Someone I know has been having some financial problems and got into arrears with a credit card and a loan. HSBC agreed a payment of 56.00 a month. But after the person got a long awaited tax rebate of about 400.00 he discovered that HSBC has taken the money to pay off some of the loan. No notice given, and no account of the arrangement taken!! And this is taken from someone virutally on the minimum wage who could really use the money!

And the bankers are putting off paying their bonuses until next year so they pay less tax. I am speechless at the greed of these b*******s!!

I kicked HSBC into touch must be getting on for two years now, but left in the account 1p I get updates through the post on services, plus two statements a year telling me the account is in cedit even though its only a penny. don't need a Bank as such, I used to dabble in a few stocks and shares, but took me money and ran when in credit, just use Nationwide nowadays, they do all I need have 3 bank cards that I can draw on the ATMs if need be, have an overdraft facility with them if an emergency crops up, had my mortgage through them so over the years a good relationship with them even bought a boat through them, so who needs banks??

_________________
Its not always the biggest and the bestest, its them that make the least mistakes.

Life can be a real tough sometimes and the reasons the banks had to be bailed out (with taxpayers money) was because they loaned money to people whom they shouldn't have as they should have known they couldn't afford to pay it back.

HSBC (in being not a UK bank) as I recall was not one of those banks who needed taxpayer funds so if they are run responsibly and make a profit then the organisation are at liberty to pay a bonus.

Whilst I can sympathise with one hand on the other I see this as a necessity to re-educate the population as too fiscal responsibility.....

After all what would the council do if I did not want to pay my council tax?

The point is that they had agreed a payment plan, then just helped themselves to over 400. No contact was made, and having plundered his account they now expect another payment in 2 days!!

ALL the banks are bloodsucking leeches. I totally detest all of them and your friend is just yet another poor victim of these vile people ... I could fill pages with stories like this one and worse.

Geezer, you seem to have no idea just how bad the banks can be towards people on the lowest rung of the ladder; they kick them hard when they're down and plunder their meagre finances with outrageous, unjustified charges and penalties just because they can. They disgust me.

Don't use them then.... You have the choice...

Despite whatever your employer may tell you, you have the right to demand wages in the coin of the realm. Remove banks from the equation completely it will do your blood pressure no end of good.

Irresponsible lending and profligate spending by the masses is the cause of the financial crisis we find ourselves in, not a symptom of it.

What was it Wilkins Micawber said?

You may have the legal right to be paid in cash, but I would imagine you would be shown the door pretty quickly and replaced by a less troublesome employee. Plus you have to pay extra on your bills if you don't pay direct debit! So it's not an option

Lindsay, I have the deepest sympathy for your friend. I had an equally unpleasant experience with Barclays about thirty five years ago. The behaviour of banks has not suddenly become worse since they crashed the economy, uncontrollable selfish greed is in their DNA.

I banked with Barclays because my then employer insisted on my having a bank account with Barclays. Part of the agreement was that I would have free banking because I was paid directly into the bank. The agreement restricted me to a certain number of cash withdrawals per year; an agreement that I NEVER broke. The system worked fine for some years. Then without warning Barclays deducted a massive banking charge from my account, which left me in the red. Barclays wrote to me advising me I was in the red and had the audacity to charge me a considerable sum for the letter, placing me even further in the red. It was only after I contacted Barclays that they informed me that the original agreement granting me free banking had been cancelled without warning. Barclays never did refund my money. I changed my bank and left my Barclays account in the red. Many years later I received a phone call from Barclays whilst at work with another employer. I still don't know how Barclays located me. The person on the phone at Barclays was attempting to get me to pay the long outstanding debt on my old account. To cut a long story short, I told them to take me to court. I never heard from Barclays again.

Oh so nothing to do with the politicians of the day regulating the financial industry properly AND they still dont

They the politicians have got away with that one....Thats why we still have this type of legalised theft

What should they have regulated then? A cap on charges (remember whatever you read or are told by the media banking is still a free market) or due diligence in what and who they lent to. Might even be a good idea to put in place capital controls and restrict the amount they can lend under the fractional reserve system!

The reality is politicians are in bed with the bankers and dance to their tune. Remind me again who pays Tony Blair about £20 million a year for turning up to sit in a few meetings and speak at the odd conference!!