Well said mate.

I was recently charged by HSBC £25 for an arrangement fee of a telephone call they made to me (that i didn't ask for) regarding an issue with my account, and issue that it turned out wasn't there in the first place.

The man on the phone was polite and very approachable (despite what some people say about telephone services in India) and admited that there was a problem on behalf of the bank. What he failed to tell me on the other hand was that i was going to be charged actual money (as well as the 20 minutes of my time) for an arranged call that as i said was never asked for by myself over an issue that turned about to be an error on their part.

I went into my bank and was effectivley told their hands were tied on the matter, so i shut down my current account, withdrew my savings, stamped my feet a little and made a bit of a scene infront of a busy Saturday morning que and went over to Natwest (i was with HSBC incidentley).

hmm, not sure I agree with you here, I have always received letters from all my banks regarding interest rate cuts, but I am generally too lazy to a) read them b) find an alternative or c) move my cash - but I have all my accounts online in one place so I can oonveniently see my balances.

Banks do charge for many services but it is down to the individual to manage their own money, obviously scottehs situation is a bit different though.

Yes, I do work for a financial institution right now, but this is a belief I've always held. If we have to pay for banking like many European countries I'm sure people would make more of an effort to check what they were paying for!

Never had a need to phone up wth a problem as I do it all on the net and location is obviously not important in that situation. Sure, banks do offer good deals for 'new' customers, but tell me a business that does not. At the end of the day it IS a business and is as entitled to make a living as the butcher down the road.