Banks

[Willow]

Moffo: "I would have to agree with the issues about fees. But the banks are like any public company, they are return driven and focused on satisfying shareholders. If people have a problem with this, i think its more an issuing of revisiting social values in general, not just the operations of an individual bank."

I think it can't be understated that social values partly the reason why banks have become heartless bastards.
As El Duque says, banks are not a charity, but there was a time when they made more of an effort to help out the local community.

My RU playing father in law was also a divisional manager of one Midlands, one of the largest banks in Britain. He says that there was a time when he's main job was to provide finance for industry and families. He said it ws good to see jobs being created and people getting into their own home. Banks in Australia were the same.

But he ended up retiring early because his role changed to sacking his staff and forclosing on debts.... he said this was for the bottom line but it didnt make him feel any better to know that the shareholders were profiting from other people's misery.
That, and he also knew that he would eventually be made reduntant himself.

I'm lucky because I'm at that stage where the bank takes me seriously and I can use the system to my advantage but I know there's others who are charged pretty heavily for their meagre earnings when compared tosome who have so much more at their disposal.

Moffo is right, banks are 'return driven' but unfortunately, that means we have to sit by and watch the gap between rich and poor continue to grow at an accelerating rate.

 

[imported_E_A__]

I'm not from WORL, I'm from the Footy Show, the smarter younger brother of WORL. I have been banned 3 times from WORL for talking in Jubilee where apparently it's against the law.

But, it isn't against the law to be Jim or StGIllaman.

What's the World coming to.

 

[imported_E_A__]

V

But you did, and you didn't get it either.

It's ok, I understand.

 

[Cronulla_Mania]

Have to agree, the banks have turned mean. But once again, if one is going to apply the term "heartless bastard", than you should also consider the thousands of people who will lose jobs after recent sackings at McDonalds, the reduction in staff at many IT companies (in the name of profiteering) and countless people who got the chop when companies such as Ansett,HIH and OneTel cut back on staff in order to keep their business afloat.

I mean, all businesses cut people and do whatever they can to make a dirty dollar. The crux of the point was that banks are commonly singled out in this respect, and i think thats wrong.

As for the tiff, all i can say is that Everloving mate, i too took offense to that comment. There are a lot of decent people out there who earn a crust slaving away in the banks. Just like any other industry. Do u hold the same attitude to the gambling and alcohol industries, where people often profit off others problems and addictions? I just think it was a bit over the top.

Moffo

 

[Cronulla_Mania]

Did i mention controversy?? lol

Moffo

 

[El Duque]

Yo Moff I wouldn't worry about that comment. I'd worry when your old man works in the bank and you go to school with a heap of farmers sons

Ya might cop a bit of stick every now and then in that scenariobut it certainly aint my bloody fault if it doesn't rain or if it rains too f**king much...lol

 

[Cronulla_Mania]

lol, well yeh, thats a good point. People always look for someone to blame. Ain't human nature beautiful?? lol

Moffo

 

[Willow]

Moffo, with respect, comparing Banks toCorporations doesnt do much to support their cause.

Funny you should mention Ansett...
Did you know that QANTAS recently paid big bucks to buy out part of Air Zealand...?
Naturally, this sent shares on the up and a number of board members received some hefty returns.

We shouldn't forget that it was Air Zealand who basically drove Ansett into the ground subsequently giving QANTAS a huge boost in the Austrlian domestic market... to spell out the obvious, QANTAS and Air New Zealand were in cahoots from day one.... and everyone in-the-know received their cut.

You'd think they'd at least make a slight effort to cover it up.

 

[El Duque]

It's not like Ansett were saints. Remember Compass?

 

[imported_E_A__]

Moffo, read the Trolls thread.

I don't drink or bet so I don't care about their effect really.

No one's forced to do either. If you're dumb enough to do either or both to excess, it's your problem.

Banks are different though, everyone in some way or another needs a Bank Account. They make billions in profit and shed people's livelihoods like they are shelling peas. I hate the bastards. They close branches that are always full, there are three close to me that closed and they were always chockers. The branches that are closed are the ones the battlers rely on.

I may have been a tad harsh on the bloke/woman on the floor, but in all sincerity, I've found most to be arrogant pricks who think that working in a Bank is some sort of status symbol. Hence the reason that when the Banks shed jobs, no one gives a frig except for the Bank staff and it's Unions. We all have stories of standing in a long line while two or more tellers are gasbagging.

Anyway, I'm interested to see how they handle the Farmers plight. They are in with a shot of having their nuts cut off on this one.

 

[imported_Roopy4246]

In my lifetime I've taken out a total of eight loans from a total of five different institutions, including both banks and building societies. In my experience, they all try to be your very bestest new buddies till you sign the piece of paper, then it's 'pay up scumbag'. The worst I've come across were at the bank that used to be Government owned.
I'd like to tell you about a good one, but I haven't come across them yet.

