Random Rant

[Petra]

2 minutes ago, LawrenceChard said:

I have hardly any problem spending them!

😎

I’ll bring my bag full round to do some shopping at yours🫢🤔😮

[LawrenceChard]

13 hours ago, Bogart said:

Random Rant

Seething having just put the phone down on an obnoxious creature at Lloyds bank. Was trying to pay Fadeinstar on here for one of his Sigma machines.

Went alright told all was hunky dory until I get a message saying ring us. So ring them they are not happy to whom I am trying to pay the money.

Talk about the third degree treating me like a halfwit. What am I buying  am not telling you, no did not like that reply nor a lot of others I gave him.

I would put in a complaint but as our conversation ended with me telling him to f off might not be the best way. I should not have said that to him but

having spent about 30 minutes on the phone to him  I had had enough.

Rant over going for a drink.

That was not really a random rant, it was quite targetted in fact, but none the worse for that.

I sometimes hear similar from the other side.

We often get customers who go to make a bank transfer to us, and get quizzed and grilled by their bank about:

Why do you want to buy gold?

Who are this Chards outfit?

Are they legitimate?

And so on.

Similar happens with debit cards.

Sometimes this happens while they are in our showroom, which is potentially embarrassing for our customer, at other times it happens while they are at home.

I agree it is very frustrating for all parties.

It seems that, although banks are under much pressure to help prevent fraud, they are very inept at doing this in a sensible and efficient manner.

They do in addition have AML responsibilities. These apply not only to the banks themselves, but also to their individual staff members. This probably adds to the caution and confusion.

😎

[LawrenceChard]

16 minutes ago, Petra said:

I’ll bring my bag full round to do some shopping at yours🫢🤔😮

Lovely!

Yes, we do still accept cash, even though too much of it creates extra work.

Our preferred payment method these days is bank transfer.

😎

[Petra]

9 minutes ago, LawrenceChard said:

Lovely!

Yes, we do still accept cash, even though too much of it creates extra work.

Our preferred payment method these days is bank transfer.

😎

🧳🧐😮🤔🧳

[Cornishfarmer]

Funny that I’ve had 4 conversations in last couple days about banks and many companies and individuals doing cashless.  All 4 said that they have never seen so much cash floating about for payments. The banks charging so much to deposit cash is making a bigger and bigger black economy in their eyes.

interesting in my local town, with  the takeaways, 4 take cash only 4 cards only and 2 take both.    Not sure if that’s the same everywhere but it’s what’s happening here

Edited February 17, 2023 by Cornishfarmer

[Bigmarc]

1 hour ago, Bogart said:

In the process of swapping some accounts. £200 for free get it then move on.

I moved from Barclays last year to metro. I tried to buy a car from a private sale on a Saturday. The funds had left my account and not reached his account for 5 hours. It was like a Mexican stand off as I had paid but he was not. The worst bit about it was Barclays call center is closed at weekends so no info. In the end I proved his account was working buy sending him £1 from a different account. 

[LawrenceChard]

On 17/02/2023 at 12:22, Cornishfarmer said:

Funny that I’ve had 4 conversations in last couple days about banks and many companies and individuals doing cashless.  All 4 said that they have never seen so much cash floating about for payments. The banks charging so much to deposit cash is making a bigger and bigger black economy in their eyes.

interesting in my local town, with  the takeaways, 4 take cash only 4 cards only and 2 take both.    Not sure if that’s the same everywhere but it’s what’s happening here

I could understand "Card payments preferred" during the Covid pandemic, but I dislike "Card payments only".

I have much empathy with "cash only", for whatever reason.

It has become harder to pay only in cash, particularly with the huge rise in online shopping. It it very difficult to book a flight, hotel, car hire using cash, as most of it is done online.

Whenever business is done face to face, its strikes me as unfriendly to demand card payment only. It is almost certainly done because it saves costs for the business, but **** the customer. Great attitude!

