C A G ruins banking for millions

[Guest donkey kong]

Oh great! Thanks to the consumer action group it now looks like that if the test case goes your way everyone is now going to get stuck with charges after charges!

 

Thanks to your little moral crusade all us bank users who are able to manage their accounts (about 3/4 of the population) are now going to have to stump up for fees and charges because of the people on here who are unable or cant be bothered to manage their finances! Brilliant, well done cag, youve cost me a good few hundred every year now! Can i claim this back from you?

 

You knew that you would get charged when you opened the accounts! You knew that it wasnt your money to spend! Yet its always the banks fault isnt it, if it is the banks fault why doesnt everyone get charged every month!?!?

 

Does no one budget? Does no one check there account balance? With the amount of cash machines available and internet banking there is no excuse to not know what is coming in and out of your account these days! Some of the amounts on here are obscene, how on earth is it possible to accumlate thousands of pounds of charges! To accumlate that many charges shows either breath taking financial naiveity or a scant disregard for ones financial situation.

 

And you also feel that default notices should be removed!?! Default notices serve a valid purpose to notify other lenders that that person is unable to manage a certain level of credit and as such should not be lent further funds. Yet I see people arguing that because there 5000 credit card bill was made up of a hundred pound of charges the default should be removed. The number of charges on a credit card affects the minimum payment by only a few pence, the charges had little to do with someones inability to pay. This secondary crusade just allows people in debt to get more debt that they have demonstrated they cant handle.

 

Well done CAG! Youve (probably) brought us all lots more charges and your helping more and more people get credit they cant afford. Great work.

[duncan_disorderly]

So you think that people on benefits, living on the minimum money the government allows them to live on should help to fund your free banking?

 

People who have lost their jobs through redundancy, illness or disability. Single parents coming out of acrimonious marriages with other parents who refuse to pay for their kids.

 

And you want to know how people can have thousands of pounds of charges? People who lose their jobs or get ill, go slightly overdrawn, get charged. They cannot afford to pay back those charges, banks won't let them close their accounts because they are in debit, so next month the banks add charges on to the existing charges. I have witnessed many accounts that have had no transactions in 3 months and over £1000 charges applied in the same period for an initial £35 overdrawn.

 

I am sure you feel SO PROUD that these are the people that ensure that you don't pay 15 pence everytime you use a cash machine or have a direct debit coming out of your account.

 

Now go and polish your gold star and make sure your halo doesn't slip and choke you!

[kennythecelt]

If you are referring to bank charges, you should note that they are unlawful. Even the banks acknowledge this, having refused to defend thousands of cases.

 

Why don't you just..........................................!!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[livelylad]

As you have decided to post this inaccurate, misguided and somewhat naive rebuke all over the site I have removed the multiple threads and moved any posts onto this thread.

This is of course to allow a fair and balanced debate regarding the issue of unlawful PENALTY charges (if not show us your breakdown as an ex employee) that banks and other financial institution impose of their customers.

 

 

Note to all.

 

Please keep posts on this thread to the topic of discussion.

 

Thank you.

[the main man]

Oh great! Thanks to the consumer action group it now looks like that if the test case goes your way everyone is now going to get stuck with charges after charges!

 

Thanks to your little moral crusade all us bank users who are able to manage their accounts (about 3/4 of the population) are now going to have to stump up for fees and charges because of the people on here who are unable or cant be bothered to manage their finances! Brilliant, well done cag, youve cost me a good few hundred every year now! Can i claim this back from you?

 

You knew that you would get charged when you opened the accounts! You knew that it wasnt your money to spend! Yet its always the banks fault isnt it, if it is the banks fault why doesnt everyone get charged every month!?!?

 

Does no one budget? Does no one check there account balance? With the amount of cash machines available and internet banking there is no excuse to not know what is coming in and out of your account these days! Some of the amounts on here are obscene, how on earth is it possible to accumlate thousands of pounds of charges! To accumlate that many charges shows either breath taking financial naiveity or a scant disregard for ones financial situation.

 

And you also feel that default notices should be removed!?! Default notices serve a valid purpose to notify other lenders that that person is unable to manage a certain level of credit and as such should not be lent further funds. Yet I see people arguing that because there 5000 credit card bill was made up of a hundred pound of charges the default should be removed. The number of charges on a credit card affects the minimum payment by only a few pence, the charges had little to do with someones inability to pay. This secondary crusade just allows people in debt to get more debt that they have demonstrated they cant handle.

