Advice Needed - Bank & Phone/Internet

[SILKYSMOOTH]

Hi peeps

 

I am really getting pissed off with my Bank and my Telephone/Internet provider, namely Lloyds Tsb and Virgin Media.

 

Bank - They keep charging me stupid amounts of Bank Charges and I want to reclaim them...there is a form I believe you can get to apply for it...on the watchdog website maybe. Anyway I want to change my account so I need an alternative Bank to use...which are good to use at the moment?

 

Also Virgin Media are always taking the piss with the bills, they are not clear and always too expensive..last month was £120 and they just sent me a bill for £55....so also need a recommendation for a telephone/internet provider.

 

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

Off back to work now, but I will check in again later

[_Lynz_]

With regards to Banks you may struggle as they are all p*ssing in the same pot and they want money from you.

 

I'm with First Direct and think they're brill it's all internet and phone based but you do not get the rainforests worth of marketing material, or the phone calls at stupid o'clock trying to sell you something:rolleyes:

 

Also, with regards to your charges, I think if you go into your bank they can print the form off for you but thats all they will do.

 

I had a similar problem with Virgin Media, I was on the 3 for £30 thing and had been happy with that. This month I got a bill that was £56, with no explanation as to why it had doubled.

 

Spoke to some very unhelpful bint who said that I was no longer entitled to the package as it was a 12 month contract. I asked whether it would not be better customer service to inform people of this beforehand as opposed to just sending them a bill. Anyway after I had ranted I asked to be put through to cancellations and lo and behold I am now back on the same contract for another 12 months. So my advice on that one would be to give them a ring and tell them your leaving.

 

Good luck

[Ark]

In my experience, banks only levy charges when you do something to deserve it. You _could_ try not going overdrawn or whatever.

[jamesmark]

Been with a few banks, currently with Nationwide.

 

Good interest rate on normal visa debit account, also there eSavings and eBonds have great rates too. There internet banking is very very easy to use.

 

Would reccomend them, Sarah is with HSBC and they are terrible for charges. So Stay clear of them, uifortunately she has a joint acount with her dad and he wants to stay.

[RiceRocket]

Lloyds Tsb Bank - They keep charging me stupid amounts of Bank Charges and I want to reclaim them...there is a form I believe you can get to apply for it...on the watchdog website maybe. Anyway I want to change my account so I need an alternative Bank to use...which are good to use at the moment?

 

You won't be getting refunds on charges anytime soon until the Test Case currently(still ) in court is resolved.

With Lloyds I think you're might be getting lower penalty charges (£20) than other banks (£35?) so you could try looking around the banks to see if anyone else charge less

Otherwise you should try cutting down on Direct Debits and try moving Standard Orders around to more convenient dates for you (can do this online).

[keener]

Recently changed my current a/c to Alliance & Leicester as I get 8.5% interest on balances up to £2500. If I go over that I just transfer it in to the best savings a/c I could get which was about 6.5% I think.

 

V. few probs with changing over to A&L from Barclays, they even change all your direct debits for you. A&L website v.good too for online banking. Just remember to put at least £500 each month into the A&L a/c (just put your wages in!) or you get charged for that month. Still the best rate around for amounts up to £2500.

 

For phone I have a BT landline and calls with TalkTalk. Calls are cheaper with TalkTalk but resist changing line rental to TalkTalk too as some broadband providers will/can only connect via a BT landline. Am currently with Orange for Broadband but am outside of contracted period so will be changing to O2 for broadband as I can get 8MB for £7.50 per month as I'm already with O2 for my mobile. (Currently paying £17.99 for 8MB with Orange!)

 

A few months ago I did a through overhaul of my finances and the website http://www.moneysavingexpert.com was invaluable. Great for keeping up to date with the best rates. Will soon be changing utilities too as there are some nice cashback offers and I'll save a bit anyway.

 

I'm not a financial advisor so only do what's best for you/your circumstances and always check the conditions first!

[SILKYSMOOTH]

With regards to Banks you may struggle as they are all p*ssing in the same pot and they want money from you.

 

I'm with First Direct and think they're brill it's all internet and phone based but you do not get the rainforests worth of marketing material, or the phone calls at stupid o'clock trying to sell you something:rolleyes:

 

Also, with regards to your charges, I think if you go into your bank they can print the form off for you but thats all they will do.