Remaining flexible, and accepting multiple payment methods makes the most sense to me.

Before anyone else points this out, we at Chards have discouraged or refused credit card payments for many years now, partly because they used to be such a rip-off for merchants (think commission rates up to 7+%).

When the EU trumpeted about capping credit card charges, they conveniently forgot to mention that at the same time, they allowed banks to increase their debit card charges. These used to be as low as 10p per transaction, and now cost upwards of 0.3%, which makes little difference on small transactions, but punches a huge hole in gross profit margins on transactions such as investment gold. A £100,000 transaction (not uncommon) now costs over £300 in card fees. If the dealer is making a 2% margin, that works out at over 15% of the profit. Working on a 1% GP, it would cost over 30% of the profit.

The customer / buyer does not see this, and paying by card can be quick and convenient, but any dealer who accepts DC payments for large amounts has to factor in this extra cost, and usually just increases his prices, so it is ulltimately the consumer who pays it, even though they hardly ever realise.

Whenever we implement any policy, such as preferred payment methods, there is always a valid reason, and we are always happy to share the reasons with our customers.

😎

Edited March 22, 2023 by LawrenceChard
typo

[LawrenceChard]

6 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

I moved from Barclays last year to metro. I tried to buy a car from a private sale on a Saturday. The funds had left my account and not reached his account for 5 hours. It was like a Mexican stand off as I had paid but he was not. The worst bit about it was Barclays call center is closed at weekends so no info. In the end I proved his account was working buy sending him £1 from a different account. 

I hope you didn't buy a "Metro"!

😎

[Bigmarc]

22 minutes ago, Cornishfarmer said:

Funny that I’ve had 4 conversations in last couple days about banks and many companies and individuals doing cashless.  All 4 said that they have never seen so much cash floating about for payments. The banks charging so much to deposit cash is making a bigger and bigger black economy in their eyes.

interesting in my local town, with  the takeaways, 4 take cash only 4 cards only and 2 take both.    Not sure if that’s the same everywhere but it’s what’s happening here

Yes same here, most of the take aways round here are cash only, also a few barbers. I live 5 mins from m25. 

[LawrenceChard]

1 minute ago, Bigmarc said:

Yes same here, most of the take aways round here are cash only, also a few barbers. I live 5 mins from m25. 

The barbers probably don't take cards, because the banks take a "haircut"!

😎

[ZRPMs]

Well Battle commenced at 9:34 am this morning with NatWest. They all Know me in the branch. I think I'm known as the awkward b&$t&rd. I approached the desk "Hello Mr ............ how can we help today?". I proceed to tell them I wish to pa mortgage off, Pay a contractor and withdraw £2000. "Umm we may need to take you to a private area." Off we go. I have all the paperwork for the mortgage and it turns out that the mortgage company is a subsidiary of the bank. This will go smoothly I thought. Nope. Was I sure it was what I wanted? Is it defiantly the correct bank/ details/ the right move for me/ uncoerced. Did I feel any pressure making the payment? My god the list went on. In the end I got the mortgage place on the phone. Went through all their security. Please press 1 then 5 then 7 very sorry you have made a wrong choice back to main menu. repeat, you get the drift. Finally get to talk with some one. Do I give authority to discus the matter with a third party. Eventually got the payment sent. They weren't too happy about paying the electricians bill. And as far as the £2000. They would only let me have £1000 as I might end up paying other tradesmen. I did tell them that I failed to see how the way I spent my funds was relevant to them. Any how, That took nearly 2 hours.

[MonkeysUncle]

I use cash where I can.

The garage that looks after my car is now card only, but that's understandable as it's a rough area and taking thousands in cash a day is basically not safe.

I had to pay DFS by card for a sofa as they don't take cash.

Everybody else where I physically spend is happy to take my paper with the Queen on. 

[MonkeysUncle]

A thought that crossed my mind is in a cashless world how the hell do you pay a lady giving a lap dance?

