Bank Charges

[Royboy39]

Originally Posted by garinda

Most bank charges are clearly stated, especially when it comes to being overdrawn. The amount, though aggravating, is irrelevant. I don't know if the charges are illegal, if they are clearly stated, and you've agreed to them when you opened your account.

Does your wife have a free overdraft facility on the account? I think most Halifax current accounts allow you up to a hundred pounds.

I will refer you to a former post
GMTV - Are you the victim of unfair bank charges? Get advice from Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert.com
We do not have an overdraft facility (Never needed one or requested one from the Halifax)
She joined the Halifax many years ago and they wer'nt charging £39.00 then.
They moved the goalpost not us

[garinda]

Originally Posted by Royboy39

I will refer you to a former post
GMTV - Are you the victim of unfair bank charges? Get advice from Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert.com
We do not have an overdraft facility (Never needed one or requested one from the Halifax)
She joined the Halifax many years ago and they wer'nt charging £39.00 then.
They moved the goalpost not us

I'm not having a go. I too have been with the Halifax for years, before it was a bank, now in tandem with the Bank of Scotland, and only a Building Society.

The overdraft facility is free, and will prevent this from happening in the future.

[shillelagh]

I had that the other week not with the Halifax though and i rang them up and said what are you playing at cos my money went in on the same day the cheque had gone through its just that the money went in after the cheque was presented - the bank credited me the charges.

[Ianto.W.]

Banks do not really want private accounts, they make nothing on them, they are like insurance companies who would not insure private cars if the law did not requre them to do so, they only want to insure property etc.
You are in a catch 22 situation Royboy39, not a big enough fish to rock the banks boat, or attract another bank. The Halifax i'm afraid has gone downhill since merging with the banks. I am with the Yorkshire and had the same problem through an oversight on my part, I rang the Bank who then rang the branch and they rectified the matter the same day, so they are not all as bad as those you are unfortunately dealing with, anyway keep at them you can only gain by making noises.

[glasgow guy]

I am currently going through court with my bank to reclaim my charges, I have went through the correct procedure for doing it all - started way back in april..and I am finally at the courts with it...just waiting on a date for my hearing....and I know folk will say you should manage your account better but I dont have a problem with being charged - its the amount they charge...
and although the martin lewis site is ok - I have used this one..which gives you all court documents too and also what to put on them...really good forum for anyone wanting to know more about it all...
Penalty Charges Forum - Powered by vBulletin

[claytonender]

Originally Posted by garinda

I'm not having a go. I too have been with the Halifax for years, before it was a bank, now in tandem with the Bank of Scotland, and only a Building Society.

The overdraft facility is free, and will prevent this from happening in the future.

Garinda is quite right the overdraft facility is free and costs very little if you have to use it.

Is this the first time your wife has ever gone overdrawn? If it is you should go into your Halifax branch and ask for the fee to be waived on this occasion - the branch manager has the authority to waive the fee if it is the first time you have incurred one.

On the all subject of bank charges, the majority of current account customers never incur any charges asthey manage their accounts within the terms of the account and never go overdrawn. As a result of the few who do incur penalties trying to get their charges back, it is highly likely free current accounts will go and everyone will be charged a monthly fee for having a current account. Why should the majority be penalised because of the minority.

[Royboy39]

Originally Posted by claytonender

Garinda is quite right the overdraft facility is free and costs very little if you have to use it.

Is this the first time your wife has ever gone overdrawn? If it is you should go into your Halifax branch and ask for the fee to be waived on this occasion - the branch manager has the authority to waive the fee if it is the first time you have incurred one.

On the all subject of bank charges, the majority of current account customers never incur any charges asthey manage their accounts within the terms of the account and never go overdrawn. As a result of the few who do incur penalties trying to get their charges back, it is highly likely free current accounts will go and everyone will be charged a monthly fee for having a current account. Why should the majority be penalised because of the minority.

What a load of rubbish.........The Halifax branch manager has no control over existing personal accounts......if you go into a branch you are directed to use the direct line to a call center.......which you can do from your own home.
Can I assume from your comments that you have never made a mistake on your account and that you are in favour of the bank charging ridiculous and excessive charges for work that is done by a machine?

Our case has been resolved by going through the complaints procedure where common sense prevailed.

[***Mr D***]

Originally Posted by Royboy39

What a load of rubbish.........The Halifax branch manager has no control over existing personal accounts......if you go into a branch you are directed to use the direct line to a call center.......which you can do from your own home.

I think you will probably find the bank manager has got control or at least enough power to waver the charge.

I have been in Accrington branch of Halifax many time to enquire about my account, overdraft ect and not once have I been made to ring, there is usually someone at the special counter near the door, cant harm to speak to them.

[***Mr D***]

Originally Posted by Royboy39

Our case has been resolved by going through the complaints procedure where common sense prevailed.

What was the Outcome.

[Royboy39]

Originally Posted by ***Mr D***

I think you will probably find the bank manager has got control or at least enough power to waver the charge.

I have been in Accrington branch of Halifax many time to enquire about my account, overdraft ect and not once have I been made to ring, there is usually someone at the special counter near the door, cant harm to speak to them.

Did that yesterday in Blackburn.
I think they treat personal accounts as a non entity, business accounts are different.
The young lady said no-one at the branch could deal with the account and I said we were directed to use the telephone.
The call center operator did not want to know and refused to credit the account, however when we got home a call was made to the complaints department and they were prepared to listen and deal with the problem on it's merits . The charge was cancelled

[Ianto.W.]