 

I had a similar problem with Virgin Media, I was on the 3 for £30 thing and had been happy with that. This month I got a bill that was £56, with no explanation as to why it had doubled.

 

Spoke to some very unhelpful bint who said that I was no longer entitled to the package as it was a 12 month contract. I asked whether it would not be better customer service to inform people of this beforehand as opposed to just sending them a bill. Anyway after I had ranted I asked to be put through to cancellations and lo and behold I am now back on the same contract for another 12 months. So my advice on that one would be to give them a ring and tell them your leaving.

 

Good luck

 

Good advice there thanks

 

re Bank - sounds like a good idea to get a statement of all the charges I have paid, probably could have a bought another supra. First Direct maybe a good reco..thanks..heard some good things about them and I do most of my banking online and over the phone so could be a good idea.

 

Virgin - well I had the same deal 3 for £30 (with 8mb internet) but I was paying £20 bacause I was a valued long-term customer and they gave me a few discounts.

 

As you said, they then just sent me a bill a few months ago and now my services have risen to £26 something for the same 3 services but I still get huge bills for phone calls that I don't even know I have made coz their not on the bill...B*****'ds. I called them to find out whats going on and they said the same your discount offer expired on such and such date and now we can no longer offer you the discount. Before all of this happened when I got it down to £20, I called them up to cancel everything and they gave me this deal for £20 and now it's gone back up again without any notice, I gave them a bollocking on the phone to someone in India but didn't make much difference.... she knocked £10 off.

 

 

I think I am going to call up again this time and just cancel this time no matter what they offer me....it will have to be bloody good for me to stay. Shame though coz the actual service itself is good, but billing has always been a problem with NTL/Virgin Media.

[SILKYSMOOTH]

In my experience, banks only levy charges when you do something to deserve it. You _could_ try not going overdrawn or whatever.

 

If I ever go overdrawn it's because of the Bank Charges , I don't owe money to ANYONE.

[ivan]

I'm afraid Virgin are about the best of the bunch as far as I can see.

Your best bet is tough negotiation to get the contract reduced again.

 

IMO of course.

[Snooze]

Out of interest, what are the bank charges FOR, then, if you don't mind me asking?

[SILKYSMOOTH]

You won't be getting refunds on charges anytime soon until the Test Case currently(still ) in court is resolved.

With Lloyds I think you're might be getting lower penalty charges (£20) than other banks (£35?) so you could try looking around the banks to see if anyone else charge less

Otherwise you should try cutting down on Direct Debits and try moving Standard Orders around to more convenient dates for you (can do this online).

 

Thanks buddy...will have to look into the dates of my standing orders. Charges are £15 initial charge and then £6 a day now (which is not bad compared to others) but for some reason it seems they are playing around with the dates, it just doesn't make sense and if it goes overdrawn it could be by just a few quid and I don't even know about it.

[SILKYSMOOTH]

I'm afraid Virgin are about the best of the bunch as far as I can see.

Your best bet is tough negotiation to get the contract reduced again.

 

IMO of course.

 

might try it....I don't really want to be changing setups and connections etc...especially when I might not be around for long anyway...but they are really cheesing me off

[SILKYSMOOTH]

Recently changed my current a/c to Alliance & Leicester as I get 8.5% interest on balances up to £2500. If I go over that I just transfer it in to the best savings a/c I could get which was about 6.5% I think.

 

V. few probs with changing over to A&L from Barclays, they even change all your direct debits for you. A&L website v.good too for online banking. Just remember to put at least £500 each month into the A&L a/c (just put your wages in!) or you get charged for that month. Still the best rate around for amounts up to £2500.

 

For phone I have a BT landline and calls with TalkTalk. Calls are cheaper with TalkTalk but resist changing line rental to TalkTalk too as some broadband providers will/can only connect via a BT landline. Am currently with Orange for Broadband but am outside of contracted period so will be changing to O2 for broadband as I can get 8MB for £7.50 per month as I'm already with O2 for my mobile. (Currently paying £17.99 for 8MB with Orange!)

 

A few months ago I did a through overhaul of my finances and the website http://www.moneysavingexpert.com was invaluable. Great for keeping up to date with the best rates. Will soon be changing utilities too as there are some nice cashback offers and I'll save a bit anyway.

