The Charge - has it been changed?

Anything that doesn't fit anywhere else, but that's still CH related.

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Fjgrogan
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Re: The Charge - has it been changed?

Post by Fjgrogan »

We are lucky these days if we get to do anything on paper that requires a physical signature. I have spent several frustrating hours this week trying to deal with my bank by phone on a premium (expensive) phone number, being shunted from one extension to another, not helped by the fact that I so rarely bank by phone that I do not remember my 5-digit phone PIN. If you wait long enough you get to speak to a real live person briefly, before they shunt you onto another extension, another long queue and eventually they take your number and promise to phone back; three days later they haven't! So, I long for the days when it was just a question of signing a piece of paper - in fact, 'bring back the quill pen' as soon as possible. Eventually I visited my not-so-local branch, albeit with no appointment, but prepared to wait as long as necessary. All my questions were answered; I was even given a cup of coffee; I was so happy that I even agreed to the risky business of doing (some) of my banking online - now I shall no doubt have another set of PINs to remember - and they urge us not to write them down anywhere! Has anyone ever written a 'Banking for Dummies' , I wonder. I bet they have!
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Re: The Charge - has it been changed?

Post by Foureyes »

fjgrogan says:
"...All my questions were answered; I was even given a cup of coffee; I was so happy that I even agreed to the risky business of doing (some) of my banking online..."
Oh dear! I am afraid that you were conned. All that coffee and charm had only one object - to get you to sign up to on-line banking. And you did!

:shock:
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Re: The Charge - has it been changed?

Post by Fjgrogan »

I think (but I may be deluded?) what persuaded me towards online banking was the fact that it pays a higher rate of interest, and on my paltry pension I need any extra pennies that I can beg, borrow or otherwise wangle! However, I do wonder whether that could be considered as discrimination against people who do not own a computer or choose not to use one. So in a peculiar way we actually seem to have brought this thread back to it actual topic -'the charge - has it been changed?'!
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Re: The Charge - has it been changed?

Post by anniexf »

Foureyes wrote:fjgrogan says:
"...All my questions were answered; I was even given a cup of coffee; I was so happy that I even agreed to the risky business of doing (some) of my banking online..."
Oh dear! I am afraid that you were conned. All that coffee and charm had only one object - to get you to sign up to on-line banking. And you did!

:shock:
In defence of online banking, two years ago I was due a renewal credit card which didn't turn up. I phoned the bank & they cancelled it, promising me another one. This duly arrived, together with the original "missing" one. Again I phoned the bank, to let them know and to get the new one activated. Next day, checking my accounts as usual, I noticed a charge for an Oyster card. I don't live in London & it clearly wasn't mine, so I rang the bank. They asked if I had purchased £1200 - worth of computer equipment, plus other things that were going through. To cut a frightening story short, my bank got everything back that had been bought with my card except for the Oyster card, and they gave me a full refund for that. I'd have been none the wiser until the end of the month had I not banked online. It would have been far worse by then, with less chance of a good outcome.

On Thursday I bought some stuff online from a Swedish company. Within minutes of the transaction going through my bank phoned me to check that it was bona fide. How's that for service?
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Re: The Charge - has it been changed?

Post by Fjgrogan »

A good point. I too have had the bank phone to check when I did something out of the ordinary, and that was without banking online. I think I can get used to the idea. In reality it is not so much online banking that I hate - I shall get used to that - but having to do it all by telephone; I have always been phobic about telephones! My husband however could not bank online because his sight is not good enough to handle a computer. I realised long ago that I can buy things online using his debit card and the seller is none the wiser - don't worry, I do it with his permission! I cannot do that on the telephone though, so I will dial the number, hand the phone to him and then he will say 'Speak to my wife ......' I think however that he would draw the line at letting me loose entirely on his banking - or maybe not?!

Anyway - to get back to the real topic. When we more elderly OBs get uptight about the Foundation's efforts to keep the school afloat financially, because many of us feel that it is altering the ethos of CH, I think that in a way we are obeying the charge to ensure that the benefits that we have received are passed on to others in similar need. On the other hand I guess that will not happen if there is no school left. So I am torn ..........

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NEILL THE NOTORIOUS
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Re: The Charge - has it been changed?

Post by NEILL THE NOTORIOUS »

Mine was a thumbprint !

I also have two signatures --- one for Financial and Legal, and one for everything else !!
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Re: The Charge - has it been changed?

Post by jhopgood »

Fjgrogan wrote:We are lucky these days if we get to do anything on paper that requires a physical signature. I have spent several frustrating hours this week trying to deal with my bank by phone on a premium (expensive) phone number, being shunted from one extension to another, not helped by the fact that I so rarely bank by phone that I do not remember my 5-digit phone PIN. If you wait long enough you get to speak to a real live person briefly, before they shunt you onto another extension, another long queue and eventually they take your number and promise to phone back; three days later they haven't! So, I long for the days when it was just a question of signing a piece of paper - in fact, 'bring back the quill pen' as soon as possible. Eventually I visited my not-so-local branch, albeit with no appointment, but prepared to wait as long as necessary. All my questions were answered; I was even given a cup of coffee; I was so happy that I even agreed to the risky business of doing (some) of my banking online - now I shall no doubt have another set of PINs to remember - and they urge us not to write them down anywhere! Has anyone ever written a 'Banking for Dummies' , I wonder. I bet they have!
My brother is trying to get on to my mother's account after the death of my brother. He has all the powers of attorney etc, but has just sent me this.

