To be OUTRAGED by this comment regarding NatWest

[BumpingFuglies]

"I understand from the news that the software problem was fixed very quickly but it appears to have taken much longer to deal with the complications that arose from this problem. Now Im obviously very sympathetic with the people who were without cash but surely they dont live from week to week do they? They should always keep some cash in reserve,just a few hundred pounds maybe and also why could they not get cash out on their charge or credit card?"

On another forum I post on. I'm thinking about boycotting it once I've flamed the living daylights out of the poster

How can people be so ignorant of the tight money situation that many people are in?

[ChaoticismyLife]

Some people just have no idea.

[LimeLeafLizard]

Well boycotting a forum because of one stupid comment would be a bit hasty. I've read worse on here and couldn't leave if I tried wouldn't want to leave.

[BumpingFuglies]

Attitudes like this need to be challenged I think. (Which I have, good and proper).

[BumpingFuglies]

Perhaps it would be hasty Lime, especially as no-one else seems to think there's anything wrong with it!

[EdithWeston]

Or of the bigger and wider problems - house purchases going through that day, or the person who had to spend a weekend in prison because his bail money couldn't be transferred.

Idiot.

[ohchristFENTON]

A few hundred pounds in cash?? Who the hell has a few hundred pounds in cash just laying around not desperately needing to be spent on food and bills?

I know there are some of course, but surely not in the majority so much as to let that idiot of a poster believe it would be the norm

What a fucking ignorant arse.

[MetalliMa]

a lot of people think like that.
I bet you could find something like that on mn somewhere

[PandaWatch]

What forum was that on? richcluelesswankers.com?

[oreocrumbs]

I really can't fathom that some people can have no concept of the problems others face. Even if it is something that doesn't affect them, surely they can't have failed to notice the news, current affairs programmes, internet forums, school yard chat etc.

.

[usualsuspect]

I have a jar of pennys in reserve

[Blueoctopus]

I've never had a few hundred pounds in cash in my entire life.
YANBU and the words seriously out of touch come to mind.

[BumpingFuglies]

Yes oreo - this poster seems very well informed about other aspects of daily life and debates it relentlessly.

Panda

I've never seen anything like that on MN except from obvious bridge dwellers.

[BarbarianMum]

Mmmn, feeling a bit fence-sitty here.

Lots (and lots) of people do, of course, live hand to mouth through necessity and (surprise, surprise) without credit cards. But I also know a surprising number of people who own very nice houses, buy designer clothes, run 2 big cars etc etc and have no savings at all, no life insurance etc. I once lent a friend £50 to get her son's passport done a few weeks before their holiday to the Caribbean .

Harder to feel sympathy for the second group tbh. Not that excuses NatWest given the large no. of people in group 1.

[duckdodgers]

Was it a Tory party forum then? Of course its not right but some people just dont have a clue about how others live.

[Swatchdog]

But people who don't live hand to mouth don't tend to have piles of cash lying around just in case! We were caught in that we weren't able to get money out, and some of our payments have gone out late, but fortunately didn't have to use cash in the time that everything was broken.

Isn't keeping cash in your knicker drawer just in case of emergencies a bit old fashioned?

DH's work had all manner of hassle, and had millions of pounds in the account they were trying to use but the system was bouncing everything - this problem wasn't exclusive to those struggling!

[ASillyPhaseIAmGoingThrough]

Challenging is nu. Leaving the site over one poster yabu.

[BumpingFuglies]

Edith - quite right, it was disastrous for some people. A friend of mine didn't get paid, so I bought her some shopping. A client of mine was so worried, she switched off her hot water (she's elderly and ill). It just makes me rage!

[ObiWan]

My inlaws say stuff like this all the time. My FIL retired on a final salary pension that makes me want to weep (with envy). His wife had savings that would see any sensible person through 4 lifetimes.

They live in a smallish house out in the sticks, eat like sparrows, and have nothing they want to spend their money on. They bought their house for pennies, and think that we rent because we are rebelling against something (we are both the wrong side of 35 and work full time but will never be able to buy).

They simply have no awareness of the fact that other people (i.e. US, their family!) live differently. They really, genuinely do not get it, never having experienced it themselves, or known anyone who was not in the same position as them.

[TantrumsAndBalloons]

I have a jar of copper change and some euros thrown in, don't think that would get us far.

[BumpingFuglies]

Yes Swatchdog, it caused problems right across the spectrum.

Duck, no not Tory, just a local forum.

[ChuffMuffin]

BumpingFuglies Don't rise to it, it sounds like they're trolling people. Or they read the Daily Mail. In which case definitely don't rise to it.

I don't bank with NatWest and I don't know anyone who does. I haven't actually read up much about it, but is it actually a software issue and not a bank issue? Just seems a bit .

[BumpingFuglies]

Obiwan, I think I could understand that, but not from someone who is extremely aware of the wider world.

[RhinestoneCowgirl]

Well I have a credit card, but co-oincidentally it's with the same bank as my current account (not NatWest) so if they went down I'd be pretty stuffed even though we have a healthy balance in the account.

And in terms of cash I usually don't have more than £10-20 in my purse as I use debit card for most things.

It's not just that people are living hand to mouth (although that is an issue for a significant number of people) it's also that these days most people don't deal in cash...

[CurrySpice]

Some people live with their heads up their arses. You can only assume that he's trying to get a reaction

I heard a housebound man on the radio last night and it made me cry. He usually uses internet banking and his mom uses the cash point for him if he needs cash.

Can't use internet banking and so no money for his mom to get cash out.

When he rang NatWest they said he had to come to the branch. He can't. They just kept saying "You must come to the branch" they wouldn't authorise his mom to go to the branch because it's not her account

He sounded so scared and worried I just sobbed

Anyway, you can tell Mr ArseCheese on the other forum that it's not just people living hand to mouth that got caught out. Most people would struggle to pay all their monthly direct debits / mortgage / bills etc out of a couple of hundred pounds if their salary didn't get paid