Arrrgghh! Banks

[mattSV]

Now, banks can be thieving barstewards at times ( I should know, I have worked or one for 20 years ) however to slag them off when your boss made a mistake and then tried to cover it, without letting you know is a bit tight.

BACS payments have to be submitted a minimum of 2 days prior to hitting your account, so how come he could not tell you in advance?

However, many banks will look sympathetically at a 'one off' situation. My advice would be:-

Speak to the person who CAN help, not the muppet who answers the phone - a 'manager' or 'care team'
State the facts - e.g. in account for years, never been overdrawn previously, funds technically were credited the same day, have been a happy customer until now (the odd little white lie never hurts )
Recognise that they feel that the fee was justified, and then ask them to consider a one off gesture of goodwill refund on the basis that you had no control over this situation, and have since changed the date of the SO to ensure that it cannot happen again

If you do get a refund, then ask them to change your account to a 'standard' one instead of a packaged account if that is what you want to do. Packaged accounts can be great for some customers, however they do not suit everyone. If they get cagey just ask them specifically what you have to do to get it changed.

If you are still not happy, then just change banks - it is an easier process than it used to be.

[dirtydog]

Originally Posted by mattSV

however to slag them off when your boss made a mistake and then tried to cover it, without letting you know is a bit tight.

I get what you're saying but i think the point that's being made is the "couldn't care less" attitude showed by the bank

I'm not overly keen on banks either, i just don't like how they operate. some ofthe things they do seem so outdated for example bank transfers, why does it take upto 5 working days? It's automated, done by computers. I never realised that computers need weekends off

Banks= grrrrrrrr

When I send money, usually from my client account, by CHAPS the bank charges me. I have to pass it on to clients and add VAT. Bank has never been abe to explain this to me. If I pay for something in Sainsbos then I don't expect to pay for the privilege. And they don't even guarantee that it'll get there quickly, they guarantee before close of business only.

So if when you move you're sat outside your new house with your furniture in a van, it's usually not because your lawyer has done something wrong, it's cos the money is someplace unreachable in cyberspace.

[tigersaw]

Originally Posted by graemepaterson

Swap to Alliance & Leicesters Premier account today, its free and you get the option to open a 12% interest savings account for a year.

I got all exited there until I read you can invest no more than £250 per month, so its pretty lame, similar to the HSBC 8% offer.

Matt, your right, my boss is a much to blame and thats a problem I have to deal with seperatley.

DirtyDog is right, my gripe was the chap I spoke to ( turns out to be a manager there ) couldn't care less. I explained the exceptional circumstances hoping he would see what had happened as agree it was a one off.
However he was un-diplomatic and I am giving them my money to look after so they should be kissing my ****.

And then to try to sell me crap took the biscuit.

[G]

Originally Posted by tigersaw

I got all exited there until I read you can invest no more than £250 per month, so its pretty lame, similar to the HSBC 8% offer.

Its still the best most rewarding savings account out there. With the premier account you also get a phone saver which you can pay as much as you like into and you can access when you like, that one pays 7% I think.

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by dirtydog

I get what you're saying but i think the point that's being made is the "couldn't care less" attitude showed by the bank

I'm not overly keen on banks either, i just don't like how they operate. some ofthe things they do seem so outdated for example bank transfers, why does it take upto 5 working days? It's automated, done by computers. I never realised that computers need weekends off

Banks= grrrrrrrr

There is no reason at all. I have worked on the computer systems of several large high street banks and also other large city firms. Any money paid into your account by any means can immediately be cleared electronically. Even cheques can be read by a machine in branch and then the transaction to transfer the money could be immediate.

This is what happens when you pay for anything on your debit card, the money is transferred immediately from your account to the seller.

The banks cite 'regulatory framework' as the reason this is not done immediately, but IMHO is so the money grabbing gits can hang on to cash that is not theirs.

On the 'computers need a day off' thing, they kind of do. Us techies need slots to do maintenance / upgrade work and sometimes that means taking systems down. 3 am on a Sunday is a favourite.

[dirtydog]

Originally Posted by Luckypants

There is no reason at all. I have worked on the computer systems of several large high street banks and also other large city firms. Any money paid into your account by any means can immediately be cleared electronically. Even cheques can be read by a machine in branch and then the transaction to transfer the money could be immediate.

This is what happens when you pay for anything on your debit card, the money is transferred immediately from your account to the seller.

The banks cite 'regulatory framework' as the reason this is not done immediately, but IMHO is so the money grabbing gits can hang on to cash that is not theirs.

On the 'computers need a day off' thing, they kind of do. Us techies need slots to do maintenance / upgrade work and sometimes that means taking systems down. 3 am on a Sunday is a favourite.

That's what i mean you pay on your debit card your account gets checked and if the funds are there the payment goes through, whenever i've transfered money to another account it dissappears from my account immediately but then doesn't appear in the receiving account for several days. is that in those "missing" days it's earning interest somewhere for the bank?

Ok i get the maintenance/upgrade for the systems but does that take all weekend every weekend?

Here's another one about banks, why is it they all have signs up saying "any transaction before 4pm (for example) will be processed that day" the bank doesn't close until 5pm (ish) do the staff get to stop working an hour before the branch closes?

[Gazza77]

Originally Posted by dirtydog

That's what i mean you pay on your debit card your account gets checked and if the funds are there the payment goes through, whenever i've transfered money to another account it dissappears from my account immediately but then doesn't appear in the receiving account for several days. is that in those "missing" days it's earning interest somewhere for the bank?

Ok i get the maintenance/upgrade for the systems but does that take all weekend every weekend?

Here's another one about banks, why is it they all have signs up saying "any transaction before 4pm (for example) will be processed that day" the bank doesn't close until 5pm (ish) do the staff get to stop working an hour before the branch closes?

Same does happen with debit cards though. The money might leave your account immeadiately, but it isn't deposited in the sellers account for 3 or 4 working days either.

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by dirtydog

Ok i get the maintenance/upgrade for the systems but does that take all weekend every weekend?

No it does not take all weekend nor every weekend. In fact with the demand from customers for 24/7 systems (especially retailers) it is becoming harder and harder to get a maintenance slot. BUT - there are end of week / month / quarter / year stuff needs running (reconciliation programs, auditing etc) plus various other housekeeping requirements that mean that weekends are needed to do stuff that cannot be done in the week. There is all sorts of technology that makes it possible to do more of this stuff 'invisibly' but the need remains for weekends to be available for maintenance work / testing / upgrades as well as 'just in case' something goes wrong and an emergency change is required.