What I can't understand is that it is still going to cost the banks a hell of a lot of money to appeal. They started the process in the first place (which cost money) and now they are appealing (which again costs money), surely it would have been cheaper to pay off their customers and admit defeat. It's us "the tax-payers" that will end up paying for this debacle.

Over 4 years I have been charged near on £2700 in charges,I can understand that some would say that I should be more carefull with my money but when the bank charged me £210 in one day for returning direct debits mounting to £60 I was intrigued to know why.Only one letter was sent to me and the £60 was not paid so where does there £210 figure come from?.Really hope all goes well and I can claim back my hard earned money!!!

its terrible not paying our money back they owe me £2500 and i had to change all my accounts too for the hassle. Pay up now instead of keeping my money to boast your profits and christmas party

Hi Please continue to pursue the banks I had won back £4700 in charges well worth the agro. Thank You the money doctor

Its amazing how the bank can claim the charges are fair. I had to challenge my bank's lending department recently for attempting to Charge me 28pounds for going overdrawn by 25p.

I am in the process of putting together a case of hardship to claim back my charges. My charges were caused through no fault of my own, poor management by my ex employer!!Im now in a position where I cant even afford the basics to live on...including toilet rolls!!!!A bankruptcy order looms over my head every day and Im sure it wont be long before the baliffs are knocking on the door!SO COME ON BANKS GIVE THE LIKES OF US ORDINARY PEOPLE A MUCH NEEDED BREAK!!!

23rd. May 2008

My bank Barclays owe me over 4,500 GBP to date, they say it is my fault, my reply was not very well received, and another bank Lloyds charged me 45.00 GBP for being overdrawm just 7.00 GBP for five days, again being unmovable and saying that I should be more responsible.

I work for a bank and while I do agree some radical changes need to be made to the system, I do think we need to understand that this will probably mean other expenses for banking which is normally free. Cost is simply going to be shifted elsewhere. I also agree with a previous advice given be another bank worker to read the small print - to would avoid a great many charges. However, I would also say take it easy on us guys, myself personally would do all i can to help a customer in trouble, but to a large extent my hands are tied by the powers that be - but i certainly do resent the above comment that are fees are used to fund the christmas party - that is certainly not the case thank you - if banks make so much from charges the staff certainly dont see it!

Barclays Bank owe me £4200 in charges. What the courts are not taking into account is that it starts with going overdrawn by as little as a pound, the bank charges go on, a spiral of debt starts that includes poor credit rating, loans at higher rates loss of sleep stress etc. What is the price of that. If the banks cannot be taken to court now then we should be able to keep adding interest on our claims. Then see how long they stall if it going to cost them more.

Avoid Charges by not going overdrawn, simple!

THE BANK IS JUST LIKE ANY OTHER BUSINESS,

We are a greedy nation who seem to spend more on
luxuries than nessecaties.
But then have the audacity to moan when given a bank charge for using the banks money and not our own.

People often want something for nothing, a bit like winning it big on successful compensation claims.

Banks will strive to often refund charges if people bother to contact them as soon as the charge is applied.

I remember a time when your bank was on your side, you discussed your financial matters with them and they helped you manage your finances. Now, banks are crooked rapacious vicious institutions, only interested in stripping people of as much money as possible. They have no interest in their customers and it is a pity that we have to have banks at all.

What our friend TARQUIN ere don't seem to realise is that if you have a family and money is already tight, these UNFAIR charges which DO NOT reflect a true loss by any bank eat away at money which is left for bills etc if a unexpected bill comes in like in my case and puts you 5 p overdrawn the bank seems to think its ok to charge us 30 pounds for 5p, even when there is no money in there to take, after a long and very heated arguement with the bank I did get a refund, but these banks need to realise that they are the main cause of this credit crunch because they are so quick to take your money but not so quick to give it back. AND MATE THEY DON'T ALWAYS PAY YOUR CHARGES BACK. SOME OF US are not blessed in the way you might be. TOFF

Im sorry but i dont agree with tarquin ross, most people only spend what they can afford, but there are times when people only go over by a pound or two and are charged £39 for doing so. these people might have gone on the sick or had an accident so if you dont work you dont get paid your full wage then before you know it bang a couple of direct debits come out and your now in the red and the bank makes it worse because as soon as your money goes in they steal it. Yes Steal it. Then its months or even years before you get yourself sorted out.Halifax charged me £39 for going overdrawn and a further £28 for an unauthorised overdraft, and didnt even pay the direct debit. thats £67 for one letter. this is ROBBERY now lets have whats rightfully ours GIVE US OUR MONEY BACK.
i expect the judge who has granted these banks their appeal is a share holder, and is looking after his own investment. or on the take!!!

