Grumble Thread

[eighthobstruction]

....very dystopian Serial....

[eighthobstruction]

....How about Bona Vacantia then????

[eighthobstruction]

Just checked. Practically all the bank branches in Bristol are now in the city centre. The two that are closest to me require a bus trip into the city centre first and then back out again - which is a bit pointless as there are branches in the centre without getting another bus back out the the branches closest to me. I thought banks were making huge profits.

We're getting a shiny big Coop next door to the existing one which is being demolished. Surely it wouldn't be difficult to house a small Coop bank branch in the new building? And for similar branches of other banks to be in existing large stores?

....It is more likely that a citizen individual will become an Agent for many banks and open kiosk type premises....and try to eek a living thus. I believe there are already such entities in action....(can't find a link tho')

[Old Grumpy]

Just checked. Practically all the bank branches in Bristol are now in the city centre. The two that are closest to me require a bus trip into the city centre first and then back out again - which is a bit pointless as there are branches in the centre without getting another bus back out the the branches closest to me.

Too right - in regard to our enquiries regarding the SMS: the first was in the Thirsk branch, which was closed permanently a few days later and the second in Stockton (which is now one of the nearest branches) where I happened to be for another reason.
.

[oddoneout]

The whole admittedly diminishing business of cashing cheques is becoming so problematic it's hard not to conclude that the world of doing business has ganged up in order to force cheque payers and receivers into doing it online, along with every other damn thing. A year ago Lloyds answered my phone call to say I must use "the" local post office who would transfer the cheque amount into my Lloyds account through their system. I had to try three post office branches to find one set up to do this, and the staff member was understandably irritated this this was now part of their job.

The latest annoyance is that in September and October just gone I was three times "fined" a banking charge of £14 something - the first two times for inadvertently going over their threshold requirement to hold a certain minimum sum in the account, the third for inexplicable reasons - maybe I had been late in rectifying my oversight. As it happened the manageress at the Streatham branch coincidentally rang, announcing herself as there to help with any problems I might be experiencing. I mentioned the above, and after checking the account in question from her end, she stated that the abovementioned banking charge was a regular monthly deduction and had been "for some time". Indeed, she was surprised that it had only started being deducted in this month! She then informed me that the account is a very old one, no longer available to new clients, and recommended me to go onto another type of account, one which is not listed in any of their online publicity blurb. If I wanted to know anything more about it I would have to speak to the manager at the Putney branch (!) who is, like, the area manager, and this was her work phone number, should I want to contact her. However she (the Streatham branch manager(ess)) could send me a leaflet explaining the aforesaid "mystery" account.

Four weeks later it arrived by post. As she had explained the new account had fewer of the add-ons (offers, insurance etc) than my existing one - which I had explained I did not need - no banking charge, but a slightly better interest rate. However, it appears to require me to add £2,000 pounds into it each month! Either that or the write-up is badly explained, and really means I need to have a minimum of £2,000 in it if I am not to breach the threshold incurring the £14 deduction or whatever the amount would be, which is not stated. Why on earth should I be expected to continually transfer £2,000 from my deposit account, where the incrementally diminishing amount will thereby progressively earn me less and less interest? The irony however is that the "banking charge" deduction whatever has not been inflicted on my current account for this month, leaving me thinking that because it is no longer an on-offer account to new bankers they must have lost or dumped the documents stating the conditions. Really, this is all so unnecessary and just adds to all the other everyday stresses of life in 2023.

Assuming it's Lloyds , that sounds like their Club Lloyds account where you have the choice of paying £3 pm or paying in £2000 pm, which gets you a yearly "benefit" of your choosing ,plus some other things.
I have their Classic which is free; it has add-ons which I can't use as I don't have a smartphone but at least they don't cost me, and aren't necessary to operate the account.
Perhaps look on their website at their current account offers?
My home town may be lacking in some things but it currently has 5 banks and 3 building societies(and a large "stand alone" Post Office which also offers banking services) all within less than 5 minutes walk of each other, although Barclays is due to close in the New Year apparently. Nationwide has been picking up a good few of its customers already.

[french frank]

Assuming it's Lloyds , that sounds like their Club Lloyds account where you have the choice of paying £3 pm or paying in £2000 pm

They pointed out to me that since the Classic pays no interest at all I'd cover the £3 cost of Club Lloyds with the interest it earns. And it seems to me I get the £3 waived even though I seldom pay in £2000 per month. I don't bother with their offers though.

One of the younger members of the family is with the Starling Bank (qv) which I think is entirely online.

[Old Grumpy]

Regarding my post #1136 on this thread:

OH has now received another text from Lloyds Bank with notification that the telephone number has been updated - presumably the perp has read the email and updated his phone number. The whole episode is bizarre to say the least!

[oddoneout]

Regarding my post #1136 on this thread:

OH has now received another text from Lloyds Bank with notification that the telephone number has been updated - presumably the perp has read the email and updated his phone number. The whole episode is bizarre to say the least!

Have they now also removed OH's number from their records, since they have no justification for retaining it?

[Old Grumpy]

Have they now also removed OH's number from their records, since they have no justification for retaining it?

No way of telling as the bank were distinctly unhelpful in trying to stop the messages "nothing we can do" was the response each time.


P.S. I suspect this was an automated text directed to the account holder who had entered the wrong number in the first place!

[Dave2002]

Looks like this is the place to grumble about banks. Today I tried to order some stuff, but that didn't work because of the wretched 2 factor authentication. OK - I know it's trying to protect me, but the only verification codes I was supposed to enter were apparently sent to my mobile phone. When I looked there were no codes. There was no other way to do the verification, so I tried calling the bank. Didn't get very far with that, but tried calling my mobile from our land line - didn't work - so it looked as though the mobile reception was the issue.

