can they really close your account?TheMission wrote:if they send you a letter afterwards informing you that they will be closing your account.
Fecking Bank
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Terry Tibbs
- Senior Member
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- Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2005 10:02 am
they actually have no grounds to close your account - they will claim its a breakdown of trust or something but all you have done is request transparency on some costs (which is what the letters usually ask) and if they cannot do that (which they wont) you want teh charges back.gambogaz1 wrote:Yep if they want to get arse'y with you they'll shut down your account. So you need to get a new account 1st and change all your D.D's over before you do anything.
If they shut your account you can refer them to the ombusman who will break their balls.
MCOL - is money claim online - govts. online small claims court
14 day letter is a letter requesting details within 14 days otherwise you will start court proceedings - they'll try to stall but dont have any of it
you can get upto 5 years bank statements online with most banks
even if you only have one year you can estimate the total 6 years - this is allowed.
you don’t just jump into bed with Terry Tibbs, you take Terry Tibbs out to lunch, you wine and dine him, you give him an oil massage then he gives you 1950 if you’re lucky!
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Matt Vinyl
- Senior Member
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- Joined: Wed May 11, 2005 6:56 pm
- Location: Lost in the outback, Bryan
Morning all,
It's sad to see that they are indeed still ripping us chaps off left, right and centre. I'm going to put a siff letter together today (on cardboard!) stating what a complete joke their service is. Apparently, I'm 'not supposed to go into the brach' as my account is a 'self-maintained' one. Well I don't recall imposing a £39 charge whilst I was 'self-maintaining' my account?
I'm actually going to transfer all my DDs to my missus account this morning - and also change my pay to go there too - we're both understanding when it comes to each others cash, so there won't be any problems there. She's with Barclays who actually seem to give you a 'buffer' that can only be hit by DDs / SOs (so you can't actually withdraw it) which is not a bad idea.
But Halifux, crikey they are poor!
I'm also considering claiming back what I can - as I was told it's a 'self-maintained' account because I 'don't pay any regular charges' - heh, they want to look at my bloody statements!!
Anyway, cheers for the replies, and good luck on the re-claiming front!
It's sad to see that they are indeed still ripping us chaps off left, right and centre. I'm going to put a siff letter together today (on cardboard!) stating what a complete joke their service is. Apparently, I'm 'not supposed to go into the brach' as my account is a 'self-maintained' one. Well I don't recall imposing a £39 charge whilst I was 'self-maintaining' my account?
I'm actually going to transfer all my DDs to my missus account this morning - and also change my pay to go there too - we're both understanding when it comes to each others cash, so there won't be any problems there. She's with Barclays who actually seem to give you a 'buffer' that can only be hit by DDs / SOs (so you can't actually withdraw it) which is not a bad idea.
But Halifux, crikey they are poor!
I'm also considering claiming back what I can - as I was told it's a 'self-maintained' account because I 'don't pay any regular charges' - heh, they want to look at my bloody statements!!
Anyway, cheers for the replies, and good luck on the re-claiming front!
"And do you ever contradict yourself, Minister?" "Well, yes and no..."
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Istenem
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- Location: the nation's capital
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not doubting you but can you give a reliable source GG?gambogaz1 wrote:You can't do anything at the moment now. It was on Ch4 News last night.
The banks and the governing body have struck a deal. They go to court today to find out if the charges are illegal or not. And until the outcome of the case is known all claims are suspended.
ta
nobody ever wins on those things.
I'll have a look around. It was on the 7pm news last night. There was a spokeswoman for 8 major banks and a consumer rights spokesman and the 1st the consumer bloke had heard of this deal being struck was half 6 last night. Quite a funny interview actually. The bloke says "don't bother involving us in any deal! We're only representing about 1 and a half million customers.
There's 2 decisions thats gonna be made.
1. are the charges illegal ?
2. If they are then are the banks gonna be forced to refund the charges without us having to ask them.
There's 2 decisions thats gonna be made.
1. are the charges illegal ?
2. If they are then are the banks gonna be forced to refund the charges without us having to ask them.
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stuart4010
- Senior Member
- Posts: 325
- Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2005 1:48 pm
It's covering all charges. the argument is the bank say charges are for services not fines which are illegal but the consumer group want them to justify the cost of the so called service. Take my charge for instance. I was charged £38 because they tried to take out my D.D before they cleared money into my account that same day. Now i wasn't contacted by the bank in any way either by phone or letter so just exactly what did they do for £38? They've got to prove that i cost them money in some way.
They charged me for returning a DD a while back - so I phoned up with a conversation that went something like this.
Me: Hi, I've been charged £10 for a refused direct debit and I'm not very happy about it.
HSBC: Ah yes sir - I can see that you did not have enough money in your account so we returned it and this is a standard automatic charge.