Making slow progress with the banks. All sorted with Barclays (the most helpful - they even replied to my letter!); seeing Nat West for third time today (and hope they might be able to resolve issue of.....); Alliance & Leicester have reduced me to writing a formal letter of complaint and need to find a branch which has somebody with an IQ above 80 in order to sort
Nat West only came to life after a letter and 3 phone calls when he threatened to close the account, which they have had since 1963 when my father worked in the Police Station next to the bank.
They are all the same, even here in Spain.
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englishangel
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Re: The Charge - has it been changed?

Post by englishangel »

Fjgrogan wrote:I think (but I may be deluded?) what persuaded me towards online banking was the fact that it pays a higher rate of interest, and on my paltry pension I need any extra pennies that I can beg, borrow or otherwise wangle! However, I do wonder whether that could be considered as discrimination against people who do not own a computer or choose not to use one. So in a peculiar way we actually seem to have brought this thread back to it actual topic -'the charge - has it been changed?'!
I thought this was about the charge in the Leavers Bible, not bank charges.

Oh no, I'm turning into JR
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Re: The Charge - has it been changed?

Post by jhopgood »

anniexf wrote:In defence of online banking, two years ago I was due a renewal credit card which didn't turn up. I phoned the bank & they cancelled it, promising me another one. This duly arrived, together with the original "missing" one. Again I phoned the bank, to let them know and to get the new one activated. Next day, checking my accounts as usual, I noticed a charge for an Oyster card. I don't live in London & it clearly wasn't mine, so I rang the bank. They asked if I had purchased £1200 - worth of computer equipment, plus other things that were going through. To cut a frightening story short, my bank got everything back that had been bought with my card except for the Oyster card, and they gave me a full refund for that. I'd have been none the wiser until the end of the month had I not banked online. It would have been far worse by then, with less chance of a good outcome.

On Thursday I bought some stuff online from a Swedish company. Within minutes of the transaction going through my bank phoned me to check that it was bona fide. How's that for service?
It can work against you as my son wanted to buy a cheap flight on the internet and thought he had, until they bounced his credit card. Plenty of limit left, but by the time he had phoned the bank, things had moved on. He was eventually told that he had phoned them before they were about to phone him for an unusual transaction. They took the block of the card, but by then, he had missed the opportunity of the cheap flight.
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Fjgrogan
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Re: The Charge - has it been changed?

Post by Fjgrogan »

In response to englishangel's plea of desperation - of course it is about the CH Charge! But one of the things which makes this forum so much fun is its delicious idiosyncracies - it is frequently impossible to tell what the true content of any particular thread will be, once it has gone off at assorted tangents. So much more interesting than boring old Facebook!
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Re: The Charge - has it been changed?

Post by sejintenej »

