Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: GAZZA B on July 12, 2025, 12:20:13 pm
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Just received a letter this morning, saying its going to start charging me for my account, but I was one of the people who applied for and got free banking for life. Can they do this? They have tried in the past and failed. What should I do?
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Suck it up or change bank.....
The problem is it'll be a ballache as no doubt most of your customers pay into it. I changed my bank a few years ago and it took a good 6 months for some customers to stop paying into my old bank even though it was closed(it bounced back) despite notifying all of them by letter/text and new slips.
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Yea, had the same email, although I was paying £7.50 for my account which was still a bargain for a business bank. They have put it up to £9.99. month which I've been expecting for a while as they have never increased their prices for over a decade. It's still very good value.
They have now added a charge for paying in cheques, think it's 70p per cheque. But I stopped taking cheques years ago.
Suck it up, like we expect our customers to do when we increase prices.
A Lifetime Product only really refers to the period during which the product is on the market which is embedded into their terms somewhere.
If you want free banking just use your personal account.
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Just received a letter this morning, saying its going to start charging me for my account, but I was one of the people who applied for and got free banking for life. Can they do this? They have tried in the past and failed. What should I do?
You say that they tried in the past and failed. What did you do for them to fail? Can't you do it again?
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Also ...
My business account with HSBC was charging £8 a month until June. I have been notified it's now F-o-C.
Also - the few cheques - less than five a month - I receive I pay into my joint personal account via mobile phone. So that's free instead of 50p.
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Just received a letter this morning, saying its going to start charging me for my account, but I was one of the people who applied for and got free banking for life. Can they do this? They have tried in the past and failed. What should I do?
Me too, very annoying. As Daz says though, there is free business banking out there but changing your custards over will be a nightmare. And any new bank you change to might do the same in the near future and then you'll be doing it again. They did this a few years back but there was such a big outcry from their customers that they reversed it, cant see them backing down twice. I'll send them an email registering my feelings anyway, At least if everyone does so they will feel the weight of opinion. I have about 20 custards left who pay by cheque (mostly elderly) so it wont go down well but guess its time to stop the cheques.
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Just an idea about cheques. You could always give them the option after telling them you'll be stopping them, that they could always put the cheque in your personal name, then pay into your personal account.
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I'm with TSB and I have been paying £5 a month for years. If I leave £10k in the account then they will wave the fee. Not sure what will happen after the takeover.
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I'm with TSB and I have been paying £5 a month for years. If I leave £10k in the account then they will wave the fee. Not sure what will happen after the takeover.
I bet they do. £10k should be earning you £30 in interest a month rather than saving £5 in fees 🤣
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As long as they aren’t going to charge you per transaction better to just suck it up. Let’s say it’s around £10 per month ( tax deductible ) it’s not gonna ‘ break the bank ‘ so to speak😉
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I keep as little as possible in my First Direct main bank (that customers pay into)around £1000-£1500 as no interest is paid but no charges either. Just enough to cover my normal bills,direct debits,etc then transfer the rest into my ISA easy access account. It was close to 5% interest but has gone down to around 4.5% now but it's still OK. I also deposit £300 a month into first direct saver account(7% interest) for 12 months every year for money towards holidays...
All my tax/NI money is in my ISA ready to transfer when I have to.
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The odd cheque I get is just deposited via the app on my phone.....et confirmation then throw cheque away.
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I keep as little as possible in my First Direct main bank (that customers pay into)around £1000-£1500 as no interest is paid but no charges either. Just enough to cover my normal bills,direct debits,etc then transfer the rest into my ISA easy access account. It was close to 5% interest but has gone down to around 4.5% now but it's still OK. I also deposit £300 a month into first direct saver account(7% interest) for 12 months every year for money towards holidays...
All my tax/NI money is in my ISA ready to transfer when I have to.
Is this 7% interest saver account still available for new customers?