 

Well done CAG! Youve (probably) brought us all lots more charges and your helping more and more people get credit they cant afford. Great work.

 

Donkey Kong, do you want directions to the real world??

 

If it wasnt for the greed of the financial institution by dragging as many people as possible into the sub prime lending market (which they created), giving people credit that clearly they couldn't afford (at very profitable rates!!) your no doubt extremely good pension would be worth what it was two weeks ago !!

 

Thanks for the post though, It makes me laugh how naive some people really are!

 

Main Man

[kog]

Thanks to your little moral crusade all us bank users who are able to manage their accounts (about 3/4 of the population) are now going to have to stump up for fees and charges because of the people on here who are unable or cant be bothered to manage their finances! Brilliant, well done cag, youve cost me a good few hundred every year now! Can i claim this back from you?

 

And rightly so - why not pay your own way, instead of leeching off the unfortunate in society or those who make mistakes.

 

You knew that you would get charged when you opened the accounts! You knew that it wasnt your money to spend! Yet its always the banks fault isnt it, if it is the banks fault why doesnt everyone get charged every month!?!?

At the end of the day the banks should not be allowing people more money than was arranged between themselves and the customer. So its the banks who are to blame from using a system of unlawful charges to prop up their less profitable customers.

 

Does no one budget?

 

A great many of the charges are nothing to do with bugeting

 

And you also feel that default notices should be removed!?! Default notices serve a valid purpose to notify other lenders that that person is unable to manage a certain level of credit and as such should not be lent further funds.

 

Again the banks should not be allowing transaction that go over any agreed limits. Banks would then not need to make unlawful charges against their customers. But they do, and the reason they do is because the banks have devised these methods to make big money, unlawfully of course.

 

And you also feel that default notices should be removed!?!

 

If you had any knowlowge of the law, of english law, or moral purpose you would realise that the charges are unlawful and the default imposed on an unlawful charge are immoral.

 

It seems that you may now have to pay for banking services because you, and customers like you, are unprofitable to banks.

 

It really is that simple, you have been living off the backs of others.

 

 

 

[rbrears]

I pay for every cheque, cash point withdrawal and any other services on my business account. Why shouldn't you pay for your banking instead of relying on the least well off, least fortunate, or least able to manage the vagaries of everyday life, to subsidise your banking? After all you manage your affairs so well I am sure you will budget to pay the charges.

[Nicegirl1]

As a mother I recognise Donkey's comments as toddler-like attention seeking behaviour. Just shouting 'It's not fair' is not reasoned debate. Ignore him and he'll grow up. Might even get a proper job one day.

[dave]

May I just add that if you spell the words "you're" and "they're" correctly, it makes long posts like the OP a lot easier to read.

[angry cat]

Oh great! Thanks to the consumer action group it now looks like that if the test case goes your way everyone is now going to get stuck with charges after charges!

 

Thanks to your little moral crusade all us bank users who are able to manage their accounts (about 3/4 of the population) are now going to have to stump up for fees and charges because of the people on here who are unable or cant be bothered to manage their finances! Brilliant, well done cag, youve cost me a good few hundred every year now! Can i claim this back from you?

 

You knew that you would get charged when you opened the accounts! You knew that it wasnt your money to spend! Yet its always the banks fault isnt it, if it is the banks fault why doesnt everyone get charged every month!?!?

 

Does no one budget? Does no one check there account balance? With the amount of cash machines available and internet banking there is no excuse to not know what is coming in and out of your account these days! Some of the amounts on here are obscene, how on earth is it possible to accumlate thousands of pounds of charges! To accumlate that many charges shows either breath taking financial naiveity or a scant disregard for ones financial situation.

 

And you also feel that default notices should be removed!?! Default notices serve a valid purpose to notify other lenders that that person is unable to manage a certain level of credit and as such should not be lent further funds. Yet I see people arguing that because there 5000 credit card bill was made up of a hundred pound of charges the default should be removed. The number of charges on a credit card affects the minimum payment by only a few pence, the charges had little to do with someones inability to pay. This secondary crusade just allows people in debt to get more debt that they have demonstrated they cant handle.

 

Well done CAG! Youve (probably) brought us all lots more charges and your helping more and more people get credit they cant afford. Great work.

 

I notice that this is your first post on the CAG, surely you didn't join just to post the above which is incorrect and insulting!

