Posted on 01/20/2007 7:02:31 AM PST by ChildOfThe60s
A man who was fed up with paying massive bank charges decided to give one of the high street giants a taste of its own medicine.
When Royal Bank of Scotland refused to refund £3,400 charges that Declan Purcell believed he was owed, he sent in the bailiffs.
Stunned customers at his branch of RBS watched as debt collectors seized four computers, two fax machines and a till filled with cash.
The branch manager was told that the items would be sold unless RBS came up with the money owed to Mr Purcell.
Only when the manager gave an undertaking that the debt would be paid did the bailiffs leave.
Mr Purcell said: "I think the bank was pretty shocked when the bailiffs went in. But my view is that this is exactly what they would have done to me."
The move, which will raise a cheer from millions of other bank customers, is part of a consumer fightback against bank charges, which net an estimated £4.5 billion every year.
Every time a current account customer goes overdrawn by as little as £1 most banks will charge around £28, even though the administration cost is only about £4.50.
Then every cheque, direct debit, or card transaction that goes through or is bounced incurs another charge of up to £38.
The Office of Fair Trading is investigating whether banks have implemented these charges unlawfully.
The Daily Mail's Fair Play on Charges campaign and that run by the Consumer Action Group have helped thousands reclaim charges in the past year.
Like other customers Mr Purcell, 48, from East London, had warned his bank that he was prepared to go to court to claim back charges he believes were imposed unlawfully.
In June last year he demanded the refund of £3,400 charges he accrued during the previous six years while running a motorcycle dealership.
RBS ignored the claim so in October Mr Purcell filed an online application to get the money back through the county court.
After 30 days the bank had not responded and so on December 10 the court ruled in Mr Purcell's favour.
It ordered RBS to pay the charges and £120 court costs. When RBS again failed to respond Mr Purcell got the court to give him a warrant of execution, allowing him to order debt collectors to reclaim items from the bank equal in value to the amount he was owed.
Finally on Monday, January 8, a team of debt collectors walked into the busy Camden Town branch in North London, demanded to see the manager, showed their court order and announced that they were repossessing items.
Mr Purcell, who now works for London Underground, said: "I was dismayed by the bank's reaction when I made my claim for a refund – it was so rude and arrogant.
"They thought they were above the law, so it is great to know that customers can use the law in the same way the bank does to get money they are owed."
A spokesman for RBS said: "We are looking into this as a matter of urgency, but early indications suggest that unfortunately due to an administrative error, the bank failed to defend the claim leading to a default judgment being obtained on the branch and a resulting warrant.
"The confusion was cleared up at the branch."
Marc Gander, who set up campaign website Consumer Action Group, which helps consumers get refunds from their banks, said: "I am quite sure that Mr Purcell will not be the last person to send bailiffs in to his bank.
"The continued operation by UK high street banks of their unlawful charges regimes will see to that.
"The heavy-handed debt collecting approach is something that the banks have been handing out to their customers for years. Mr Purcell simply gave them a bit of their own back."
You're right. I shouldn't have said evil. That was as manipulative as your astronomical.
My bank has something called a PRA (Personal Reserve Account). If I overdraw they will "lend" me up to $1000 until the next pay period (15th or the 30th) without interest or fees.
If I pay off the PRA before the next pay period it costs me nothing. If I choose to carry that balance forward (or forget to pay it off) the interest rate on that short-term loan is a few bucks a month and a $15 monthly fee.
They even call me when there is suspicious activity on my account! I have no fees on my checking account and don't carry much of a balance either. I love my bank!
Millions of Americans are customers of big banks like Bank of America, which spends over half a billion dollars a year on advertising (over $600 million, actually) to try to induce new sheep to be sheared.
Once you're a customer, they then cheat you every chance they can, and generally treat you like dung. Despite all the BoA customers I know, not one of those customers ever chose BoA because of its customer service. (That would be like picking Abdul al-Masri as your tour guide).