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I keep as little as possible in my First Direct main bank (that customers pay into)around £1000-£1500 as no interest is paid but no charges either. Just enough to cover my normal bills,direct debits,etc then transfer the rest into my ISA easy access account. It was close to 5% interest but has gone down to around 4.5% now but it's still OK. I also deposit £300 a month into first direct saver account(7% interest) for 12 months every year for money towards holidays...
All my tax/NI money is in my ISA ready to transfer when I have to.
Is this 7% interest saver account still available for new customers?
It's available to all first direct current account customers. Only problem is that £300 per month is the maximum you can deposit but it's still handy.
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I've got a Team Meeting with Lloyds financial advisor this afternoon, will stop work at 1pm and take the meeting sat in my van :)
This is to discuss my monthly rental incomes which I don't spend/withdraw making very little interest in the account I set up for my tenants to pay into. I'm looking to just keep their deposits in this account with the monthly rent payments going into something that earns far better interest, I reckon they'll suggest some ISA but we'll wait and see.
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I've got a Team Meeting with Lloyds financial advisor this afternoon, will stop work at 1pm and take the meeting sat in my van :)
This is to discuss my monthly rental incomes which I don't spend/withdraw making very little interest in the account I set up for my tenants to pay into. I'm looking to just keep their deposits in this account with the monthly rent payments going into something that earns far better interest, I reckon they'll suggest some ISA but we'll wait and see.
Do you completely self manage your property portfolio or do you use an agent for anything?
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I've got a Team Meeting with Lloyds financial advisor this afternoon, will stop work at 1pm and take the meeting sat in my van :)
This is to discuss my monthly rental incomes which I don't spend/withdraw making very little interest in the account I set up for my tenants to pay into. I'm looking to just keep their deposits in this account with the monthly rent payments going into something that earns far better interest, I reckon they'll suggest some ISA but we'll wait and see.
Do you completely self manage your property portfolio or do you use an agent for anything?
Not really much to manage once everything is in place. I use Maggs and Allen to find the tennants and Star Legal for a tenancy contract which is five years, until today the rent hasn't been earning a great deal of interest, but I had an hour team meeting with a Lloyds finance advisor today and happy that this income will now be working better for me, I don't ever draw on it so it's a long term nest egg for my old age, I'm a long way off retirement age atm so want that investment to grow without too much risk.
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I keep as little as possible in my First Direct main bank (that customers pay into)around £1000-£1500 as no interest is paid but no charges either. Just enough to cover my normal bills,direct debits,etc then transfer the rest into my ISA easy access account. It was close to 5% interest but has gone down to around 4.5% now but it's still OK. I also deposit £300 a month into first direct saver account(7% interest) for 12 months every year for money towards holidays...
All my tax/NI money is in my ISA ready to transfer when I have to.
Is this 7% interest saver account still available for new customers?
It's available to all first direct current account customers. Only problem is that £300 per month is the maximum you can deposit but it's still handy.
Ah right, thought there must be a catch somewhere! I’ve just sold my Porsche Macan so I have a tidy sum to invest….. I better hurry up before I squander it😆
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I've got a Team Meeting with Lloyds financial advisor this afternoon, will stop work at 1pm and take the meeting sat in my van :)
This is to discuss my monthly rental incomes which I don't spend/withdraw making very little interest in the account I set up for my tenants to pay into. I'm looking to just keep their deposits in this account with the monthly rent payments going into something that earns far better interest, I reckon they'll suggest some ISA but we'll wait and see.
Do you completely self manage your property portfolio or do you use an agent for anything?
Not really much to manage once everything is in place. I use Maggs and Allen to find the tennants and Star Legal for a tenancy contract which is five years, until today the rent hasn't been earning a great deal of interest, but I had an hour team meeting with a Lloyds finance advisor today and happy that this income will now be working better for me, I don't ever draw on it so it's a long term nest egg for my old age, I'm a long way off retirement age atm so want that investment to grow without too much risk.
