BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Stanley »

:good:
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by PanBiker »

Just had to take Ebay to task over my last transaction as a seller. I sold an item for £25.00 with free postage. Buyer paid on the 12th August. I securely packed the item and sent it second class parcel on the 13th August. It cost me £3.20, I had checked this before I set the Buy it Now price on the sale and was prepared to carry the costs. Item was delivered on the 16th August. The buyer definitely paid as Ebay deducted their selling fees for the transaction but then marked the balance of the funds as on hold until the 22nd August. I checked today and I hadn't received the brass! Went back onto the transaction details on Ebay and the funding hold now said 22nd September!

Not good enough!

I went on the chat facility and got a bloke called Rajjeet. I relayed my problem and he said that it was because I had not provided tracking information. I said that I don't always use a tracked service and it had never happened in the past on just short of 100 previous transactions for which I have 100% positive feedback. Told him the procedure smacked as sharp practice and I expected better. Off he went for a couple of minutes and came back to tell me he had manually released the hold on my funds and I should have them tomorrow.. I suggested that Ebay should not deduct selling fees until funds are released to sellers. He agreed and has escalated the feedback to a higher plane.

We'll see if he is good to his word.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Stanley »

I think firms like Ebay reach a point where they believe that what they want is more important than the client's needs. It may take reductions in use of their services to persuade them otherwise.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by PanBiker »

I have an email this morning to tell me that my funds have been released and they will be in my account in 0 - 4 days. It's not a cheque, it's all electronic so I would expect after 4pm today when all the banks clear, we'll see.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Stanley »

But it shouldn't have needed that intervention from you Ian. It should be automatic.
How much interest do they make on holding that money?
Later, Lord Grimstone, the Investment Minister, says we have nothing to fear from the increase in the numbers of businesses being bought by foreign based capital. Really? So all foreign takeovers are good? Who does he think he is kidding?
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by PanBiker »

I received my brass around dinner time yesterday. :smile:
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Stanley »

Not too sure if this is the right topic.... See THIS BBC report that since BHS collapsed five years ago the High Street has lost 83% of department store occupants.
Add this to the changes in home working and what will the effect be on town and city centres?
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

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About time too!..
`Countryside scraps leasehold ground rent rises' LINK
`Thousands of leaseholders who bought homes from a major housebuilder will no longer be subjected to ground rents that double every 10 or 15 years. Countryside Properties agreed to remove contract terms that cause ground rents to double in price, after a probe by the Competition and Markets Authority. It means affected leaseholders' ground rents will remain at the amount charged when they first bought their homes...'.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Stanley »

I heard the man being interviewed and he was remarkably slippery when asked about what would happen to historical ground rents already raised. He sounded too cheerful to me to be a man whose business model had been meaningfully modified. Besides, he is only one lease holder, how about the others?
See THIS BBC report about a young man's fight with a housing association. Not quite on piste but directly connected with housing and how it is managed. I suspect this is the tip of a very large iceberg.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Stanley »

I hear many more reports of banks freezing customer's accounts. This is thought to be down to algorithms which interpret unusual activity as money laundering. I have heard people being interviewed and it is a devastating event if it happens to you. One more thing for old people like me to worry about......
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Tripps »

This happened to me a few weeks ago. I started a transaction on my account - which the Bank's algorithm deemed as an indication of possible fraud. (It was perfectly legitimate). The bank sent me a text message to my mobile phone, asking if I was sure I wanted to do it, and if so to wait ten minutes then try again. This disturbed me so I abandoned the transaction.

I found my account frozen when a few days later, I tried to pay for my online groceries and was denied. I rang the bank and was put through to the fraud department, and the account was restored to life. They said they were acting in my best interests, and I suppose they were; but what if the next time I used the card, I had been standing at the till with a belt full of stuff?

They persuaded / forced me to make a formal complaint, which I did, and it was handled immediately, over the telephone. They said that since their algorithm had achieved its objective, the complaint was rejected, but for the trouble and inconvenience it had caused they would pay for the cost of my phone call - put at £3, and award me £25 for the inconvenience.