 

Apart from the fact that penalty charges are 'Unlawful', there are many members on this site who through no fault of there own have become victims of the banks money making schemes, which incude charges & useless PPI, because they lost their jobs, became unwell through illness or accident etc

 

I am pleased to hear that your life is so perfect!

 

Your post is stupid, selfish, arrogant, biased and totally insulting.

 

Are you an employee of any financial organisation?

 

Angry Cat

[ohoh4312]

because of the people on here who are unable or cant be bothered to manage their finances!

What a pompous libelous allegation.

 

On what facts do you base this statement?

 

Some of the amounts on here are obscene, how on earth is it possible to accumlate thousands of pounds of charges! To accumlate that many charges shows either breath taking financial naiveity or a scant disregard for ones financial situation.

 

Ditto.

 

You are not qualified to make these statements because never having been in this position, you just wouldn't understand. And to be honest, I can't be bothered to explain it; I doubt you would listen anyway.

 

Why did you become a member? Just to broadcast your perfect little life?

Well bully for you, now I suggest you go stick your head back up your own posterior where it obviously belongs.

[ODC]

£15937801 to 9185 people.

THATS JUST THE ONES ON CAG

 

How many other ILLEGAL CHARGES have been refunded to otherswho are not members of this forum

 

Donkey Kong - Jackass more likely:D

[syds mum]

just to add my comment... i have been on a downward spiral for the past six years...all my bank charges have been incurred since my employer thought what a good idea it was to sack me once he discovered i was pregnant!!! i took him to court for unfair dismissal and won!!! he then went into liquidisation and opened under a slightley differant name the very next day!!! i didnt get a penny (£6000.00 won in court for lost earnings) the banks were not helpful at all and charged for everthing being returned,due to my sudden halt in wages...(what you need to understand is i found it extremly difficult to find another job being pregnant).. and you have the down right cheek to say its MY fault cos i didnt budget!!!! i will have you know the bank charges i have incurred (£2000.00) started from £80.00 charges for 4 unpaid bills!!!! the knock on effect caused me to be overdrawn every month for the next 6 years... i do budget but £80.00 is alot of money when you havn't got it... where do you suggest i could have got it from????

 

THE GOLDEN RULE ON THIS SITE IS THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK!!!

 

WAS HAVING A GOOD DAY TILL YOU TURNED UP!!!!

 

CAG are not to blame they are here to give advice and if you bothered to vist the site and read you may realise that people come for exactly that, they are not dragged kicking and screaming!!!

 

Now of you plod and go count your millions!!!!

[Trojan1401]

Oh if only life was so perfect and the many hurdles in life were not there then I doubt that this site would exist.

People try to manage their finances but as already said, occasions where people end up a few quid overdrawn can easily ballon to hundreds if not thousands of illegal penalty charges. It is a cycle which people with limited income cannot get out of.

I work for a global institution but fortunately not banking and do not penalise the lesser off in society which is, quite frankly what the banking institutions do. Easy meat - easy money. How can they automatically deduct money which is not there.

It is theft, simple as that. And before you get on your moral highground by saying that "if you ain't got it don't spend it" refer to what I've just said about going a few quite OD & people on limited income.

 

Rant over...it just pees me off when people take the moral highground without knowing peoples individual circumstances.

[jjppcc_1]

Donkey, please can you answer the simple question of how the following is fair?

 

Firstly let me put down an example of bank charges being implemented:

 

1. Bank customer has an agreed overdraft limit of £50

2. Balance of account stands at £45DR

3. Service provider attempts Direct Debit of £7.50

4. The bank does not allow the transaction owing to lack of funds

5. Bank applies a charge of £38 for failed direct debit

6. Balance of account is now £83DR

7. Bank applies additional fee of £25 for exceeding overdraft limit

8. Balance of account is now £108DR

 

In this example there has been no spending of the banks money and the bank customer still needs to pay the £7.50 for their service provider and £63 of bank charges.

 

The set of events should have simply ended at step 4

 

Even if the bank did decide to pay the £2.50 required, they have surely committed a crime by steeling £63 on top of the £2.50 they are owed.

 

If someone took £2.50 from my wallet I would be a bit upset and want it back, but I would not then simply take £65.50 without telling them and think that it was fair as it covered the expense of opening their bag, opening the wallet, counting and lifting the money.