Bank of America, too, started as a small bank (for immigrants from Italy, on the West Coast). The current managers forgot that, never bothered to learn, or (and this is most likely) simply don't give a damn.
I heard a BoA radio ad today, boasting about their savings account. The rapid-speaking Fine Print Guy at the end spilled the account's APR, which the slower-talking announcer called "competitive": 0.2%. Not two percent. Two-tenths of a percent.
It sounds like this British bank in this thread also studied at the "Up Your Nose" school of customer service.
Like internet spammers and scam artists, the big banks have basically become another criminal enterprise, but one like gambling that is now such big organized crime that it can hire lawyers to rewrite its crimes into legality.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
Could it be that, without the service offered by the local banks, he wouldn't use them at all? That it is their service that earns them a share of his banking, despite their noncompetitive rates?
Some people seem to have a difficult time comprehending this.
I think you're exactly right.
I was commenting on how that service doesn't earn what seems to be best 'sale'. Instead the big money gets shipped off to an internet bank that provides very little customer service. Meanwhile the local bank has to make do with his high service needs checking account.
There's nothing wrong with shipping it elsewhere, just don't tell us how customer service is going to draw business. I'll go by what he does rather than by what he says.
Kind of like living with one woman who fixes the meals, washes the cloths, makes the bed. Come time for some good lovin' and you rush off to someone else. And then claim that good cooking will 'always keep the man'!
Don't get between a laddie and his due!
Ah well, I don't see a meeting of the minds on this. But I will respond with this:
Of the money I have in banking institutions, 90% is with LOCAL (by that I mean in my little town of 9,000 people) institutions, 10% with ING (the internet bank). ING provides me with a place to park the minority of my money in a liquid state that draws relatively high interest.
If you both think that 10% of my money somehow makes me disloyal to the local banks, then there isn't much I can say to that.
Do you do more than 10% of your retail shopping at big box stores? If you do, then you have no room to talk.
See my post #47. It ain't the big money getting shipped off. You just assumed that.
My local credit union and bank are getting one hell of a lot more money than ING. Damn near all my money is parked locally.
But you are so ready to rush to judgement that you assume the opposite. Funny thing is, I've looked at your various posts and by them I wouldn't have expected you to be prejudicial.
btt
That does put a different view to things, but surely you wouldn't expect me to ask you about amounts of money would you?
You're unusual (very unusual) in that you have most of your money in short term accounts, and the minority in a CD.
You're right, in light of the facts, I must withdraw my criticism of you.
They are called credit unions. If you believe what you have written, find one to join, and vote with your feet.
Most credit unions aren't open to the general public, but require some kind of affiliation to become a "member." I'm not sure if I could join one or not, but I'll be checking into it. There's one literally right across the street from me.
Lots of complaints here about banks. So what's so hard about joining a credit union instead? Most offer better service at a lower cost.
In the old days, most of the credit union memberships were based upon employement (although, even there, the name was frequently more limited than the organizations listed). In recent years, many have shifted to a geographical designation.
That being said, one of the larger ones in this area recently converted to a S&L.
Normally, I'd suggest your state credit union association:
http://www.nebrcul.org/
but even the 'contact us' page appears to be password protected.
I think it would be safe to say that any organization that password protects its press releases is being run by idiots. Perhaps you should stay with a bank.
Here's a link that is more helpful.
http://www.creditunionsonline.com/state.php?state=NE&page=0
Did you change banks?
See if they offer overdraft protection.
Ummm, maybe, because the bank is a POS?
Over the course of six years, this is not especially outrageous for a small retailer. Commercial accounts are also charged when a customer's check bounces. The shop no longer operates, so I can guess it was a small concern and sometimes had cash flow problems. In a couple of slow weeks, with the bank piling it on for overdrafts and other fees, they can generate a nice revenue stream for themselves at the customer's expense. I don't know why the man went out of business, but 3400 pounds in fees had to hurt.
No I didn't change banks yet. I need to check around and see what they offer but I've put it off due to the hassle of changing all my direct deposit, payments etc.
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