I hope your tenancy agreement’s are better than the ones used in Scotland. I lost a lot of money last year to a rogue tenant and getting them evicted was a lengthy process. Once they were evicted I sold the property. I have 1 more property rental and if and when the tenant leaves, that one will be sold too. Landlords don’t have enough rights here!
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I've got a Team Meeting with Lloyds financial advisor this afternoon, will stop work at 1pm and take the meeting sat in my van :)
This is to discuss my monthly rental incomes which I don't spend/withdraw making very little interest in the account I set up for my tenants to pay into. I'm looking to just keep their deposits in this account with the monthly rent payments going into something that earns far better interest, I reckon they'll suggest some ISA but we'll wait and see.
Do you completely self manage your property portfolio or do you use an agent for anything?
Not really much to manage once everything is in place. I use Maggs and Allen to find the tennants and Star Legal for a tenancy contract which is five years, until today the rent hasn't been earning a great deal of interest, but I had an hour team meeting with a Lloyds finance advisor today and happy that this income will now be working better for me, I don't ever draw on it so it's a long term nest egg for my old age, I'm a long way off retirement age atm so want that investment to grow without too much risk.
I hope your tenancy agreement’s are better than the ones used in Scotland. I lost a lot of money last year to a rogue tenant and getting them evicted was a lengthy process. Once they were evicted I sold the property. I have 1 more property rental and if and when the tenant leaves, that one will be sold too. Landlords don’t have enough rights here!
The properties are commercial/retail and that's why I spent a lot initially using a well known letting agent to select the tenants and solicitors who specialise in drawing up a contract thats fair and legal for both parties (tennants use their own solicitor) There was huge interest in the properties as they are in a good part of town with plenty of footfall , I was able to cherry pick who I wanted and took my time choosing them. So far so good.
On the advice of the finance advisor today I've opened four new savings accounts and distributed different amounts into each account which will earn more interest than what I was doing previously. I'll leave it alone now and review it in a year or so .
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Thanks for the replies chaps. I use an agent.
No tenant horror stories but a couple of issues over the years where a tenant put a drill through a cable putting up an unauthorised shelf and on the agent's advice I ended up taking a couple of hundred out of his deposit as a friendly sparky did the repair.
Another (going through a divorce) lost his job and asked permission to get rent reduced for two months which was paid back over 12 months.
Things happen.
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Thank you every one, looks like there is nothing I ca do then, but just pay up :'(
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Same letter here. Very annoying. On principle I will be cancelling.
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Thank you every one, looks like there is nothing I ca do then, but just pay up :'(
You could do no worse than try this : https://monzo.com/business-banking/business-switch
Its completely free, I use Starling Bank my self, similar setup.
https://www.starlingbank.com/business-account/switch-business-account/
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Thank you every one, looks like there is nothing I ca do then, but just pay up :'(
You could do no worse than try this : https://monzo.com/business-banking/business-switch
Its completely free, I use Starling Bank my self, similar setup.
https://www.starlingbank.com/business-account/switch-business-account/
It's notifying all your customers with new bank details which is a pain and making sure they all pay into the new account
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Thank you every one, looks like there is nothing I ca do then, but just pay up :'(
You could do no worse than try this : https://monzo.com/business-banking/business-switch
Its completely free, I use Starling Bank my self, similar setup.
https://www.starlingbank.com/business-account/switch-business-account/
It's notifying all your customers with new bank details which is a pain and making sure they all pay into the new account
Yeah i get that, but when you use the banking switch system like they offer , all payments even sent to your old account will still go through as normal to your new account. For round about 18 months or maybe more, you'd need to check. But it is seamless, i know as i done it myself. Then i just changed the account numbers on my invoices and slips and told them to note new details to change to when they ready. Honestly it couldn't be easier .