I fully support Darrel SutherlAND AND COMPLETLY DISAGREE WITH TARQUIN.Why shoul the banks get away with overcharging for a service and taking the money of hard working people .My view is that the OFT AND FSA were right to do this and I think the banks should pay up and amit that they got it wrong as they make enough money out of us already.So my reply to the banks is pay up and shut up.

With reference to Tarquins comments -

Do you have common sense?

Have you read or even looked into the whole bank charges fiasco?

If you have Tarquin, then you would realise that this is not just one or 2 people overspending on luxury goods (unless you class bread, butter and nappies as luxury), but 1000's of people - often families or first time buyers struggling through with just trying to live and make ends meet - that are being hit with charges that they simply cannot afford. It is unfair because it's a bit like a chain reaction - once you go overdrawn you get hit for charges, then cannot afford to pay all your bills because you are £100+ short due to the banks taking your money, then you go overdrawn again and it's a viscious cycle which for a lot of people is hard to get out of.

Tarquin, I'm guessing from your comments, that your upbringing included a silver spoon or a severe knock to the "common sense" part of your brain and therefore you are fortunate enough not to have had the experience of being overdrawn - and I hope you never do. Banks do not "strive" to refund, they only do it if you cause a fuss on the phone and ask to speak to the manager, who then gives you a hard time for trying to make ends meet, and only if you're very lucky the banks refund your charges (NATWEST are the worst for this - I was in tears on the phone because they made me feel really stupid for a simple mistake). Although I must give credit to First Direct, they have proven to be really helpful when I first bought my home and went overdrawn every month for 6 or 7 months and refunded my charges with no fuss at all.

So to finalise my lengthy email - Tarquin, and all others who think it's "simple" not to go overdrawn. You clearly don't know or understand what you are chatting about or where we are coming from, so button it and let us people who are being robbed have a good old moan about how unfair these charges are!!!

its not fair to blame tarquin for not knowing wot its like to really have to earn your money, its not his fault he was born into money,ok he might be a snob he might have rich parents,but everyone grows up one day.hopefully even tarquin?

I think although the appeal process costs money, by still taking money off of customers they can make more money on it, even if they have to pay back with interest. They can can lend that money back out at a higher interest rate than the rate we would get back with our charges.
I am with Barclays who although say I can borrow on the strength of a deposited salary cheque until it clears, have still on occasion charged me for being overdrawn. After making a phone call I have had the charges refunded, if anyone else has experienced a similar situation ask for the money back. They cant offer a facility then charge a penalty for making use of that facility.

What is everyone's problem with Tarquin? Surely he is allowed his own opinion like everyone else! Just because you don't agree doesn't mean you should make your own assumptions about him!

I agree with him. We are getting charged by the banks because we are not managing our money properly. I do understand that it is difficult sometimes, and I have been charged on a number of occasions, but have just paid up because I know it was my own fault for spending more than I have. If the banks didn't offer the chance to go over an overdraft, then half of you people would obviously have been screwed for not being able to pay these 'unexpected bills'....And those companys would have been just as quick to charge you as a bank would!
I know that bank charges are high, but it is stated exactly what the charges would be when you open the account. If you are that shocked when a charge comes through, you obviously haven't bothered to read the terms, conditions and small print details of something you have signed.....and that's just stupid.

I will expect the same abuse as Tarquin got...but before you say it, I'm not posh or a toff or born to rich parents. I work hard everyday to struggle to pay for what I have like everyone else. I just don't moan as much!

I agree with all of you, the worst bank is Abbey I went overdrawn for £ 0.10 a year ago so far it has cost me £ 480.00 in charges unauthorised fees £ 35.00 and overdraft charges £20.00, the problem is that when you write to them they don?t even acknowledge your letter I hope that sometime by Christmas 2008 they all come to a good sense and pay back the charges which they have charged us unfairly

Well Tarquin,
I am a middle aged man who was with his child hood sweetheart for 27 years, never a problem. Then out of the blue the relationship fell apart, we split & i moved out of my home leaving it to my partner & the three children we had together.
Starting over in my own home with rent & all the associated bills, while struggling to pay the the extortionate child support payments being made of me. I had a period where i went over drawn through no fault of my own on a few occasions. As others have previously stated once the charge start it just spirals out of control. My bank the Halifax own me £6,500 in back charges, know way am i walking away from recovering this. I am extremely annoyed with this Judge for allowing the appeal, and stringing this out even longer. If they think this will lessen my determination though they are only fooling themselves. Having waited this long i would now wait till hell freezes over, but i will get back what is rightfully mine in the end.

