Hi,

The moneygrabbing, callous, arrogant festering crotch rots who run the Bank
of Scotland have totally overcome any lingering sense of customer service in
their latest round of customer mailings - so much so I think I may need a
pregnancy test.

The current account I have has never exactly been a beacon of reasonable
charges or service provision but today I got a letter flatly informing me
that it will no longer pay any intrest on credit balances whatsoever.

O.k. it was only ever 0.1% and being in credit is not something I was
terribly familiar with.

But, just to make sure the nut got well and truly screwed to the sticking
place, they have also decided to change the overdraft rules beyond all
reasonable bounds.

Up till now I have had a free £100 overdraft with an additional £200 that
carried a penalty charge of 1.5% if it was used.

Sad to say I have to use the additional £200 facility most months for varying amounts of time to tide me over between the bills arriving and the next dribble of money. I don't think I am all that unusual in this ( I have several friends who live on the very edge of their overdrafts permanently despite good incomes ) and the charges tended to hover around the £0.64 mark per month for me on average.

The new rules however are that ANY use of an ARRANGED overdraft ( up to
£2500 ) will be charged at £1 per day!!!!!

That works out at an increase in my monthly charges for having a £300 overdraft of 4587.5%!!!!!!

How the bejeebus can that be legal or seen as a reasonable charge?

They graciously add that they will, however, no longer charge intrest on the
overdraft amount.

Big whoop. For that amount of charges to be levied through intrest at the
old level the overdrawn amount would have to be £2,000. (er..... that's if my
math is correct ).

Or, to put it another way, I am ( from the 6th of December ) effectively
going to be charged for an extra £1,700 worth of overdraft I do not have.

Merry bleedin Christmas indeed. :-(

So, in the run up to Christmas, I now have approximately six weeks to
somehow find an extra £300 or be charged £30 a month.

I guess this year I get to play the grinch who doesn't give any presents.


dr del