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It amazes me that folk baulk at paying a couple of quid a week for a very important part of our business when it’s a well known fact that we are all on £80-£100 per hour ;D
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It amazes me that folk baulk at paying a couple of quid a week for a very important part of our business when it’s a well known fact that we are all on £80-£100 per hour ;D
Thats an interesting thought. You also said above.... "unless they're gonna start charging for every transaction.........." Who do you bank with that doesn't charge you for every transaction, that may be handy to know ?
I had business account with Nat West for over ten years, i paid round about £30 to £40 per month in charges for my transactions. The branch was local to me and i could walk in and deposit the few cheques i took monthly. I had no complaints and would probably still be there now. However about 5 years ago Nat West had to sell off a portion of their business accounts due to some EU contravention or something, the end result was that i was told i had to get another account, switch banks and they would pay me £1250 to do so. I did post here about it at the time. For the reasons said by Daz above, i dreaded it. I didn't want to have to change my paperwork, invoices etc....
As is usual for me i left it till last minute and signed up for and got a Starling Bank account. Free banking, i liked it and the app, it was easy to do and had lots more features (at the time). Due to a quirk in my circumstances i could switch to them from Nat West but i wouldn't get the £1250. So i opened another account with Yorkshire Clydesdale (Virgin Money) and migrated to that so i got my payment. So i now had, and still do... two business accounts. One free and one i pay. My local Natwest branch BTW has now since closed down.
So, as i'm rambling i'll carry on as its not strictly the question asked by the OP but it is related. These new challenger banks as they're called (Monzo/Starling/Revolut etc) i found much better as everything was app based. The legacy banks have now gone that way too now and followed them and moved with the times. We all use apps now for everything.
With my Starling account i can add an extra card if i wanted say for an employee to use (for fuel etc) and set a daily or weekly limit. All at the click of an app. I find it more comforting to know that if anyone banking system goes off line , has a glitch etc... i can still use the other one or access cash from it. In general i think two accounts are much better than one. I pay cheques into my Starling account by photographing them, OK others have caught up on this too but not all. But theres' lots more extra features.
Probably what i need to do now is replace my paid for Virgin money account with a free one like Monzo, then i'll have no charges at all. How i actually seperated my accounts out was like this........... run of the mill internet payers where i leave the details on my slip go into my Virgin Money account (paid for) , bigger (commercial accounts) where i send invoice go into my Starling (free) account.
So my spend with Virgin Money is about £14 to £16 per month now, so roughly £200 per year. If i could be bothered to go spend half an hour setting up a Monzo to replace it, that £200 will go to me and not Virgin. Of course i could switch it all over to my existing Starling account, but for the reasons i said above i think its best to have two acounts.
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It amazes me that folk baulk at paying a couple of quid a week for a very important part of our business when it’s a well known fact that we are all on £80-£100 per hour ;D
Thats an interesting thought. You also said above.... "unless they're gonna start charging for every transaction.........." Who do you bank with that doesn't charge you for every transaction, that may be handy to know ?
I had business account with Nat West for over ten years, i paid round about £30 to £40 per month in charges for my transactions. The branch was local to me and i could walk in and deposit the few cheques i took monthly. I had no complaints and would probably still be there now. However about 5 years ago Nat West had to sell off a portion of their business accounts due to some EU contravention or something, the end result was that i was told i had to get another account, switch banks and they would pay me £1250 to do so. I did post here about it at the time. For the reasons said by Daz above, i dreaded it. I didn't want to have to change my paperwork, invoices etc....
As is usual for me i left it till last minute and signed up for and got a Starling Bank account. Free banking, i liked it and the app, it was easy to do and had lots more features (at the time). Due to a quirk in my circumstances i could switch to them from Nat West but i wouldn't get the £1250. So i opened another account with Yorkshire Clydesdale (Virgin Money) and migrated to that so i got my payment. So i now had, and still do... two business accounts. One free and one i pay. My local Natwest branch BTW has now since closed down.