Just reading a few more posts and in particular Tarquin's. I can sort of agree with him, in an ideal world it makes logical sense. I have paid charges over time and although hate them, they have actually saved me money, make sense out of that!
How this worked was because my bank paid a lender putting me overdrawn, then charged me thirty quid. If they had not paid it my lenders system would have presented the order twice and charged me twice, leaving me twice as worse off. In that kind of situation the bank is doing me a favour. I have'nt had any charges for a while now because I dont take my outgoings to the limit of my income.

Having read some of the comments by the "more fortunate" individuals on here I felt I had to make comment.
It is not always the account holder at fault and the banks know exactly what they are doing.

I got charged £105, 2 months in a row for unpaid direct debits from my natwest account despite the money being in the account. They then refused to repay the charges as they said although the money was in the account, it wasn't accessable.. Explain that one away.
The banks are quick to grab your money and put you in trouble, but take forever to pay you back.
A few months back I was a victim of fraud on my account and over £600 was taken. I contacted the bank as soon as I spotted the transactions, had to cancel my cards and be without access to my money for over a week, and was told I would get the money back within 2 weeks as they were clearly fraudulent and nothing to do with me. 3 weeks later I got a letter saying the bank had started their investigation and that I would be re-credited the amount in a further 2-3 weeks and then if they deemed any of the transactions were made by me they would take it back and charge interest!
I eventually got the money back (without lost interest) but this just shows how much the banks care about the hardship their customers face. Fortunately, it did not cause a problem but other people in the same situation could have been sent into a spiral as many people are.
Not everything is as simple as being careful with your money. There are far more factors involved (including bank errors) which can have a major effect on not just people's incomes but their lives. Nobody on here has asked to be given everything for free, but a bit of common sense and FAIR charges on the accounts would slow the ever increasing number of people being forced into bankruptcy and in effect help EVERYONE in the country (less defaults on loans etc means lower rates for all. Bankrupts cannot get credit and spend less meaning the whole economy suffers...)
As for free banking.. since when has banking been free??? The people on lower incomes and struggling end up paying ridiculous charges to subsidise those who sit in credit. This despite the banks making huge sums of money on investments with OUR money and paying stupidly low rates of interest to their customers.
Maybe a little more research into the facts and figures is required before passing judgement on the people who have been UNFAIRLY charged

Banks have always been greedy and to appeal in this way against unlawful charges is appaling.All I can say is that the expenses that will be incoured in repaying all the people who ASK for their charges to be refunded must be much less than holding on to the £3.5 billion that is made each year from the unlawful charges and the investment which this money is used for.
How much profit have the Banks made at our expence?

Even the money lost from the sub prime investments made by the Banks in the US the British public is paying the price for their incompetence
Ask this question how much was really lost?
Think about it in this way enormous figures have been banded about and say the figure is £500 billion.
This figure could represent about 5 million properties presuming that each property is £100,000 each which is higher than the average cost of properties in the USA
Presumably the bank holds the title deeds of each mortgage so where is the loss? Has the property vanished from the face of the Earth? That is the only way that the investment can be a total loss.
The property can still be sold so where is the major loss. I think the actual losses are much less than is advertised.
Does anyone agree with me?
Now the Banks are making more money from the British public by not passing on the cut in bank rate to the mortgage holders. How much are they making out of this, all at our expence. The Government should insist that the mortgage rate are reduced. Why do we have such a weak Government.

All,
I have worked for the financial industry for many years, creating the computer systems used to manage the money in it's various instruments. Trust me when I say that the Banks have the die loaded totally in their favour - right from processing the debits before the credits overnight (so you go overdrawn first) to the "5 days to clear a transaction". When you make a transaction, and your money dissapears from your account, but is in "uncleared funds" in the receiving account - it's being lent out for FIVE DAYS. Now factor in how many transactions there are in a day.
Interesting.
But their biggest con is the "Charge".
It's simple really - to make it fair - if you go overdrawn you pay the same interest rate on the overdrawn amount to the bank that they pay you on your money when you are in credit.
So Halifax for example - interest rate %5 when in credit, 5% on unauthorised overdraft.