Swipe your Mastercard between her cheeks! 😝

[SidS]

49 minutes ago, MonkeysUncle said:

A thought that crossed my mind is in a cashless world how the hell do you pay a lady giving a lap dance?

Swipe your Mastercard between her cheeks! 😝

Does she beep when you do so? If not, how do you know the payment has gone through? 😁

The less said about 'insert card' for chip and pin, the better...

[Bogart]

1 hour ago, ZRPMs said:

Well Battle commenced at 9:34 am this morning with NatWest. They all Know me in the branch. I think I'm known as the awkward b&$t&rd. I approached the desk "Hello Mr ............ how can we help today?". I proceed to tell them I wish to pa mortgage off, Pay a contractor and withdraw £2000. "Umm we may need to take you to a private area." Off we go. I have all the paperwork for the mortgage and it turns out that the mortgage company is a subsidiary of the bank. This will go smoothly I thought. Nope. Was I sure it was what I wanted? Is it defiantly the correct bank/ details/ the right move for me/ uncoerced. Did I feel any pressure making the payment? My god the list went on. In the end I got the mortgage place on the phone. Went through all their security. Please press 1 then 5 then 7 very sorry you have made a wrong choice back to main menu. repeat, you get the drift. Finally get to talk with some one. Do I give authority to discus the matter with a third party. Eventually got the payment sent. They weren't too happy about paying the electricians bill. And as far as the £2000. They would only let me have £1000 as I might end up paying other tradesmen. I did tell them that I failed to see how the way I spent my funds was relevant to them. Any how, That took nearly 2 hours.

Had an incidence quite a few montyhs ago where I wanted out £5k to pay some workmen cash in hand. Not my problem if they do not declare it.  Got the nth degree until I said I m not moving from this counter until you give it to me.

Finally condescended to give me MY money how magnanimous of them. Top that about an hour ago related all these sagas to a friend of mine. He went to withdraw £7k from Nat West they kept him talking whilst the poiice arrived. Needless to say

he does bank with them anymore.

Be careful the Stasi are watching.

[LawrenceChard]

3 hours ago, ZRPMs said:

Well Battle commenced at 9:34 am this morning with NatWest. They all Know me in the branch. I think I'm known as the awkward b&$t&rd. I approached the desk "Hello Mr ............ how can we help today?". I proceed to tell them I wish to pa mortgage off, Pay a contractor and withdraw £2000. "Umm we may need to take you to a private area." Off we go. I have all the paperwork for the mortgage and it turns out that the mortgage company is a subsidiary of the bank. This will go smoothly I thought. Nope. Was I sure it was what I wanted? Is it defiantly the correct bank/ details/ the right move for me/ uncoerced. Did I feel any pressure making the payment? My god the list went on. In the end I got the mortgage place on the phone. Went through all their security. Please press 1 then 5 then 7 very sorry you have made a wrong choice back to main menu. repeat, you get the drift. Finally get to talk with some one. Do I give authority to discus the matter with a third party. Eventually got the payment sent. They weren't too happy about paying the electricians bill. And as far as the £2000. They would only let me have £1000 as I might end up paying other tradesmen. I did tell them that I failed to see how the way I spent my funds was relevant to them. Any how, That took nearly 2 hours.

" the right move for me/ uncoerced. Did I feel any pressure making the payment?"

Yes, someone from youir mortgage subsidiary told me if I didn't pay off my mortgage immediately, they know where my wife and kids are, if you get my drift. I took that as an offer I couldn't refuse.

As for the electrician's bill...

What? you want some money for yourself? Are you under any undue pressure from yourself? Is your wife leaning on you?

"That took nearly 2 hours" - Sounds relatively quick!

I don't suppose I will be able to able to do a £1.7 million transfer on Monday!

😎

[MonkeysUncle]

Think we'll all have to start wearing stockings, brandishing shotguns and driving Jags when we want money in the future.