Fjgrogan wrote: Has anyone ever written a 'Banking for Dummies' , I wonder. I bet they have!
Thanks for the idea - I should be able to put about 280 pages together quite quickly. It will be easy for me to remember how to spell the one word "Don't" in the book. Of course it will be a snip at £19.99 - bankers (and the ex- ) are skilled at parting the ill-informed and believing from their lucre
Fjgrogan wrote:I think (but I may be deluded?) what persuaded me towards online banking was the fact that it pays a higher rate of interest, and on my paltry pension I need any extra pennies that I can beg, borrow or otherwise wangle! However, I do wonder whether that could be considered as discrimination against people who do not own a computer or choose not to use one. !
Have you really, really thought that through???? How many extra groats will you receive this year. There is another thing - they may not have to mail you notice of a change in rate and they reckon you will not realise when the normal rate exceeds the on-line rate or the internet rate falls below the normal rate. Of course they are supposed to inform you but their delivery agent "occasionally" misdelivers your mail into the ............... (I have a case of that going on at the monment - see last para.)
anniexf wrote:I don't live in London & it clearly wasn't mine, so I rang the bank. They asked if I had purchased £1200 - worth of computer equipment, plus other things that were going through. To cut a frightening story short, my bank got everything back that had been bought with my card except for the Oyster card, and they gave me a full refund for that. I'd have been none the wiser until the end of the month had I not banked online. It would have been far worse by then, with less chance of a good outcome.!
I had my cards stolen in London and used. The banks did refund the amounts stolen (except the Woolwich) but the police told me that such thefts had nothing to do with them, they don't record thefts and AFAIK didn't even collect the video film showing the perpetrators which I had held back for them. Score 2 for some of the banks in acting promptly.
jhopgood wrote:My brother is trying to get on to my mother's account after the death of my brother. He has all the powers of attorney etc, but has just sent me this.
Making slow progress with the banks. All sorted with Barclays (the most helpful - they even replied to my letter!); seeing Nat West for third time today (and hope they might be able to resolve issue of.....); Alliance & Leicester have reduced me to writing a formal letter of complaint and need to find a branch which has somebody with an IQ above 80 in order to sort
Nat West only came to life after a letter and 3 phone calls when he threatened to close the account, which they have had since 1963 when my father worked in the Police Station next to the bank.
They are all the same, even here in Spain..!
Julian will remember the "good-old-days" when one had to do the exams covering everything from good English to law to accounting to banking practice. Anyone who had gone through the mill would handle his brother's request hopefully in 120 seconds including 60 seconds to copy the document but most of them don't know what they are trying to do. It sometimes comes down to the branch manager's control but I and friends have had certain experiences - in respect of one of those names it eventually went to, from memory, the BBA (trade body). Spanish banks - yes, I've had dealings :x :x
jhopgood wrote: It can work against you as my son wanted to buy a cheap flight on the internet and thought he had, until they bounced his credit card. Plenty of limit left, but by the time he had phoned the bank, things had moved on. He was eventually told that he had phoned them before they were about to phone him for an unusual transaction. They took the block of the card, but by then, he had missed the opportunity of the cheap flight.
"Sorry, sir, just trying to protect your interests, and we cannot make good the difference"...!
Question is whether it was a debit or credit card - IMHO if it was a debit card then the bank refused a valid payment instruction and must hold the client harmless. With a credit card the picture might be different but in either case banks are required to treat their customers honestly and fairly. In this case the bank did not attempt to contact the customer but waited for the customer to contact them - bank's mistake, bank's loss Complaints procedure followed by FSA .
Banks and others try to wriggle out by masses of small print but there is an Unfair Clauses Act which means that they can be avoided. It does not hurt to ring the card issuer to tell them that they might get debits from strange places during the period May to September (don't be specific or some lowlife can pass on the info that your house will be empty during thos e2 weeks)

Incidentally, I'm having a bit of fun with a large telephone provider which has published on its web site its company number and registered address - two addresses far apart in different documents! Their staff give another address by phone. (There is no address or company number on invoices or many other documents.) They have one printed address on the website for complaints(including an offence under their licence rules) but their staff give an address in a different town and so it goes on. Some of their staff are annoying - they have stated that I cannot/must not have an e-mail address @free.** because only @freeserve.** is allowed. Others cannot even speak English

It comes down to complain, complain, complain and then demand compensation for your time.
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Re: The Charge - has it been changed?

Post by mvgrogan »

Fjgrogan wrote:In response to englishangel's plea of desperation - of course it is about the CH Charge! But one of the things which makes this forum so much fun is its delicious idiosyncracies - it is frequently impossible to tell what the true content of any particular thread will be, once it has gone off at assorted tangents. So much more interesting than boring old Facebook!
How would you know?? You still refuse to use facebook!! :lol: But I agree I like these "chat rooms" because people "chat" - one subject naturally leading to another, like a real conversation regardless of geography, time zone or title at the top!

:backtotopic: I left on 11th July 1987 - I have the charge on the insde left of both my Bible & Book of Common Prayer and The Gift of the Governers on the right hand side.

"... do all you can to enable others to enjoy the same advantages...." I guess this also means ensure the school has the finances to stay open!
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Re: The Charge - has it been changed?

Post by sejintenej »

mvgrogan wrote:How would you know?? You still refuse to use facebook!! :lol: But I agree I like these "chat rooms" because people "chat" - one subject naturally leading to another, like a real conversation regardless of geography, time zone or title at the top!
OK Maria. I'm on Facebook but they have changed the interface and I have lost every one of my "friends". Before the catastrophe I found it difficult but possible to find my way around - now it is like being at the bottom of a pit filled with mud - I can't see anything. I've 5000 things more worthy of my time including a physical partner.
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mvgrogan wrote::backtotopic: I left on 11th July 1987 - I have the charge on the insde left of both my Bible & Book of Common Prayer and The Gift of the Governers on the right hand side.
I have only a bible and it hasn't got the Charge; am I deprived? are my human rights being defiled? Am I offended? ............ Nah! sh** happens.
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Re: The Charge - has it been changed?

Post by NEILL THE NOTORIOUS »

We are back to the original question ------ When did the "Charge" start to be pasted into Bibles, as well as the "Gift of --""

It wasn't in 1945, nor, from David Brown's Post --- in the 50s
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Re: The Charge - has it been changed?

Post by jhopgood »

NEILL THE NOTORIOUS wrote:We are back to the original question ------ When did the "Charge" start to be pasted into Bibles, as well as the "Gift of --""

It wasn't in 1945, nor, from David Brown's Post --- in the 50s
Not in my 1966
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