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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

to think that people should shut up about their bank charges? You incurred the charges, so pay up.

400 replies

AitchTwoOh · 09/05/2007 12:57

honestly, i've got a friend who just got £5500 back and he's off on holiday with the proceeds.

he's absolutely USELESS with money and knowingly incurred all teh charges, so why exactly does he deserve to get the money back? it's not a bloody savings account he's been paying into...

OP posts:
cathcart · 09/05/2007 15:09

agree with you there noodle - now you end up speaking to someone thousands of miles away!

PeachyChocolateEClair · 09/05/2007 15:09

Actually Speedy I don't have one either (well £200 vailablility, which in student erms is nowt) and Dh isnt using his now

Doesnt mean i cant empathise with other people though!

Dh didnt have carpets as a child, I had special educational intervention as there was no heating in our house so homework was impossible in winter (we didnt have wwarm clothes either).

So we know what poverty and making do is

But that doesnt change the existence of bad luck does it?

PeachyChocolateEClair · 09/05/2007 15:10

Noodle it doesnt, not any more anyway hoping those days are long gone!

But it does to toehr peole, and the most vulnerable aren't allowed oD facillities

PeachyChocolateEClair · 09/05/2007 15:11

Speedy no, not if its not their fault, and a payment lost in the system is not their fult usually.

cathcart · 09/05/2007 15:12

yes, got my charges back now speedy thanks - see my other post that i think led to this thread being started!

anniemac · 09/05/2007 15:14

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IcingOnTheCake · 09/05/2007 15:16

but surely over drafts are supposed to be just a back up, just in case kind of thing. if your going over drawn every month then surely you need to cut back on something as your spending more than your earning?

Original poster
AitchTwoOh · 09/05/2007 15:20

don't think so, cathcart, unless you were the person who got £2200 back. i was skimming, but i noticed people saying 'oooh, you must have been very naughty' and just thought it was a bad attitude, really. it's not naughty. it's either disastrously unfortunate (which i have no issue with at all as have been there myself) or it's stupidly reckless (as in the case of my irritating friend).

OP posts:
expatinscotland · 09/05/2007 15:21

I hate debt, too, speedy, but it does happen and sometimes, it's NOT the person's fault.

Original poster
AitchTwoOh · 09/05/2007 15:21

btw, both dh and self are self-employed. we Really struggle sometimes, particularly with maternity leave and childcare, but do so within our means.

OP posts:
cathcart · 09/05/2007 15:25

yes it was me aitch, I know waht you are saying about the 'naughty' attitude but I think thats how you feel even when you have been taken for a ride by the bank. As I said below, I felt very ashamed even though a lot of it was out of my control.

Chirpygirl · 09/05/2007 15:27

I got lost halfway through the thread but I incurred massive charges from Abbey a few years ago and paid it all off in installments, they eventually let me off the last £750 as I had been so good at paying the rest.

Okay, it was a lot they charged me, BUT I knew I was going over my overdraft, I knew that I could cash a cheque/use my card for a few quid and it would go through so I am not going to try and claim it back as it was MY FAULT.

So, how pissed off am I that people are getting all the money back that I spent nearly 3 years paying back?

Very.

In fact, almost as much as
'You took credit when you couldn't afford it so let us get you out of debt' adverts. Sometimes it seems trying to be solvent and resonsible isn't worth it.

Wordsmith · 09/05/2007 15:27

I think some posters need to be a litlle less holier than thou - 'there but for the grace of God...' and all that

Thing is, you never know what life is going to throw at you. You can be as careful as you like and it's fine when you know what you've got coming in, but if your income falls drastically, you still have to pay your bills.

thedogsbollox · 09/05/2007 15:29

Icing - what if you've nothing to cut back on? People do live with large debts, and not just overdrafts, and getting out of debt is a huge issue for some people.

There is a big initiative being started to improve the financial literacy of the UK population at the present time which some of the accountancy institutes are taking a lead on. I'd like to see financial planning and basic financial skills (how to open and run a bank account, how to budget, how to use a spread sheet, how to measure interest rates etc etc etc) taught at senior school on a mandetory basis.

I'd also like to see entrepreneurship courses run at school perhaps with some business modelling games, employing staff, marketing, measuring profits, preparing a business plan, basic law, as a GCSE subject.

Then we might start to see real improvements in the financial situations of people in this country.

cathcart · 09/05/2007 15:29

chirpy - - you could probably claim those back - seriously.

FioFio · 09/05/2007 15:30

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madamez · 09/05/2007 15:32

It's not possible to avoid bank charges if you are self-employed or a freelance, because it only takes one of your customers to be late with a payment to bounce payments all over the place. I worked for a long tiem for a company notorious for their excuses and late payment. They got worse and worse and have now gone into recievership (still owing me some money). I have held down various other jobs over the years to try and keep enough variety of income going so that I can manage if one lot pay late, but if two do....

So yes smuggos YABU. and your regular income won't last forever,

Chirpygirl · 09/05/2007 15:35

cathcart - I think it was too long ago to try, about 6 years but although it would come in handy, I knew what I was doing at the time so I paid for it then and am not going to try. I learnt me lesson.
I have never gone over again, if I didn't have money in the bank, or my wages didn't go through (which has happened) I have called the bank and cancelled every direct debit, then called the companies and explained my payment will be late.
Yes, it was a pain in the arse, but at least I didn't get charged again.

Original poster
AitchTwoOh · 09/05/2007 15:35

pmsl fio, i have incurred LOADS of bank charges in my time, but i had to take myself in hand when my bank took my card off me. don't think anyone's making themselves out to be perfect. the people who have got money off the banks seem to be making a lot of assumptions about those of us who haven't. but i know that the reason i incurred charges was because i wasn't paying attention to them and i was hiding my head in the sand, and it irks me that that behaviour is now being rewarded.

OP posts:
Chirpygirl · 09/05/2007 15:36

learnt MY lesson, oops.

I am not saying that in some cases they are unfair (as in self empployed - freelance - wages fuck-up), but that I knew damn well what I was doing at the time and I can't believe that EVERYONE who is claiming was in one of these exceptional circumstances.

MellowMa · 09/05/2007 15:37

Message withdrawn

Original poster
AitchTwoOh · 09/05/2007 15:37

i'm self-employed, madamez. and i've been stung by late payments. that's the sort of thing i'd tend to call the bank about and explain, making sure they stop dds coming off etc. then it's just one fee, which is a kicker but not going to end you.

OP posts:
Chirpygirl · 09/05/2007 15:38

Aitch, that's exactly what I mean, we screwed up, we learnt our lesson, we mended it ourselves, and now others are not learning a lesson from it, and even worse, getting money back which I shall never see again. It pisses me off big style.

Original poster
AitchTwoOh · 09/05/2007 15:38

mellowma, the two things are not mutually exclusive imo.

OP posts:
thedogsbollox · 09/05/2007 15:39

Aitch that behaviour is not been rewarded arrggghhh. People are just getting the excess unfairly applied payments back again!

If I pay too much tax during the year and then it is assessed correctly and I get a big repayment I am only getting my own money back again.

This is exactly the same.

These people are not getting something for nothing. They are getting back what they overpaid.