Forget about who's fault it is when you are overdrawn (Tarquinn and that other silly woman, Claire), we all make mistakes but we are just asking that the cost is FAIR.
No more, no less.

Enjoy the Bank Holiday everyone.

PS. Claire, it's because of people like you who just "Pay up" without question are why that we are in this mess.

I agree with stuart and we are only claiming what we are owed by the banks so I think Tarquin and clare are liviong in cuckoo land.

It's true the bank is a big money making business, it's no wonder they can boast these extavagant profits year in and year out at their customers expence. Why should they be allowed to continue with this disgusting greed. Stop their appeal and give customers the money they have stolen from accounts. Banks have been allowed to be a law to themselves for too long-its time pay back time

well what can i say i put my claim in for my charges and was told it was on hold i had already filled in the hardship case and sent it off to the bank and was told that they did not see me as been a hardship case i have no loans but a mortage and house hold bills i have £750 per month income £500 from tax credits and family credits combined i run my own business from this the wage comes or it doesnt depending how busy i have been some months no wage has been taken but my bills (no luxories nights out or traets come to £825) so i got a credut card borring to put the difference in that ran out vicious circle i borrow but still need to pay the extra for credit crad £50 extra p/m the inevitible happens i go over drawn at 9am on monday morn by 8p but at 9:01 £5 is deposited in2 my account to stop tghis been a charge but it does not still charged and to top it off my charges used to be £30 after i claimed they put them up to £35 so yeh it would be nice to earn alot of money to cover my bills but i see my son every day and thats what matters so i may be debt free when i win the lotto

i claimed back £3,000.00 back from HSBC on my private current account, i have put a claim in for £3,500 on my business account which they refuse to pay , so i stop banking with them and took £3,000 back as overdraft. They have tried to have debt collectors hound me for their money which they stole from me in the beginning..
I have put a complaint into the financial ombudsman who told the bank to leave me alone until they have the man power to look into my complaint, i advise everyone to make a claim NOW.........

There is a really simple solution for all of you people who clearly don't like banks and don't wish to pay the charges that you were told about and signed for. Don't have a bank account! Oh but maybe you need all the free facilites that they provide, like handling your salary, tax credits, child benefit etc.? Or maybe its the regular statements you need? Or perhaps the free Internet and telephone banking that's useful? These are some of the facilities that cost banks money but are provided for free. That's free banking. I hope you all understand that these are the things that will be charged for in the future, instead of just charging the people who didn't stay within their pre-arranged and signed for, terms and conditions. So if banks really are as bad as you think they are, take your salary or benefits in cash, put it under your mattress and pay all your bills yourself!

I hope the robbing gits lose. They are just too greedy, as if we are not being robbed enough by the government and their stupid bull*&%^ taxes, oh whats that, uuurrr don't know, hmmmm lets tax it anyway, our government are so stupid man. Gorden Brown is one big joke!

Sue you are either stupid or nieve. Who do think force you to have bank accounts. Banks want your money, the system is set up by them you try and live in this country without one. As for free take a look at how long they take to credit your account with your money from any transaction. Plus if you are one of the few who do not go overdrawn your FREE banking is being payed for by those of us with less free income who pay the extortionate fees. Nothing is Free not even for you Sue

That is a very misleading headline; you really should be more careful with your terminology.

The banks have NOT successfully appealed. They have been given permission to appeal, a very different matter.

"Banks' appeal on unfair charges goes ahead" would have been sufficiently sensational and also ACCURATE.

I don't think Sue is stupid or naive, Glenn, I think she works for a bank and believes their propaganda, dear soul.

I am owed around £1500 in charges from my bank. " years ago my charges were so extereme I ended up being forced to take a managed loan. This occured because I went £10 over my agreed overdraft. I was then charged £35 for this. the charge was taken when there was no money in the account, causing me to go over the overdraft, hence incurring more charges. This went on for a while and after several desperate phone calls to the bank, I was given the managed loan to clear the "debt." I now cannot get credit because of this.

Not only are these extortionate charges unfair and ridiculously unjust, it is also unfair how the bank manged to get me into so much debt.

The charges should be proportionate to the amount of bounced direct debit/cheque etc. I do not receive a letter when my payments charge and the payments are not made. Therefore, how can HSBC charge me between £10-35 each time?! Not only are these charges criminal,. they are amazingly inconsistent.

What makes it worse is that the everyday person cannot claim their charges back at present, but the banks can keep chargeing us? Surely if one is on hold the other should be as well?!

