Advertising...

[mboz62]

I am currently in the process of recovering bank overcharges from the Halifax – nothing exciting run of the mill over draft stuff – and as much as I think that sites like this provide an extremely valuable service I think the big problem currently is that the masses don't really understand this whole thing.

 

I consider myself to be a fairy intelligent kind of guy, and have seen occasional over charges been taken out of my account for a while (I'm rather absent minded when it comes to my banking!) I had always complained when I saw the money disappearing from my statement and been vaguely aware that it was wrong. However it becomes a case of lethargy the thought of 'it's only 30 quid I can't be arsed to do anything about it' it took 300 being taken from my ex wife's account before I really thought to set into action.

 

I think it is this general lethargy that is the biggest problem with bringing the banks to account for their actions. They rely on the fact that people don't really understand the implications of the legalities of this.

 

I believe that if it was possible to educate the general public with the facts of what the banks are doing is actually illegal it wouldn't be long before the banks would be forced to change their policy as a result of pure public pressure – in a similar way that the cash machine charges were changed due to public outcry.

 

The only way to do this is through advertising. For this reason I am currently in talks with a local radio station to sign a twelve month contract to advertise what is wrong with the UK banking industry. I am currently looking to pay for this advertising out of my own pocket and am looking at some business ideas that would be able to fund it on a national scale. There will also be a website that will provide information (and provide links to sites such as this) as well as accepting donations to assist in making this more of a national possibility.

 

As well as general comments on this idea, I am currently needing to find a solicitor who could advise on the advertising wording etc. obviously I would rather find someone who wouldn't mind providing this advice on a pro bono basis. I'd rather spend the money on advertising than on solicitors fees!

[mboz62]

Has anyone got any comments, suggestions with regards to this? it would be good to get the thoughts of some of the people in this forum...

[Unholy Alliance]

I thinks its a good idea in principal. On the question of legalities tho, it would be easier to quote Acts and Banks responses in a "you decide" appeal to the public. That way you and your advertising agency/candidate media would IMHO not be setting yourselves up for possible counter litigation. In any event the guys running this site seem to know their onions-why not support them direct in such a campaign? When I take my lot on (and win) I will most certainly be making a contribution to there efforts and cause. But good luck with it whichever way you go.

[seylectric]

I think the real problem is, and you said it yourself, people just can't be arsed for the occasional £30 or so when they know they were probably at fault in the first place.

 

It's like council tax, councils are legally obliged to spend their (our) money wisely but look at the waste! But does anybody challenge it? Same with parking tickets, unfair speeding fines etc. The government, banks and businesses make fortunes out of us and the apathy of the population in general towards these things amazes me.

 

Most of the country just can't be bothered, and I'm not sure that a public awareness campaign would be money well spent in this way.

After all, bank charges and obscene profits, along with multi-million pound payoffs to retiring chairmen etc. are all fairly common knowledge anyway.

 

I feel that those who want to fight will eventually find their way to sites like this one, the rest just can't be bothered. I'm not sure you will change that somehow.

 

I also feel that if the banks were forced to change their ways they will recoup their losses in other ways, such as reintroducing charges on personal accounts in the way they charge business accounts.

 

As it stands, this may be a slightly selfish point of view (but not deliberately so), but the current situation is that those of us who fight get our money back, whereas those who can't be bothered miss out. This suits the banks and currently, to be honest, suits most of the members of this forum in terms of results.

[jmcdyre]

advertising revenue from this site (see my previous post - "advertising revenue") would generate cash that could be used for this type of thing.

A consistent unified approach would, IMHO, be more effective than a mish mash of different initiatives.

Please put Amazon ads on this site!! (or other ads)

[seylectric]

Thanks for that info, Dave, this is one of the most useful sites I have ever come across, I await the updates with interest!

[lookinforinfo]

Rather than get involved with radio advertising, which is fairly expensive

and is probably quite a hard medium to get people off their sofas to get a

pen etc, why not try press releases which are free? Perhaps some of the

guys on here who succesfully got their money back could be used as

examples. Once you have got the ball rolling from the press releases then

some sort of advertising may reinforce the message.Though I think the press are starting to take notice-especially when that bank was threatened with bailiffs.

[BankFodder]

When we set up the site in January we were writing around to everyone. Now we just don't have the time.

If you or others want to start writing round to people on or off the web letting them know about the real position as to bankcharges and about this site - then please do so.

We jsut haven't the time at the moment.

[mboz62]

This topic was closed on 03/05/19.

If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support their.

If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened.

- Consumer Action Group