[pricha]

I paid a monthly amount for years in to a investment savings plan. Later I changed it into an ISA and kept up the monthly payments. I swear,  about 4 years later they write to me and said they wanted proof of who I was . Not only they wanted a signed letter from God or someone higher to confirm who I was they wanted a copy of a utility bill.. BUT not a utility bill printed off the Internet.  They wanted a paper bill sent via the post . And the funny thing is they wanted to be paperless themselves. I wrote to them and said close the account immediately..of course it was rubbish and got far less than what I put in over time. Needless to say I bought some very nice sovereigns with the proceeds. If only I bought coins years ago instead of thos rubbish ISA. 

[Tn21]

Congrats @ZRPMs how do you feel after paying off your mortgage, surely a major milestone in one's life ?

Edited February 17, 2023 by Tn21

[ZRPMs]

1 minute ago, Tn21 said:

Congrats @ZRPMs how do you feel after paying off your mortgage, sure a major milestone in one's life ?

Exhausted to be fair. Bank's, to be honest I have been expecting some sort of retribution from them for spending my own funds for my own benefit. But not seeing the monthly payment going out will be great. 

[dicker]

5 hours ago, Bigmarc said:

I moved from Barclays last year to metro. I tried to buy a car from a private sale on a Saturday. The funds had left my account and not reached his account for 5 hours. It was like a Mexican stand off as I had paid but he was not. The worst bit about it was Barclays call center is closed at weekends so no info. In the end I proved his account was working buy sending him £1 from a different account. 

Barclays are the worst in my opinion.  Utterly awful.

I have a “personal banker” who calls me once a year to sell me their products, not to help me.  When I need something I know not to go to Barclays.  

Barclays called me about my business account because they “couldn’t verify who I was” and they wanted to close my account.  I have banked with them since I was 5 years old.  They hold all of my identify information and have paid my company because I had a contract with Barclays.  You couldn’t make it up.

Most recently I lost my wallet and needed replacement cards.  Here are responses from my card suppliers on the phone:

- Amex:  We can get you a new card by tomorrow morning.  Do you need emergency assistance to get you home now - we can and will help. Don’t worry - any unauthorised spending is our problem not yours.

- Metrobank: Cards will be sent tomorrow and be with you in 3 working days

- Barclays:  We can’t find all of your accounts and cards issued.  A replacement card will take 7 days but you can pay £8 per card and they will arrive in 5 working days.  We have two addresses for you, why is that? It’s unusual.

Barclays = Binlord bank.  

[SidS]

Halifax have been quite good with me over the years. I've only had a few stopped transactions.

HSBC were hard work though. Froze my account because I'd tried to purchase something from France. Took ages to sort it out.

[Petra]

20 minutes ago, ZRPMs said:

Exhausted to be fair. Bank's, to be honest I have been expecting some sort of retribution from them for spending my own funds for my own benefit. But not seeing the monthly payment going out will be great. 

Funds for another coin or two?🤔😮👍

[Bigmarc]

28 minutes ago, dicker said:

Metrobank: Cards will be sent tomorrow and be with you in 3 working days

My missus lost her card and walked into a branch and they printed a new one off in house. She didn't need and I'd as they have photo of her when we opened an account. It's a pretty basic bank to be honest but it works. They also have a change machine that puts it straight into your account. 

I have only really had a bad experience with Barclays, just think they are not keeping up with technology, I've heard lots of bad stories about Lloyds, many of the lads at work are having problems buying crypto through PayPal. 

[ArgentSmith]

About 15 years ago I transferred aprox 60k into wifeys Bank this was for the purpose of spreading risk. I needed 5k cash so planned on taking 2.5k from my account I knew my bank wouldn't give me full amount, and her taking 2.5k. She Banked with Barclays at the time haha anyway long story short she went in asked for full amount lady asked her what it was for so wifey told her it was none of her business! 🤣 She wasn't in there long and came out with the full £5k bless her 😍