I have been charged over £4,000 in Bank charges by Lloyds TSB who I consider to be a disgrace, this week I was charged £20.00 for two hours - I have not been paid by my employer for 4 months as they are experiencing difficulties, the banks and credit card companies are greedy, unhelpful and did we really expect a fair deal from the courts - I for one am not. If we practised these methods we would be up in Court for theft, the banks call it business and it is quite acceptable - money and power corrupts - but watch them all fall soon (Pluto in Capricorn)

Just replying to what Sue says (no 29) above. When I receive bank statements and included in those are what the bank is going to charge me with interest, etc. I am charged a percentage for using the 24 hour banking service. They change me on the amount of times I have picked up the phone to talk to them. So how is that exactly free banking!

The majority of people are naffed off about the cost they charge. If they had been realistic in the first place about how much it costs when someone goes overdrawn hardly anyone would be standing up for a refund. They are very greedy and it's getting to be the same for other greedy companies too who boost of a huge profit yet are charging people over the top prices. I wish we would stand up to other greedy companies sooner than we do.

Having not received a satisfactory response to my Letter Before Action I am now contemplating submitting my claim to the County Court. Any advice at this point would be much appreciated. Is there anyone currently out there who has recently been paid out? My claim is against Natwest and will be heard in Bristol County Court which I believe is currently proceeding with claims. Any help would be much appreciated.

ultimately it is the customers own responsibility to stay within their overdraft limits thats why banks provide services like atms, internet and telephone banking and statements to keep track of your finances. these services are all provided free along with things like debit cards which cost £15 every time they need replaced. the way its going we are all going to end up paying for these services because some people cant stick to the contract they signed when they opened the account.

Nikki did you read what you wrote. If they are provided free why should claiming our bank charges back mean you are going to pay for these services. Are you saying that people with less money to spare should pay for your banking. Also there is a built in time lag on atms, internet and telephone banking that gives a false representation of what money is available in your bank.

Not only are bank charges due to people not managing their money, but also they are of the banks doing. For example:

I used to bank with NatWest. A company fraudulantly set up a direct debit on my account and took money from my account (money which wasn't there because i wasnt expecting it to come out). This then incurred a failed direct debit fee, which took me over drawn therefore another fee on top of this. Two days later the same company represented the DD, with the same results. Me being completely un aware of this (NatWest do like to inform you of these charges, not charge you on the spot!!!! :s) I paid money into the account to cover 3 DD's that were due. However, because of the previous charges, THESE ALSO FAILED!!!!. Before i had knew it i got phone calls from 3 companys saying that they hadnt been paid, and i checked my balance and i was (wait for it....) £600 in the red... within 2 weeks and without my knowledge.

I phoned NatWest to query this, they said that as it was caused by fraud, if i made a token payment of £35 to cover one of the charges, they would scrub the rest. So i did, and they did......not.

I again phoned them, only to be told that it couldnt have been an unauthorised DD because they do not allow DD's without my signature or identification. If that is the case then how come i handed a Standing order form from CSA into my local branch, and it be processed on the spot, without my signature, or being asked for bank card or ID!!!!!

Also on the note of 'manufactured charges' I transferred money over online from my salary account to my bills account, 2 days before my DD's were due to come out. A transaction which normally happens instantaneously. However, NatWest decided to hold back the transaction until after the DD's had been called, then paid the money into the relevant account the day after the DD's were called. Why do that if not to deliberately claim charges!!!!

I am also a believer in the principal of 'if the claiming is on hold, then so should the charges'.

And as for those (tarquin, clair and sue) criticising us for wanting our money back, they should actually be THANKING us for paying for the services that they are enjoying for free!!!!

Wow a lot of comments on here... took me ages to get through! I think that whoever believes banking was ever "FREE" is STUPID!!!

When you pay a cheque in it takes 3-5 days to clear. Now in reality it takes an hour tops to clear. So for 3-5 days the banks are playing with your money on the stock market - making money, whilst we are losing up to 5 days worth of interest (BTW - natwest took 9 days once to clear my cheque - p*ss and take come to mind).

When you pay for something on your debit card, it may take a day or two to come out of your account, but it takes a day or 2 longer to get to the shop where you purchased your item - again using the money to play away on the stock market making loads of interest.

This is where the money comes from to pay for things like atms/internet banking. Us "losers" who are unfortunate enough to have charges are simply propping this up to make bigger profits for the banks.

We are not asking to go overdrawn for free but that the charges are reasonable and realistic - meaning it's easier for us to get out of the red sooner.