Me: Well I'm not happy about it - this is the first time this has happened, how about some leniency?
HSBC: I'm sorry sir, it's automatic - I'm afraid theres nothing I can do.
Me: I've been with you over 10 years and this is the first time this has happened, and this is how you treat me. As a gesture of goodwill, can you refund it?
HSBC: Sorry sir, its automatic and can't be refunded.
Me: So you're telling me this DEFINITELY, DEFINITELY can't be refunded?
HSBC: I'm afraid not Sir.
Me: OK - how do I close my account with you please?
HSBC: I'm sorry sir???
Me: I want to close my account with immediate effect - how do I do it?
HSBC: Err..ohh...well Sir, we value your cus...oh....errm, please hold sir.
*proceeds to put me on hold for no more than 30 seconds*
HSBC: Hello sir - I'm pleased to tell you that as a one off gesture, the money has been refunded to your account.
That showed them, the twats!!
Me: Hi, I've been charged £10 for a refused direct debit and I'm not very happy about it.
HSBC: Ah yes sir - I can see that you did not have enough money in your account so we returned it and this is a standard automatic charge.
Me: Well I'm not happy about it - this is the first time this has happened, how about some leniency?
HSBC: I'm sorry sir, it's automatic - I'm afraid theres nothing I can do.
Me: I've been with you over 10 years and this is the first time this has happened, and this is how you treat me. As a gesture of goodwill, can you refund it?
HSBC: Sorry sir, its automatic and can't be refunded.
Me: So you're telling me this DEFINITELY, DEFINITELY can't be refunded?
HSBC: I'm afraid not Sir.
Me: OK - how do I close my account with you please?
HSBC: I'm sorry sir???
Me: I want to close my account with immediate effect - how do I do it?
HSBC: Err..ohh...well Sir, we value your cus...oh....errm, please hold sir.
*proceeds to put me on hold for no more than 30 seconds*
HSBC: Hello sir - I'm pleased to tell you that as a one off gesture, the money has been refunded to your account.
That showed them, the twats!!
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Matt Vinyl
- Senior Member
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- Joined: Wed May 11, 2005 6:56 pm
- Location: Lost in the outback, Bryan
Heh, that showed 'em... 
I wrote a great letter today and just popped it in the post box. I included lots of references to 'Who gives you extra?' when actually they haven't given me dick! I also stated that I felt 'outlawed' from going into my own bank and demanded my last 3 £39 charges back and for them to close my account. Today I transferred all my DDs and SOs over to another account and changed my BACS work payment to that as well.
I also said that, I'm sure I can get a much better 'free of charge' service, elsewhere!
They ain't getting another penny outta me!!!
I wrote a great letter today and just popped it in the post box. I included lots of references to 'Who gives you extra?' when actually they haven't given me dick! I also stated that I felt 'outlawed' from going into my own bank and demanded my last 3 £39 charges back and for them to close my account. Today I transferred all my DDs and SOs over to another account and changed my BACS work payment to that as well.
I also said that, I'm sure I can get a much better 'free of charge' service, elsewhere!
They ain't getting another penny outta me!!!
"And do you ever contradict yourself, Minister?" "Well, yes and no..."
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TheMission
- Senior Member
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- Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 2:42 pm
With all this talk of aggro with banks, it does remind me of the 'old school' approach to financial management - if you can call it that.
Several years ago, it became apparent that one set of my grandparents were no longer capable of looking after themselves in their own home, and it seemed best all round to move them to a half decent residential home. They had tonnes of stuff collected over the years and there was no choice really but to auction most of it off. Anyway, this involved sorting and clearing their house - a challenge in itself.
Anyway, me Gran's Alzheimers had been getting progressively worse, and she never seemed to have any pension money, despite us knowing they both had well paid jobs years ago.
The upshot was she had been putting money in 'safe places' for years and forgetting about it - bedroom drawers, the loft, the cellar - it went on. By the time we had finished the clearout, we had managed to recover just short of £34 grand in used notes! She took after her own father - except he had had cash in suitcases for so long it was no longer legal tender.
Several years ago, it became apparent that one set of my grandparents were no longer capable of looking after themselves in their own home, and it seemed best all round to move them to a half decent residential home. They had tonnes of stuff collected over the years and there was no choice really but to auction most of it off. Anyway, this involved sorting and clearing their house - a challenge in itself.
Anyway, me Gran's Alzheimers had been getting progressively worse, and she never seemed to have any pension money, despite us knowing they both had well paid jobs years ago.
The upshot was she had been putting money in 'safe places' for years and forgetting about it - bedroom drawers, the loft, the cellar - it went on. By the time we had finished the clearout, we had managed to recover just short of £34 grand in used notes! She took after her own father - except he had had cash in suitcases for so long it was no longer legal tender.