So, as i'm rambling i'll carry on as its not strictly the question asked by the OP but it is related. These new challenger banks as they're called (Monzo/Starling/Revolut etc) i found much better as everything was app based. The legacy banks have now gone that way too now and followed them and moved with the times. We all use apps now for everything.
With my Starling account i can add an extra card if i wanted say for an employee to use (for fuel etc) and set a daily or weekly limit. All at the click of an app. I find it more comforting to know that if anyone banking system goes off line , has a glitch etc... i can still use the other one or access cash from it. In general i think two accounts are much better than one. I pay cheques into my Starling account by photographing them, OK others have caught up on this too but not all. But theres' lots more extra features.
Probably what i need to do now is replace my paid for Virgin money account with a free one like Monzo, then i'll have no charges at all. How i actually seperated my accounts out was like this........... run of the mill internet payers where i leave the details on my slip go into my Virgin Money account (paid for) , bigger (commercial accounts) where i send invoice go into my Starling (free) account.
So my spend with Virgin Money is about £14 to £16 per month now, so roughly £200 per year. If i could be bothered to go spend half an hour setting up a Monzo to replace it, that £200 will go to me and not Virgin. Of course i could switch it all over to my existing Starling account, but for the reasons i said above i think its best to have two acounts.
I used to use RBS for my business banking until they said they were going to charge me for every individual internet faster payment transaction received….Santander charge me £7.50 for unlimited internet faster payment transactions.
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.Santander charge me £7.50 for unlimited internet faster payment transactions.
For now. And thats a great deal, i have a friend (believe it or not) on the same deal. But if or when it changes you'll be able to revisit this thread and find alternatives should you need to.
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I’ve just had the letter from Santander. I’ve decided I’m going to switch to Starling or Monzo using the switching service. This will forward any payments sent to my old account & carry over any standing orders & direct debits. I will get new 'windows cleaned' slips made up with the new bank details to replace my old slips with the old details. It should pay for itself within a year. Bit of a pain but I’m not paying for banking if I can help it. I have other costs that are increasing & some new costs too so I can do without paying for banking.
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Update to above…
Well I won’t be going to Starling as I just went through the whole application process online only to get refused with no reason right at the end!😳
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Update to above…
Well I won’t be going to Starling as I just went through the whole application process online only to get refused with no reason right at the end!😳
Switch to a First Direct current account and you ll get £175.....(as long as you ve never had an account with them or a HSBC account before). Excellent customer service,£300 no fee overdraft,7% regular saver account and no fee charges when using your card abroad....
It has a great app too and no fees for ANY payments into your account whatsoever...
It's by far the best bank I've ever banked with. Easy to get to speak to a real human on the phone as well!
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Already done that last year Daz on my personal account & got the £175.00 Can’t fault First Direct.
I need a free business account as I have an employee & it keeps everything nice & neat. Thanks though.
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Another update…
Just opened a new Monza business account. Was easy. I now have the account number & sort code. Once I’m sure I will get my new slips printed & use the switching service so any payments from customers that don’t see the new details will get forwarded anyway. That’s my plan anyway. Fingers crossed.
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Ive got a Starling business account
its free and its fantastic,so well organized,loads of info
Totally recommenced them
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I got the letter the other day, when I first started it was Alliance & Leicester , chose it because it was free banking, then got taken over by Santander and stayed free.
Just looked at Virgin Money business, anybody with them?
Think I will switch to another, but all customers have payment details set up, could be a problem switching them all.
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Just another update from me…
Opened & then closed the Monzo account. They would only let me ise my name tradings as ‘company name’ which is a bit of a mouthful. I did a couple of test transfers from my other own accounts & becomes a problem with CoP (Confirmation of Payee) & just looks unprofessional imo. If i was going to do that I may as well use a free seperate personal account ffs!
So I opened a free Virgin business account. This works as I want with CoP using my company name. I don’t particularly like their website as you have to click on each individual transaction to copy & paste the reference into Aworka. I’m trying to work out how much is just me getting used to change & how much is their poor website.
