to be really fed up about this and not want to take it lying down. Sorry long

[cheesedoff1977]

I used to work in banking. Not a high powered person on a top salary but a cashier. I paid into share saves and took profit sharing in shares so had a tidy sum of money in bank's shares. Bearing in mind had nearly 20 year's service.
Whilst on maternity leave I needed to sell some shares. The member of staff suggested I put the shares in a nominee account as fees were much lower. The terms and conditions stated that no fee would be charged if shares held were work more than £2,000.00. At the time they were worth about 15k so didn't feel there was a risk.
So I went off and lived in my lovely career break/SAHM bubble. I was unaware just how bad the situation was until it was too late.
By 2009 shares were worth much less than 2k. Received letter telling me that i would have to pay a quarterly fee. After much complaining this fee was waived. However, now they intend to bring it back.
Only real way of avoiding is to sell shares as a huge loss or pay a fee of £25 to close nominee account.
WIBU to complain to however will listen. Ie Watchdog etc

so due to the shares taking a tumble in value and you not wanting to pay a quarterly fee you want to write to watch dog.

You can sell the shares - it is a gamble dealing in shares and that gamble for you at the moment hasn't worked. You have to suck that up like everyone else that took or takes gambles

Look I feel for you, I really do but honestly ask yourself, if everyone who willingly paid into the share system complained about it losing money during the recession, how far into the next century do you think we would be before the watchdog dealt with them all? Share dealing is effectively gambling, right now you are losing, in the future you may well win. And it must have been a very big bubble indeed to not realise how bad things are.

If you are thinking about complaining about the shares loss in value then you wont get anywhere with that. Regarding the charges on the nominee account, I don't think you will get very far with that either.

If you are going to hang on to the shares and they intend to charge you per quarter you are probably best off taking them out of the nominee account and just paying the £25 depending on what the quarterly charge is.

I wouldn't have thought WatchDog would be interested I would complain instead to the Financial Services Ombudsman.

Normally, I would agree. Holding shares is a risk. However what really grates is when the huge losses are due, at least to a certain extent by the mistakes made by the bank concerned. That the same bank can than say as the devaluation of our shares has resulted in you losing 14k we are now going to compound it by charging you a fee. Of course they wouldn't say that but that is basically what happened.

EVERYBODY knows that share values can change - and if you're saying that you were unaware of the recent plummet from the stratosphere of banking shares since the start of the recession I'm truly dumbfounded. You should have sold up or moved accounts BEFORE they fell below £2000

I'm sorry you now have to pay a fee - but seriously??? Given that you were aware that the share value had to stay above £2000 you are being ridiculous to think that your oversight in not moving your share account earlier should be paid for by the bank. It's your error, I'm afraid.

If your cheesed off by the fees issue then its worth writing again and complaining, but you really wont get anywhere with the loss in value im afraid. Where you working for RBS?

The problem with share saves is that you are in an eggs in one basket situation.

I have accepted the monetary loss long ago. I am extremely annoyed that I didn't sell them sooner and appreciate that I made a mistake too.
It is the charging issue that grates the most. It makes me feel like my 19 and a bit years service means nothing to them. I guess that the way employer's treat you today.
Pregnancy hormones also adding to the mix.

This confuses me - during your 'career break bubble' did you really not read a newspaper or watch TV news? I don't have shares (barely have savings!) but if I did I'd definitely keep an eye on the economy, it's been headline mainstream news for a while anyway.

You have to separate the charges from the years of service you have given them, they are different issues.

You don't have to pay the charge, you coud sell the shares, or you could top up your shares to the level that you don't get charged. I think the charge is fair enough if you have become a SAHM and left the job. You can't expect perks to go on forever.

I see why its annoying, but I dont think that they are likely to waive the fees. They probably have a lot of people in your boat and it would cost them too much money. If your going to hang on to them Id just get them out.

Dont be too hard on yourself about not selling as there are plenty of professionals who have lost a lot of money. I suppose just hang on to them in the hope you recoup at least some of the losses.

Yes I did become aware of the issue but by than the damage was done. Maybe if I had checked share prices more regularly I may have noticed a downturn. But unfortunately I didn't.
Unfortunately we do not have any spare cash to top up the shares. Yes, I could sell them but I guess i am still hoping that over a longer term I may be able to recoup some of the losses.
Incidently "the perk" is going for all staff and ex staff . Although I guess the people most affected are those who are not currently working.

Presumably there are terms and conditions that you yourself were aware of and you can easily find out the current value of shares.

Sorry but YABU

Thanks "pickled". You know the really annoying thing is that we were going to sell them in 2005 to buy a car. Yet the car dealer managed to talk us into taking out interest free credit. Big mistake.

You shouldn't have to sell them to remove them from the nominee account, call and run through your options. They might waive that £25 charge under the circumstances if you ask you never know.

I know. Guess its better to take hit hit of a £25 fee (although I bet its plus vat) and maybe hope for a refund. Although I don't hold out much hope.

One of those things. I worked for a bank (for a bit) and there were people there with tens of thousands in them. I also worked for an insurance company and it was the same. I think a lot of people hung on in there thinking they would improve.

I wouldn't bank on an improvement in the near future though I have to say.

Call and ask and they should be able to send a certificate out rather than use the nominee service.

Maybe if I had checked share prices more regularly I may have noticed a downturn. But unfortunately I didn't.

That's not unfortunate, it's naive, I'm afraid.

You buy shares, you risk losing your money (and more) as well as incurring charges.

Both OH and I have lost a not inconsiderable sum due to share prices plummeting over the last 5 years. It's one of those things; we were fully aware of the daily prices but chose to (try to) ride it out.

It's hardly anyone else's fault that we lost money.

You opened a nominee account to avoid paying charges, in the knowledge that if the share value fell below £2,000 you would then incur fees you would have incurred anyway had you not opened the nominee account, is that right? The shares fell in value, and presumably you knew there was a theoretical risk this could happen, even if you thought it unlikely. This is a risk vs reward decision that you made which has unfortunately not paid off, it's not a case of mis-selling if that's the vein you are thinking in? I would close the nominee account and pay the £25 personally.

"The value of shares may go down as well as up"... have you really never heard that one?