation - again. So I asked if the person who put me through to them hadn't already explained why I was calling them and they said "no" so I *suggested* they spoke to him and then called me back.

 

Yep, you guessed it, no one called me back

 

Tbh, I'm quite happy without a switch card or cheque book. I have a Basic Account which allows DDs and SOs and I just withdraw cash from the machine whenever I need it - suits me. I just don't trust them to get anything right anymore.

[The GodMother]

None of the shops i go in take cheques any more. SOme have not done since last january

[dave]

Brassed off - I know exactly where you are coming from - three things in life are certain: death, taxes, and the fact that if a bank employee says they will call you back, you will never hear from that person again.

 

In fact, it's such a certainty, the I used to get them to say they would call me back when I no longer wanted to be called - it works every time.

 

I swear that bank employees must be trained to be as incompetent as possible. The amount of cock ups that result in them holding on to your money for longer is far higher than averages would allow.

 

...if we had a choice of using or not using banking 'services', I think banks would be in a lot more trouble than they are now.

[dave]

After a few similar experiences, I decided that any instruction/request to the bank must also have a paper trail, so always confirm anything in writing too. It's a pain, but it means they can't deny something later.

 

I now avoid SO and DD's, and am reasonably happy with my bank, but that's only because I don't allow them to do anything more complicated than pay cheques in and process cheques I write. Anything else seems totally beyond their capabilities

 

Yes, me too - this is the only SO I (or rather my GF) have on the account.

 

I am now reminded why I have it like that!

[dave]

None of the shops i go in take cheques any more. SOme have not done since last january

 

They're probably fed up with waiting weeks for the money to actually 'clear'.

[Brassed off]

It's funny how you get used to cash only though Dave. I get really annoyed having to wait for peeps with cards to get them out of their wallet/purse, put the card in the machine, then press the number, etc etc, then the machine doesn't work and they faff about for ages whilst I stand there thinking it's far easier to just give the cashier the cash and get your change, then bog off

 

Yes, I know there's "cash only" tills but they're usually at the wrong end of ASDA by the time I've finished my shopping. I do like having a go with the "scan your own" machines but nine times out of ten, they play up too - computers sheesshh

[charleyfarley]

I've been reading this thread all week, then today i call into my local Abbey branch today to pay my mortgage..........in cash......with an official letter quoting the account number........................and I waited nearly 20 minutes while the cashier struggled with her computer system trying to find my account details.

 

 

why are the simplest things made so complicated by the Banks??

[loz]

Tell me about it, the palaver I had trying to pay a credit card bill at NatWest and a loan at HSBC by cash after A+L closed my current account.. in both banks they looked at me like I had 2 heads because I dared to use this strange medium called "cash"

[djgordyp]

Yes Charlie, agreed, but some of these have a one off join fee, annual fees and transaction fees. They can work out very expensive. I have a splash card to try out.

I have a splashplastic card too. It seemed to be the least expensive of the lot. I actually had one of these a few years ago but very few places accepted it and I gave it up thinking it was only a gimmick.

If I need to use it right away, it costs 30p for every £10 loaded at a paypoint. If you're prepared to wait, it costs nothing to transfer money from you're bank account.

[renegotiation]

It seems that every time I have any dealings with any bank, they will cock it up somehow.

 

What bugs me is that you have to jump through to hoops to get your money back for their cock ups! And then after you get your money back, and never a penny more usually, you actually feel quite relieved and fortunate!