Cashback?

Well, well, well. Avid readers of my maunderings may recall my diatribe just after Christmas about the bank charges I'd incurred because there hadn't been enough money in my current account to pay my credit card direct debit. At the time, it seemed as if an unstoppable avalanche of charges was accruing despite my switching of funds to deal with the matter, and I was very fed up indeed.

So it seems only right that I should share the modified raptures with which I have been blessed this week, when I received a letter from the Customer Relations Manager of BoS telling me that I was to be refunded the largest of the three charges. This is what he says:

Having reviewed your account, I accept the application of these unarranged overdraft charges will not have a positive effect on the maintenance of your account. As a gesture of goodwill, I am prepared to refund £35.00 in full and final settlement of your complaint.

I love the admission about the effect of bank charges on keeping your account in the black - I had pointed out in a letter that it was hardly likely to assist the truly impecunious to keep penalising them. It is - though I didn't actually say this - a bit like those miserable teachers who dole out punishment exercises to a hapless kid who never finishes his homework. I'm grateful to those who reminded me that this was a good time to complain about bank charges - and exhort anyone else in the same boat to brush up their naggy-letter-writing technique. For it strikes me forcibly that there must be loads of people who lack the gall to hit back in writing and who have to put up with this sort of treatment.

But I must be humble. As the letter goes on to say,

ultimately it is your responsibility to manage your account.

Indeed.

Banking blues

My post-Christmas sloth has been disrupted by an outbreak of bank rage. An oversight on my part has left me with an unpaid credit card bill - and a whopping £59 in additional charges which all seem to be variations on the theme of "Late Fee" and which strike me as ludicrously draconian in the age of electronic banking. I have not yet been able satisfactorily to ascertain why the Bank of Scotland waited over two weeks to write the letter which informed me that they had returned a debit unpaid; if I had received the letter when they didn't pay it I could have dealt with the matter in plenty of time and all would have been fine. And it seems mighty strange that when all the parties concerned are in the BoS network they behave as if they didn't know what was going on - and stranger still that, despite my having made the necessary payment, my card account is still coming up as being in arrears. Why does electronic banking seem to take as long to work as it would if I sent a cheque by second class post?

A visit to my local bank bears no relation to the experience of computerised voices, button pressing and call-centre indifference - but still the letters come and the rage rises. And all because I set up a direct debit to make sure I never forgot to pay my bills. Ironic, isn't it?