Hours later I tested the mobile reception from the landline again, and after noticing that it seemed to be working, was then able to place my order.

In the meantime another order I tried to make with Amazon seemed to have two of one item, so I tried to cancel one of them. Now it looks as though the order doesn't have any of that item at all - it's all very unsatisfactory. Amazon doesn't seem to keep a track of cancelled items. I'll perhaps have to order just one more of that again over the weekend.

Not being able to get appropriate contact with banks and other organisations is a real pain. One bank I deal with has got two telephone numbers for me - one which is active, and the other which links to a defunct phone. How am I supposed to be able to set up the correct updated details?

We are now almost in the world of the sad automated joke - I assume it was - maybe not.

An automated fire detector alarm notices a fire, so phones the fire brigade.

Fire Alarm: "There is a fire detected at .. XYZ at <time>"
FIre Station: "This number has been changed. Please redial number 1234353434"

Loop forever - with the result that a building burns down.

[smittims]

I had a telephone message to phone my GP surgery. When I called the number given I got a message saying that number did not accept incoming calls.

I must balance your bank tale (you have my sympathy , by the way) by saying I've been with my bank fifty-two years and never (yes, never) had any trouble with them,. The only time three was the slightest difficulty was when I bought a house two years ago and I went into my branch to request the transfer if funds from my account to my solicitor's by fast payment or whatever it's called ) . Because I haven't had a driving licence for 23 years and never had a passport I had to go through a Spanish Inquisition with two twelve-year-old girls who weren't sure they could believe I was who I was, despite my having had my account here for 37 years. I didn't mind because they were, after all, safeguarding my money!

[Dave2002]

I had a telephone message to phone my GP surgery. When I called the number given I got a message saying that number did not accept incoming calls.

I must balance your bank tale (you have my sympathy , by the way) by saying I've been with my bank fifty-two years and never (yes, never) had any trouble with them,. The only time three was the slightest difficulty was when I bought a house two years ago and I went into my branch to request the transfer if funds from my account to my solicitor's by fast payment or whatever it's called ) . Because I haven't had a driving licence for 23 years and never had a passport I had to go through a Spanish Inquisition with two twelve-year-old girls who weren't sure they could believe I was who I was, despite my having had my account here for 37 years. I didn't mind because they were, after all, safeguarding my money!

My main complaints about banks started after the Financial Crash around 2008. This was a factor in us diversifying between different banks, so now we have more than one bank - indeed probably at least 4 - each with different accounts.

Initially this was manageable, but then banks started closing, or merging with other banks, and giving up on any form of personal service at all.

Yes - there is a significant time saving in not having to drive to a bank - as long as things are going OK. If they are not, they are an absolute nightmare.

Passwords ... telephone banking ... [usually gives a message, you can do what you want quicker by going online ... Humph!] .... Internet banking [often doesn't actually manage to do what one really wants] ....

I paid cash for a few things recently - but then people say "You won't be able to do that soon ...". Sure - that'll mean a few million people will have their funds ripped off, if they can't figure out a way to make all this work.

Yes - I can do bank transfers, and I might still be able to use cheques [though don't know, as I've not used one for a while ..] - but there are still people who are very averse to dealing with online banks, who want to use cheques, and who use cash. Cash is great for when all the network services go down too - providing organisations will take it.

I went to Tesco a few days ago and noticed a whole section of checkouts for Cards only. Only 2 customers in that section, but Tesco obviously thought there would be more, as I think there were around 20 machines.

Mad world!

[Dave2002]

A different grumble ... about virtual instrument libraries.

Some of my Spitfire instrument libraries stopped working. I found out how to repair them and got them [all - about 9] working again quickly.

Then I checked the Spitfire LABS libraries. There are a lot of separate ones [around 53], which previously I had loaded onto a connected SSD.
These seem to have been completely messed up, so it might be easier to delete them all and completely reinstall all of those.

The good thing is that I'm less bothered about using those, but it is a shame that problems - perhaps with just one or two libraries - mean that I can't identify easily where the problems lie, so may have to spend hours deleting then reinstalling them. If I knew where the specific issue lies, it might be an easy fix.

I do have other things to do though, so probably won't bother in the short term.

[oddoneout]

My main complaints about banks started after the Financial Crash around 2008. This was a factor in us diversifying between different banks, so now we have more than one bank - indeed probably at least 4 - each with different accounts.

I've always avoided having all my eggs in one basket anyway, but more recently have also made split between the way I use my two current accounts. I have one I use for most of my everyday banking, and another which I have had for decades, and which now receives my state pension. The everyday account is used for the likes of bill payments, and other occasions where external interests may need/want access for payment in or out. However that is the only account I have with that bank and the balance is never that large, with the thinking that that limits the extent of things going wrong. My other account is with a building society that also has much of my savings, hence wanting to limit external access. I've also got small savings pots with a couple of other building societies, one being a leftover from when I was managing my mother's affairs and having a local finance contact where she was known was a help.
I don't have enough money to have to bother about the FSA compensation limit, but the amalgamation of banks over the years means that, for those who fall into that category, it is more and more difficult to ensure that the limit for money in one business is not breached. A number of previously separate High Street names are now, despite having kept the names, not separate in practice.

[Pulcinella]

System down at the local Co-op just now: only accepting cash.
Fortunately, there's both an ATM and the possibility of taking money out of accounts as it's also got a Post Office counter.
But I didn't get my member's discount on the items I bought, though I did get my points added.

(Not worth suggesting that the cashier overrode the machine by applying a manual reduction, which was probably possible; I didn't want to hold the queue up, for one thing!)