 

You are right 'Donkey' that people maybe should have managed their finances a little better, however as you can see from the above example, even one small oversight can lead to a disproportionate amount of charges that you can not possibly argue is fair.

 

can you?

[k65]

i got into difficulty due to the bank removing my overdraft without any prior warning, then charging me, sometimes over £200.00 per day.

my banking service now charge me 4.95 per month a fee i can afford and a fee that i KNOW i will be charged and i can budget for.

i feel sorry for you, as i am no longer subsidising your banking you will probably have to pay for it yourself, then you might have some consideration for the majority of the population that already pay sometimes through no fault of their own.

[syds mum]

ALSO.... there is no such thing as free banking!!! if you stop and think about it... the banks are saying they may have to start and charge for your banking now... this is due to the fact that they may lost in high court and have to pay back all unlawful charges... and cant afford to give free banking anymore.. that is because, us that are beneath you LOL are not subsidising the banks with our hard earnt money and paying unlawful charges... which proves the point that they are unlawful!!! they are profitable gains... answer this, if free banking does indeed exist then what differance does it make if they win or lose!!!! they are digging a hole if they stop free banking that proves they use our money to pay for it!!!!

[Trojan1401]

The banks are simply looking to get more money from account holders. Is it not true that the banking industry uses deposited money for their investment purposes and can lend out 8x deposited money. ( Long time since I studied economics ). they get a return on loans/investments etc so are actually using our money to make money themselves. They then have the audacity to threaten us by saying that they need to charge us !! I appreciate that interest is given on investments but I doubt anywhere near the return they get on our money.

If they want to charge for current accounts so be it but increase interest rates on savings.

Financial institutions are simply charging more for less and less of services.

HSBC - £6.1bn in first half year - yeah, definately not making enough profit are they !!!!

[Castlebest]

Taking DC's arguments to there logical conclusion he could reduce his tax bill by abolishing the health service and social security systems too, let the sick and unemployed pay for themselves, I'm sure Charles Dickens would recognise the sentiment.

Fortunately the UK is a compassionate democracy and most of us recognise we have to pay for what we use but I’m sure many other countries would be only too happy to have DC as a resident where he could keep all of his money for himself.

pete

[jules1973]

I see DK hasnt come back to defend their post

 

No-one chooses to go over drawn, life throws unexpected things at us and unfortunately our finances take a beating, it doesnt make us irresponsible, its just the way it goes. No one asks to be ill, made redundant, get pregnant, buy a house etc etc but we do and sometimes it involves us going overdrawn. Obviously DCK doesnt have a mortgage, family to feed, life......

 

We are all just trying to get back what was wrongfully taken which is no more than we all deserve. DK obviously knew what would happen when he posted his rant, and threw his toys out the pram. Obviously his world was so perfect, and now his bubble has burst as he will now have to pay his way in life.

 

I for one would be prepared to pay a very small amount a month to use/have a bank account, but am not prepared to pay extortiant amounts for going a couple of pence over my OD limit.

[tifo]

C A G ruins banking for millions

he's a bank worker ..... probably fed up with signing cheques to us every day (which he does rather than justify these charges in court)!

 

cos he manages his own finances so well from his well paid job, he expects everyone to be well paid and loaded with money at all times.

[jules1973]

Itsnt it amazing how one person can really get under your skin just by their comments, there was absolutley no need to come on here and say what they did, it is not constructive just damm right rude.

 

He must be one in a small minority that has never gone over drawn in his life, never been paid by cheque and have such a brilliant memory that they have never forgotten when a direct debit is due out.

 

Nowdays you mave to have DD's otherwise companies charge you for sending them a cheque etc, so we all tend to have so many coming out each month that occasionally we forget about one and go overdrawn. If banks/companies stopped trying to make so much profit, we wouldnt be in this situation.

[livelylad]

He used to work for Egg.

[ohoh4312]

I forgot to mention this earlier:

 

Join Date: April 2006

 

Posts: 1

 

It took 16 months to come up with that grammatically incorrect, insulting garbage?

 

Excellent achievement.

[Mister Twister]

Every single person on this site has their own reasons for being victim to these unlawful charges. Your blanket statement shows a complete lack of understanding of the issues and circumstances of every member of CAG.

 

The banks make many billions of pounds in profit each year for their shareholders so why not just cut there margins a little and not charge you for having your account in the first place?

 

Your argument is not with CAG but is with your bank!