The algorithm depends on the customer reporting the situation to the bank which I did, but I think if the account is frozen they should immediately inform me of the fact.
Last edited by Tripps on 18 Sep 2021, 09:34, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Stanley »

I find all that very frightening David.....
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

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That stupidity of the banks has been affecting small businesses and charities too.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

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Tizer wrote: 19 Sep 2021, 08:54 That stupidity of the banks
I wouldn't go that far. I was on the phone to their security guy for quite a while, and got the strong impression from what he said, and implied, that fraud was a much bigger problem than most people realise. He said I wouldn't believe what they got up to - for example - in regard to spying on peoples' social media accounts for information etc.

I just think they should have told me sooner that my account had been frozen.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Stanley »

I can't help thinking of the damage it would do to my life, if only by ceasing direct debits.
I hate some aspects of this modern world. As you get older you get to feel more vulnerable and aware of how systems support you. Take away those systems and what have you got?
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Tizer »

Tripps, I called it `stupidity of the banks' because I've been following it in The Times and the banks have been shutting down accounts of ordinary folk and small business willy-nilly with no warnings and apparently no attempt to check whether they really were doing anything illegal.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Tripps »

What I'm trying to say is that I suspect the banks know what they are about, and they know a great deal more than we do. I suspect this problem is actually enormous, and they are not keen that we know just how big it is. :smile:

I don't know but doubt they froze the SO's and DD's.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Stanley »

"I don't know but doubt they froze the SO's and DD's."

That at least would be a bit of comfort!
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by PanBiker »

I received a letter today advising me that my local store was closing. Nothing wrong with that you would think other than the letter was from Virgin Money.

My local STORE? apparently is the BANK, (formerly Yorkshire Bank) which is a very local 7 miles away in Nelson! Our proper local branch in Barlick shut down a few years ago now. Not to worry they tell me that my new LOCAL STORE is in Burnley. They also advise that If I have anything deposited at the STORE for safe custody I have until the 7th of January 2022 to collect it as this service will no longer be available at my new nearest STORE which is now 9 miles away. If I have any questions I can talk to their "Store Team". They have sent me a leaflet about how to use the Post Office to pay money into their STORE.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Tripps »

Councillor David Whipp mentioned it last night at the very entertaining Pendle Council meeting.

I calculate I've physically been to my bank only once in the last ten years. No real need in the digital age.

I note that the 'Tap and Go' limit is being raised from £45 to £100 in the middle of this month. Keep the cards safe. . . . :smile:
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Big Kev »

Tripps wrote: 01 Oct 2021, 16:39 I note that the 'Tap and Go' limit is being raised from £45 to £100 in the middle of this month. Keep the cards safe. . . . :smile:
You will have the option to set your own lower limit.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Tripps »

Thanks - I hadn't seen that. I had to seek this out as it doesn't seem to be widely reported.

From The Sun
Can I set a contactless limit with my bank?
Lloyds Banking Group, which runs Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland is giving shoppers the power to set their own spending cap.
Customers of the three banks will be able to set a limit for their card between £35 and £95, and can set the cap in increments of £5.
Alternatively, you can turn contactless off completely, opting instead to pay using chip and pin at tills and checkouts.
Customers of these banks will be able to set their limit for contactless payments through their banking app.
It can also be changed over the phone or in a branch, but you will need to have internet banking to do this.
Starling Bank will let users set their own limit in £10 increments and it can also be turned off through the challenger bank's app.
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Stanley »

I agree with you David about the need for me to visit my bank HSBC which is now in Burnley.
However, my banking needs are few and it isn't the same for people like traders who need to bank cash regularly. They seem to have been completely abandoned.
Virgin calling their banks stores is a nonsense unless it enables them to say they haven't closed any banks!
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Tizer »

It's all over bar the shouting, a US private equity firm has won the auction to take over Morrison's supermarket business...
`Morrisons: US firm wins auction to take over supermarket chain' LINK
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Re: BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

Post by Stanley »

And at a price said to be over 50% more than the initial valuation. Why is it worth this to a US hedge fund?
Could it be because net profits of food retailers are so much higher in the UK than the US?
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