 

I'm not a financial advisor so only do what's best for you/your circumstances and always check the conditions first!

 

 

Great advice.......many thanks

 

I think I am going to call Virgin and see if they can do anything otherwise it's goodbye, and then decide on the Bank by next week after going through all the info.

[gjp]

Try here as this is the man behind kicking the arse of the banks ripping us off.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/

[SILKYSMOOTH]

Try here as this is the man behind kicking the arse of the banks ripping us off.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/

 

Cheers bud....I think 'KEENER' posted the same link above;) good site.

[SILKYSMOOTH]

My Bank i gonna get an 'ass whooping', I got another letter today to say that they couldn't pay another direct debit....which is complete b*****ks, and they are going to expect me to pay charges again for the 2/3 time in 2 weeks, and there is more than enough in my account....

 

I don't understand these W******s they are going to have to go.

 

Also pissed off about the service, I have been with them for countless years, and I recently deposited £20k and they did not even bother to ask me if I wanted a better account or offer any advice. As soon as I spend most of it, they say, Oh by the way your savings account is so old that it's not worth having it, you should get such and such...So I say...great thanks for nothing....IDIOTS

[_Lynz_]

My Bank i gonna get an 'ass whooping', I got another letter today to say that they couldn't pay another direct debit....which is complete b*****ks, and they are going to expect me to pay charges again for the 2/3 time in 2 weeks, and there is more than enough in my account....

 

I don't understand these W******s they are going to have to go.

 

Also pissed off about the service, I have been with them for countless years, and I recently deposited £20k and they did not even bother to ask me if I wanted a better account or offer any advice. As soon as I spend most of it, they say, Oh by the way your savings account is so old that it's not worth having it, you should get such and such...So I say...great thanks for nothing....IDIOTS

 

Used to work for Lloyds TSB and tbh they aren't interested in service it's all about sales. They get far more out of selling you a loan than they do from upgrading a savings account and as the staff are targetted they aren't interested. This was one of the reasons I left, as it wasn't about good customer service or getting the customer the best deal it was make the most money. Unfortunatley I think they are all the same.

[SILKYSMOOTH]

Thanks for all your advice guys and gals.

 

 

I contacted Virgin Media again and to my shock I found that the monthly charges increased to £40 from £26, I was then so angry that I had to control myself from losing it. Anyway I decided to accept their loyalty scheme for the next 12 months which gave me the same deal as I am on now with an additional 25% off mobile calls from the landline at a cost of £27 - £1 e-billing totalling £26 per month for just the charges. Only downfall is that if I decide to cancel the contract at any time I have to pay £10 per service per month remaining on the contract.

 

I closed one of my Bank accounts with Lloyds and kept one open for the time being to cover my next pay cheque that goes in and then I'm changing Banks.

 

I am also going to try and go through the process of reclaiming all the bank charges for the last 6 years.

 

I had another unexpected payment of £115 come out of my account yesterday for charges which are just totally unjust and I am now passed the annoid/angry phase it's time now to take action.

[_Lynz_]

Thanks for all your advice guys and gals.

 

 

I contacted Virgin Media again and to my shock I found that the monthly charges increased to £40 from £26, I was then so angry that I had to control myself from losing it. Anyway I decided to accept their loyalty scheme for the next 12 months which gave me the same deal as I am on now with an additional 25% off mobile calls from the landline at a cost of £27 - £1 e-billing totalling £26 per month for just the charges. Only downfall is that if I decide to cancel the contract at any time I have to pay £10 per service per month remaining on the contract.

 

I closed one of my Bank accounts with Lloyds and kept one open for the time being to cover my next pay cheque that goes in and then I'm changing Banks.

 

I am also going to try and go through the process of reclaiming all the bank charges for the last 6 years.

 

I had another unexpected payment of £115 come out of my account yesterday for charges which are just totally unjust and I am now passed the annoid/angry phase it's time now to take action.

 

Thats the thing with Bank charges is that it's such a vicious circle, you just get yourself back on your feet and then a bundle load of charges come out that you weren't expecting and you're back to square one.

 

I hope you get it sorted and manage to get your money back, I think a lot of people have been successful at getting it back but it's not a quick process I don't think.

 

Good luck with it