I recently had to get a few thousand dollars from a bank that was in my fathers account when he died. I had done business with this same branch of this bank totalling nearly half a million dollars in the past, but to get this few thousand out of them they put me through every bit of shit they could come up with, all the way from making me get JP's to confirm my identity to making me wait 6 weeks for the money.

Banks are total pricks, and that goes for all the lending institutions, but you have to do business with someone.

 

[Willow]

Fair go El, its not me thats making the comparisons... I'm just running with old adage that two wrongs dont make a right.
Sure Ansett screwed Campass over. But I'm sure no one at the top was hurt.
The truth is Ansett were driving themselves into the ground well before AirNZ finished them off.

Its amusing that bank tellers receive such vocal support but the same concern isnt given to airline employees or the spinoff industries that these things have an effect on.

Roopy:
I know where your coming from. I won't touch the Commonwealth Bank with barge pole. Without going into too much detail, they dead-set try to steal a large amount from me once ($8,000 in fact, about 15-20 years ago). The govt still owned part of the bank at the time. They didnt get away with it but no one was sacked over the incident.

A mate of mine also had to fight tooth-and-nail to get his late father's money. I had to go in to support him because he was so upset. He's paperwork was all in order but the solicitor has spelt his middle-name slightly wrong on one of the documents ('Shaun' instead of 'Sean').
It was pathetic to watch the hard time they were giving my distraught mate... and all for about $2000.

With banks, I check everything three times over... being a big institution doesnt mean that they are honest.

 

[legend]

I actually find St George to be a very customer focused bank and their products are excellent. I also used to work for Citibank and they are another bank who used to offer a first rate service but they catered for a niche market. My only advice is to give the big four a wide berth and stick with a regional bank/credit union.

 

[El Duque]

I was just trying to say what Qantas and AirNZ did sounds pretty similar to what was done to Compass. When that happened we never saw many stories like we did when Ansett went bust on the people that lost jobs although Compass were only new on the scene really.
The only sympathy I see for bank tellers so far here is them copping stick from customers.

 

[Willow]

I agree 100% with Legend... St George are head and shoulders above the rest.

 

[Willow]

Fair enough El.

 

[legend]

Well, after all the bullshit in that area, something good finally had to grow.

 

[Cronulla_Mania]

Ahhh...Re: Post 28 Willow...I don't know if you have the inside knowledge in the Qantas/Ansett/AirSheep debacle, but i find it surprising (if u don't have the info) that you could draw that conclusion.

To usea wanky university term, causation theory. To assume that something happens because of something else. From what i have been told by an uncle who was involved in compass/ansett at the time, they were basically shot ducks by the time compass was finished with. I thinkhe used the words technically bankrupt or something to that affect.So in theory, NZ pumped a heap of money into a lost cause....for what reason? Qantas had the lions share of the market, it had always been that way. Why would Qantas be so keen to polish off Ansett when they had other carriers such as Virgin entering the market. Being a sole operator on the domestic scene was never a realistic chance, Virgin and at the time Impulse were still around. In other words, they probably wanted a monopoly over the domestic market so that they could jack up prices, but that didn't eventuate.

The top knobs like Toomey (sp?) lost their job over it as well if memory serves. They lost a shitload on it. Hey, i dunno, you might be right, but it sounds weird that such a large company would risk their reputation on doing business with the devil (ie: AirNZ).

EA - The point i was making is that both of those industries feed off the problems of others. Banks, in a different way, do the same thing. People who can't manage their money properly or don't understand the system are often the ones who end up whinging about them. Im not saying you (or anyone here) falls into that category, but a lot of annoyance stems from people who just don't read the fine print or educate themselves about banks. The banks are not a government enterprise, they are not there to serve the public. Deregulation, no more CBA being the government bank, its a privately run sector. If the banks leave country towns, they are often replaced by smaller banks or credit unions. Look at Bendigo Bank and Suncorp for some examples of that.

They don't have a responsibility as such to the individual, its a capitalist society, if you don't like them, piss em off! That said, they have ethical responsibilites to the community and helping out in major crises (such as the drought). But shit, they are not obligated to do any of this. If the public gets pissed off with how banks are run, they should follow their mouth and leave the bank! The stupidity of people who whinge but never change anything will never cease to astound me.

"No one's forced to do either. If you're dumb enough to do either or both to excess, it's your problem"

Geez mate, you could apply the same ideas to banks if you think that way about them! Think about it, you are not forced to be in a bank!

Moffo

 

[ozbash]

i doubt many kiwis will be that thrilled about the air nz/qantas merger.
we are waiting for virgin to arrive.

ansett deserved everything they got.

 

[Willow]

I've had an account with St George in one form or another since they were a Building Society. In Southern Sydney, I never had a problem with them and they gave me my first big loan when Westpac and ANZ etc treated me like something they found on the bottom of their shoe.

But unfortunately I didnt get the same sort of service in Qld so I shifted to another local bank, Suncorp Metway. Touch wood, they havent stuffed me around yet.
In my experience and only if its at all possible, banking 'local' seems to have its advantages.