So I will hold fire for a while & hope Santander renege on their monthly charge before it comes in in October as they did once before in 2012. If they don’t though I will probably use the switching service to Virgin & get those new slips made up. My web/printer guy is on standby.
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(http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/1754118049_Screenshot_20250802-075932.png)
Well l, I've just opened a new HSBC Business account to move from Santander.
It's seems okay and better well known brand of bank with outlets on the high street too.
No monthly fee. Only issue is a a much smaller fee for cash and cheques. But if I really wanted to, I can just pay I cash to my personal account. As for cheques? What cheques? I rarely take them, so I'm not worrying about 50p, nah, I won't lose sleep over it 🤣
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I’m not taking cheques any more. It’s 2025 ffs.
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I think our days of free business banking is over. There is still a few about but I think that will change and all will eventually charge. I have gotten used to paying a fiver a month with the TSB but that may change, now it has been bought over. The banking industry has been in contraction mode since the internet and I think we will see more consolidation and more ways for them to make money. fwiw
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Just another update from me…
Opened & then closed the Monzo account. They would only let me ise my name tradings as ‘company name’ which is a bit of a mouthful. I did a couple of test transfers from my other own accounts & becomes a problem with CoP (Confirmation of Payee) & just looks unprofessional imo. If i was going to do that I may as well use a free seperate personal account ffs!
So I opened a free Virgin business account. This works as I want with CoP using my company name. I don’t particularly like their website as you have to click on each individual transaction to copy & paste the reference into Aworka. I’m trying to work out how much is just me getting used to change & how much is their poor website.
So I will hold fire for a while & hope Santander renege on their monthly charge before it comes in in October as they did once before in 2012. If they don’t though I will probably use the switching service to Virgin & get those new slips made up. My web/printer guy is on standby.
Do you have the 321 credit card with Santander? It costs £36 for the year but you get cashback when using the credit card. If you have highish expenditure you could then use the cashback to offset the monthly bank charges.
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Minsters 'to help smaller firms' by urging Santander to stop charging fees - LBC https://share.google/FwzYMVX0vqfDgslIa
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Minsters 'to help smaller firms' by urging Santander to stop charging fees - LBC https://share.google/FwzYMVX0vqfDgslIa
Nice!🤞That’s why I’ve held fire for now.
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Minsters 'to help smaller firms' by urging Santander to stop charging fees - LBC https://share.google/FwzYMVX0vqfDgslIa
I registered a complaint about what's happening (as a matter of principal) and was promised a callback, that was over 2 weeks ago, and have heard nothing. I wouldn't hold your breath on them changing their minds again, I don't think they give a sh*t.
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They probably don’t. But then again if a customer cancels when you put their price up you don’t worry about it do you?
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They probably don’t. But then again if a customer cancels when you put their price up you don’t worry about it do you?
I'd care enough to reply to any queries /complaints they had about it
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I don't understand why business folk think it should be free? Like us, they provide a service and the service has to be paid for. We provide a service and we get paid, the moment we don't get paid we drop the customer. All Santander is doing is dropping customers who want a free service. That's my philosophy in business and works for me.
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I don't understand why business folk think it should be free? Like us, they provide a service and the service has to be paid for. We provide a service and we get paid, the moment we don't get paid we drop the customer. All Santander is doing is dropping customers who want a free service. That's my philosophy in business and works for me.
It should be free because when I signed up they said ‘free for life’ & I aint dead yet!
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I don't understand why business folk think it should be free? Like us, they provide a service and the service has to be paid for. We provide a service and we get paid, the moment we don't get paid we drop the customer. All Santander is doing is dropping customers who want a free service. That's my philosophy in business and works for me.
Santander made a promise of free banking for life. That's why alot of people are peed off. If you make extravagant statements then you have to back them up. They've renegaded on the deal.
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‘Reneged’ 😉🤣👍
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‘Reneged’ 😉🤣👍
Yeah, that too ;D