I work for a major high street bank and am sick and tired of customers moaning about their bank charges...?

Question

and sending letters into us in order to reclaim them back. If customers misuse their account they will be charged a penalty, same if you go through a red light you are charged a penalty but you know not to do it again..! I think its totally irresponsible to encourage people to claim charges back as its sending the message ' that its ok to be financially irresponsible' and ' its ok to bounce cheques' because you get your penalty charges back..! Its about time that people took responsibility for their own actions!! Banks actually do want to help people save money and do business with its customers but cant help a customer if their account are crap. What does everybody else think..?

Answer 1

I'm not bothering to claim back any bank charges. You know why? Because I read the terms and conditions when I opened my account and have stuck to them! I have never had a charge, because I use my account in the intended way. People need to take responsibility for their finances are realise that they are to blame if they go over drawn!

I'm not looking forward to the effects that this will have on the people who use their accounts wisely. There is talk about accounts having a monthly fee now - why should I have to pay because someone else can't manage their money?

It looks as though people are going to start trying to reclaim mortgage charges - this is unbelievable!

Answer 2

Yes, there are people out there who are financially irresponsible. But there are also people who get into financial difficulties through no fault of their own. I had some financial troubles 4 years ago due to being made redundant, thankfully it didn't take me long to find another job and get back on my feet, but when you have a charge for a direct debit failing, then another charge for going overdrawn, then another charge for remaining overdrawn for another day, and another, and another, it's a vicious circle and very hard to get out of. Plus, you can't honestly say you are justifying the banks charging between £25 and £40 just to send a letter, can you?

Don't tar everyone with the same brush, and to be honest if you're working in a customer service job, particularly in the financial industry, maybe you need to learn to be a little more sympathetic towards peoples circumstances. 'Can't help a customer if their accounts are crap?' They're the people who need the most help and if you can't see that then you're obviously a complete idiot, and perhaps you should be looking for another job.

Answer 3

Yes I agree that customers should be responsible with their account, and not get the charges in the first place.

However, the banks are acting illegally and shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. They are using customers for pure profit, yes its business, but their actions can ruin peoples lives, and they have more responsibility than other businesses.

If you go overdrawn on one day, even though its not necessarily your fault, say your wages were paid late by your employer, they don't just take one penalty charge covering the period, they take one for EACH item. If you have a number of direct debits coming out, they can easily take hundreds in charges. One penalty might be fair enough, but taking hundreds is not justified, its just profiteering, and can cause serious implications to their customers, literally ruining their lives. Why should they be allowed to get away with it???

The trouble is banks think they are above the law, and its time that we turned around and said enough is enough!

As a bank worker, I`m suprised your not annoyed with them too! The wages they give to staff are terrible, when the people at the top are taking millions of pounds in bonuses each year.

In the end the banks make vast profits by misusing people. They make enough money out of us as it is, they give us a small amount of money for holding our money, and lend it to others at a far higher rate. They should be happy with this instead of finding more ways to screw their customers over.

The thing is, is that people would be happy to pay a small charge for going overdrawn, as they know its wrong. A lot of people I know have accepted less than they asked for when claiming their bank charges back, as they feel that its right for the bank to take something to cover their costs.

If the banks hadn't been so greedy with the amount they take, most people would think its fair enough, and there wouldn't be this backlash from consumers, and they could have made a smaller profit.

In the end, its just plain GREED by the banks, pure and simple that has caused this backlash.

The banks have brought it entirely on themselves!

And I for one am proud that I can help people claim their charges bank from the banks. And I do it for free!

Answer 4

Do tell me how it costs a bank £30 administrative costs just to inform us in writing for say going over an overdraft, for example. Do tell me why the bank refuses to prove the justification in their charges. And please do tell us all why when it comes to taking the banks to court the banks themselves, in the majority, back down.

I am very fortunate to have a good relationship with my bank because i have always been sensible with my finances. But this does not mean that just because someone falls off track that a bank can profit by laying down unfair and virtually criminal charges. Maybe the next ( or the first ) time you go overdrawn on your account, even by a few pence, and you are charged such an extortionate fee, you will realise why customers complain.

Banks/bank authorities seem to believe they usurp a power over us customers and that we would not even know how to make a stand for justice. Well it would appear by your question alone that there are many people prepared to take you and your colleagues to task.

I wish you well in your defence of your profession. But i feel you need to look at how your business operates and also learn to understand the emotion behind the fury of the complaints you mention.

Answer 5

And what about those one in a million times when you are expecting money in your account and for some reason outwith your control you dont have enough to cover something coming off.

Yes some people are irresponsible with money but charging them £40 a day will not make them any better - this will put them further in a financial hole. They will try to get out of this by taking out a loan which is more overheads and further into debt.

Meanwhile the banks are enjoying billions of pounds of profits - I'm sure these dont go to staff - except members of the board.

Do you have this attitude with customers because if so no wonder they are a bit annoyed at you! I thought tellers were there to help people not to judge (I bet you any money you work for Bank of Scotland/Halifax)

Answer 6

I agree with most of the above comments....no need to expand there.

But for the idiot who stated that free banking might end and he would have to pay for other's less respnosible banking.....get a grip man,

The banks are also providing you with a service so LEARN TO PAY YOUR WAY!

And don't expect that because you have a little bit more money than others, that the poorer person should be expected to subsidize you, by charging them extortionate penalties! I's been a while since I experienced such arrogance!!

Answer 7

I've had my fair share of fees, and I'm not complaining about that. What's done is done. But I will say that it doesn't come to a surprise that all of a sudden, prepaid debit cards are taking over. Everybody's tired of getting gouged left and right for fee after fee. Seriously I feel that the blame should get spead out evenly: with the consumer not reading the "fine print" of the terms and conditions and the banks for not offering "straight up" services without fees cropping up after every turn. I have my checking account with my bank, but I also have prepaid debit card to go to in the event that my bank starts tripping

Answer 8

Banks make billions of pounds out of using their customers money then have the cheek to charge £30 or more for what is a simple computer transaction.
This is simply racketeering under another name.
The financial services industry have only themselves to blame if people are now looking at the profits they make and realising that customers are being grossly overcharged for a range of very poor products.

Answer 9

Difficult question to answer really.

I had an account with HSBC and i cancelled 2 DD's, a few days later i recieved a letter informing me that they had bounced and i had been charged!! I telephoned them to find out what had happened and they had cancelled 2 different ones. I found that the problem with them was communication - there call centre is in India and the people seem to barely speak english!!

This was genuine and i do not believe i should have been charged. but i do agree some people will run charges after charge after charge and expect them refunding for there irresponsibility. Shame they spoil it for others!!

Answer 10

i agree with people who try to claim back their bank charges cos at the end of the day when the banks make a mistake are we allowed to charge them £35 a time, NO we're not so how can they justify charging us £35 just to send out a letter to inform us that we've made a mistake. This £35 then makes it harder to manage your money for the next month so you end up getting more charges added. it just ends up in a vicious circle where there ends up being only one winner and thats the bank.

Answer 11

I would say that a career change is in order......customer service involves consumers complaining.

We hold 6 accounts at a large bank. We have a complaint about at least one mistake they make per month. They gladly remove the charge, or fix their mistakes, but they are nickel and diming us to death. We will be taking all our accounts elsewhere this week.

If the big banks want to keep their customers, they must listen and respond positively in the customers' favor, or they will lose accounts.