Originally Posted by Royboy39

Did that yesterday in Blackburn.
I think they treat personal accounts as a non entity, business accounts are different.
The young lady said no-one at the branch could deal with the account and I said we were directed to use the telephone.
The call center operator did not want to know and refused to credit the account, however when we got home a call was made to the complaints department and they were prepared to listen and deal with the problem on it's merits . The charge was cancelled

Glad you got it sorted Royboy39, as I said before they are not interested in personal accounts, they only profit from business accounts, you have to be prepared to make a lot of noise as you must have done. This website has opened a lot of doors for many people, including me, you never know who is reading these threads

[entwisi]

We've done the whole bash banks thing previously.

I work for one, they are a business, they make money for their shareholders, the vast majority of profit comes from business/investment/credit side of the business. To run a current account costs money. Have you ever stopped to work out how much is invested in ATM networks? the bank I work for has > 2000 machines each costing significantly over £100K, then you have software costs and supply/maintainence on top. how much do you pay to use your own banks machines, nowt, nadda. likewise you walk into a branch(Costs money to buy and run) speak to staff(Wages) who access systems(Mega Millions of pounds worth) who deal automagically with billions of payments each week, making sure your DD's, STO and cheques etc all get paid. They look after your cash (from £1 to £XXXXXXXX's) in a secure manner that you can't lose out as they are managed by FSA regulations. what does this cost you? £NOWT.

When you opened an account you were all given a full T&Cs which outlined all charges etc but as is usual nobody can be bothered to read it so you just sign that you accept it without so much as a cursory glance. Then when you get charged for going outside what you agreed to you complain.

IS £40 outrageous, possibly, what the whole claim your bank charges things is about is NOT the behaviour of charging you, only what that charge should be. The steer is that they should charge you something like what the actual cost to the bank is (commonly quoted at £15) yet this does not take into account anything of teh infrastructure costs I outlined above.

[Royboy39]

Originally Posted by entwisi

We've done the whole bash banks thing previously.

I work for one, they are a business, they make money for their shareholders, the vast majority of profit comes from business/investment/credit side of the business. To run a current account costs money. Have you ever stopped to work out how much is invested in ATM networks? the bank I work for has > 2000 machines each costing significantly over £100K, then you have software costs and supply/maintainence on top. how much do you pay to use your own banks machines, nowt, nadda. likewise you walk into a branch(Costs money to buy and run) speak to staff(Wages) who access systems(Mega Millions of pounds worth) who deal automagically with billions of payments each week, making sure your DD's, STO and cheques etc all get paid. They look after your cash (from £1 to £XXXXXXXX's) in a secure manner that you can't lose out as they are managed by FSA regulations. what does this cost you? £NOWT.

When you opened an account you were all given a full T&Cs which outlined all charges etc but as is usual nobody can be bothered to read it so you just sign that you accept it without so much as a cursory glance. Then when you get charged for going outside what you agreed to you complain.

IS £40 outrageous, possibly, what the whole claim your bank charges things is about is NOT the behaviour of charging you, only what that charge should be. The steer is that they should charge you something like what the actual cost to the bank is (commonly quoted at £15) yet this does not take into account anything of teh infrastructure costs I outlined above.

I know how much it cost to run a business, I have run three.
If I charged any of my customers a "Fee" for making a mistake the business would not last very long.
Why should banks, and now the utility companies get away with it?

[WillowTheWhisp]

Originally Posted by Royboy39

I will refer you to a former post
GMTV - Are you the victim of unfair bank charges? Get advice from Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert.com
We do not have an overdraft facility (Never needed one or requested one from the Halifax)
She joined the Halifax many years ago and they wer'nt charging £39.00 then.
They moved the goalpost not us

You quite clearly do need an overdraft facility. If you have one and do not use it there is no charge. If you'd had one and gone overdrawn by 6p the interest charged would have been minimal compared to the £39 fee incurred for a returned cheque. It may not please the person to whom the cheque was returned either as their bank may well charge them for representing it. You could save a lot of problems all round by taking the overdraft facility option.

When any goalposts are moved, charge increases and so on, customers are informed.

Of course the local manager has a say in the refunding of charges. Perhaps you were fobbed off with the telephone if you were becoming stroppy in the branch and no-one wanted to deal with you.

I have often found that a polite request accompanied by an explanation of the error and oversight, with intentions made clear that it will not occur again is more likely to be listened to with a sympathetic ear than marching in with all guns blazing and a determination to have a row in front of all the other customers as previously suggested.

[Royboy39]

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

You quite clearly do need an overdraft facility. If you have one and do not use it there is no charge. If you'd had one and gone overdrawn by 6p the interest charged would have been minimal compared to the £39 fee incurred for a returned cheque. It may not please the person to whom the cheque was returned either as their bank may well charge them for representing it. You could save a lot of problems all round by taking the overdraft facility option.

When any goalposts are moved, charge increases and so on, customers are informed.

Of course the local manager has a say in the refunding of charges. Perhaps you were fobbed off with the telephone if you were becoming stroppy in the branch and no-one wanted to deal with you.

I have often found that a polite request accompanied by an explanation of the error and oversight, with intentions made clear that it will not occur again is more likely to be listened to with a sympathetic ear than marching in with all guns blazing and a determination to have a row in front of all the other customers as previously suggested.

Willow I am sorry but your nickname is well thought out,and proven