And if the fees don't even concern you ("mr silver spoon" tarquin, "moaning about not moaning" claire and "everything is free" sue) then why are you even bothering to read this article? Get a life and leave us to claim our "unreasonable" charges back.

Good day

hi there, i also have been stung by lloyds tsb on numerous occassions i have written to them asking for them to send details of all my charges for the last 6 years, that was nearly 2 months ago and i have not heard anything and i don,t suppose i will they think we will just fade away into the background, so i guess i am going to have to write to them again,you would think they would have the decency to reply, anyway, heard yesterday that barclays is reducing its charges from 36 pounds to 8 pounds. what a difference, so if they can do it why cannot the rest

ref tarquin

YOU are well out of order...i take it you have never been overdrawn, you probably never had to scrimp and save either. Some of us...infact many of us struggle to keep our heads above water...and all it takes is to be overdrawn by £1 for the likes of the banks to then penalise hefty charges. I was overdrawn by £7...are you telling me is justice to then charge me over £210. The banks are very heavy handed and i am not talking about the staff but am talking about those above that sit with their fat wallets and big mansions.
It sickens me to the core and i truly hope the banks lose, cause justice needs to be done for people like myself, yes i am angry....and and rightfully so!

I sit at home day in day out listening to all you people complaining about unlawful charges and it intrigues me. I am a 40something female who has never and yes I said NEVER had a charge in my life (and I have been a single parent too with very little money). Money is a necessity and not allowing for all your day to day necessities is absolutely beyond my understanding. Spend some money save some money and never ever OWE anybody anything. Can I just point out to all you people who do not budget - IT IS ME WHO HAS NEVER HAD A CHARGE IN MY LIFE - that will be the one who suffers if the Banks lose these cases. IT IS YOU STUPID PEOPLE WHO OVERSPEND THAT WILL CAUSE FREE BANKING TO DISAPPEAR AND BELIEVE ME IT WILL - The Banks WILL get their money back if they lose and it is ME and the unfortunate other sensible who will lose out. WE WILL ALL END UP PAYING IN THE END FOR YOUR STUPIDITY AND YOUR LACK OF BEING ABLE TO LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS.

To Brenda - listen - BANKING IS NOT, AND NEVER WILL BE - FREE. You clearly cannot read and do not know the way of the banking world. It annoys me that people are so nieve to think that banking is free. You need to get a life and realise that we are living in the real world and all us "stupid" people have made simple mistakes. You have been fortunate enough not to have this happen to you - but forgive me for being "stupid" for wanting what is rightfully mine. I'm sure if you were robbed, you too would want your money back. As before... No one is saying DO NOT make charges, just to make them FAIR.

BRENDA..........

I dont know how many posts you have read, of if you just skipped through them all, but i think the general idea is that YOU DONT GET FREE BANKING.

The services you enjoy for free are not free, they are paid for by the people who get charged!!!

look at it another way, would you like it if your supermarket, for example, lets me shop for free, but charges you extra to cover my shopping......

Didnt think so, but same principal.

Kellie, odd you should say that i dont understand the Banking System - oh dear me I actually work within the Banking System and deal with the public regarding charges every single day!!!!! - and believe me - people who get charges are the people living on another planet when they come into Banks demanding they get their charges back - when actually if you read the small print - when you OPEN an account all the charges are there in front of you and details of when and why people will get charged!!!!!

Brenda. It concerns me that someone like you, who works in the banking system thinks banking is free. I've worked in the financial industry for years now and if there's one I have learned, banking is NOT FREE.

No wonder we get rubbish service if employees in the industry don't even understand the industry they are working in. Perhaps we should petition for all financial service employees to go intensive training to understand the environment they work in.

It's got nothing to do with the small print because you have no choice but to sign on the dotted line if you want to open up a bank account of ANY sort - and these days you need to have a bank account as its rather difficult to have wages paid into your mattress.

The argument we are having it about making the charges fair, not to eradicate them completely (although that would be nice).

Can I suggest that you look a little deeper into the situation before you make judgements on us.

KELLIE.

I think we are mis understanding brenda.

This issue with bank charges is affecting us all, and to understand the problem we need to see it from everyones point of view.

Take poor brenda here. I understand the effect all this has on her, if the banks stop penalty charges, or cuts them down to a responsible ammount, then her bosses will not make as much profit and she will not get as much for her christmas bonus.

Personally tho, i dont give a monkeys about her bonus, i just want the banks to stop stealing and give us back what they took from us.