National Australia Bank - They Only Want Your Life!

[Ingot54 13]

Is this an act of extreme bastardry?

Would you trust the NAB after this little anecdote?

 

I wouldn't trust them with my dead cat!!

Is this typical of all banks?

 

I would say given half a chance ... that would be a resounding "YES! They are ALL bastards." And their behaviour during the recent interest rate rises in Australia is further proof. But I digress ... this story has nothing to do with official interest rate rises ... and all to do with larceny and corporate crime. Only this time they picked on the wrong people.

 

Is your bank this nice ... their motto?

 

"More Give ... Less Take"

 

Let's see how they demonstrate their love ...

 

EDIT: My apologies - I added the wrong link.

 

This is the correct link to that story:

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByvsaWyzku0&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL]YouTube - ‪Today Tonight Kay v nab‬‏[/ame]

 

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqB4k9R8BgQ&feature=autoplay&list=ULdDba5Oqvs8s&index=10&playnext=1]YouTube - ‪nab exposed‬‏[/ame]

Edited June 13, 2011 by Ingot54

[Ingot54 13]

I apologise to those who may be wondering what that first video was about - it was an incorrect link.

 

This is the correct story that the post was about:

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByvsaWyzku0&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL]YouTube - ‪Today Tonight Kay v nab‬‏[/ame]

[Ingot54 13]

If you have been burned ... add your story.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y2pvrJd_wc&feature=autoplay&list=ULdDba5Oqvs8s&i]YouTube - ‪TodayTonight more nab bastardry‬‏[/ame]

Are the other banks in on this little scam too?

 

Too big to take on?

 

Getting justice in this country ... is this still an option for "little" people who are victimised by the banks?

 

This is a pretty big deal ... but will it get oxygen?

 

PS - Mr Troiani died late last year of a stroke.

 

NAB - they want your life!

Edited June 13, 2011 by Ingot54

[pa18 10]

Banks=Bastards? Novel idea ....

[Ingot54 13]

Banks=Bastards? Novel idea ....

 

 

Welcome back Pa18 ... nearly a year since your last post.

 

Are you a banker ... or a slave to the banks?

 

I have my own banking story ... not half as interesting as the ones above but an equally

stressful and tenacious affair, let me assure you.

 

The little problem was resolved in my (our) favour after a lengthy battle.

I am not and never will be on any bank's asset sheet.

 

But you have to have some empathy with the people shown in the video ... yes?

[pa18 10]

Me ... a banker? hahah, no, I rather shoot myself, I'm still a slave to the system ... work in progress

 

Yeah, sick how something like that happens to those guys in the vids. I'm proud that they fought tooth and nail to the very end to get some kind of a positive result, but I'm sure the experience gave them a bitter lingering taste to their innocence and stressed their family to the max. I hope they successfully sue the crap of NAB.

 

Share your story Ingot54. I love to hear what recent scraps you've been getting into.

[Ingot54 13]

I hope they successfully sue the crap of NAB.

 

Share your story Ingot54. I love to hear what recent scraps you've been getting into.

 

Never been one to avoid a story!

 

In early 2007 we could see the DOW rolling over, and could see the housing bubble in the USA (I get a couple of informed newsletters), so we made arrangements to sell a second property we had but kept our duplex home temporarily. We also got right out of the equities markets and placed all superannuation in cash at 8.4%.

 

Good moves - yes - but I might have been smarter - I could have locked in a 3 year interest rate instead of 1 year!! Live and learn!

 

Only one person ever got back to me and told me he had followed my advice and liquidated everything. He said I saved him over $200,000 - that's more than I saved myself! Anyway - I digress ...

 

The hiccup came when our (then) Bank - Suncorp Metway here in Queensland - settled one of the property loans. We essentially had 2 properties mortgaged at the outset, and the loans were split 50/50 fixed and variable interest. That meant 4 loans all up.

 

They asked me which loans I wanted to settle. That was a bit bewildering, because I assumed they would apply the proceeds of the sale to the same mortgages as the property sold - that would be common sense, and to me the most cost-effective for our balance sheet. However, they applied the settlement capital to our domestic property in error.

 

That meant we had a loan over a property which we no longer held! And at the same time, we had our duplex home paid off! I asked them to "fix" the problem, but they refused, saying there was nothing wrong with the situation - we could just go along paying off the "ghost" loan. This didn't sound right to me so I took a closer look at the settlement documents.

 

Suncorp had chosen to settle the loans that were most favourable to THEM, not us. We were charged an interest penalty on the settlement because we had not held the property for more than 5 years. The settlement attracted a latent fee because when that loan was taken out, they waived the loan establishment fees on the condition we maintain the loan for at least five years. This was a considerable amount - I think it was 3 months interest plus a $600 fee on each loan!!

 

None of these penalties would have applied on the investment property that was the subject of the sale. In all, we were put of pocket by $2400 over the 2 loans.

 

After 6 phone calls, emails, calls not getting returned, staff no longer working in bank sections, and the general run around, I wrote a final letter, which was ignored. I then got in touch with the office of the Financial Ombudsman Service. In fact I was going through some details of this tonight - about 4 hours ago - over an unrelated matter.

 

It was 6 weeks before we heard back from the Ombudsman. The bank told a tale about us providing no calculations to support our claims for interest lost because of a bungle over the actual date of settlement - their failure to forward the application for settlement document.

 

We were in the branch of the bank, and by coincidence found that no application for settlement had been sent - even though we had completed and lodged the form 10 days earlier. The settlement was unable to go ahead, and the bank refused to accept responsibility - blaming a series of public holidays for the delay and misplacing of the application.

 

The first approach to set things right was made to the bank on 5th April, and the matter resolved to our satisfaction on 13th September. The annoying thing is that the bank stuck to their position on each point until, by return mail, through the Ombudsman we provided evidence to support each claim. This process took the longest, and was quite harrowing because it was downright pig-headed stubbornness by the bank to simply look into what had happened, and rectify it. Fortunately I had a photocopy of the signed and dated Loan Settlement Application forum!

 

Effectively we came out much better off because of the ordeal. The bank finally waived ALL fees and penalties, plus credited our a/c with $300 "good-will" after I threatened to tell the story on every Internet forum in Australia!

 

I can tell you that when you are fighting with a recalcitrant bank, who uses delaying tactics to string things right out, you feel like giving up. They know that the ordinary John Q Citizen is not used to dealing with these kinds of negotiations and disputes, and simply folds under the pressure. My wife was in tears over it a few times, and urged me to drop it. But I was determined to get things corrected ... and the persistence paid off ... finally!

 

Banks - I love them all - where else can you get such growth-inducing experiences for free?

 

It's the kind of "zone-toughening" you only want to experience once!

 

This is worth a look ... especially if you have any degree of cynicism ... like I have!

 

[SIUYA 11]

Sorry to hear - my brother had a similar story Ingot and it cost him but he did not have the documents to back up his story.

From personal experience I keep every document - and now thanks to the wonders of scanning - also keep a computer record separately as well. It seems like a lot, but about 2-3mins a day might save you months down the track - this also applies if the tax man audits you. (put all those records in a big bag shake it up and present them as your receipts - so long as they are all there then you are fine, even if it takes them longer to audit you

 

Unfortunately these days you have to protect your own ass with all the documents and correct timelines as very few people in the banks are paid to take accountability and responsibility. Everything is compliance related and designed to protect the banks - deny, deny, deny, computer says no, is often the first response.

You are right that you have to know how to escalate these things and get everything in writing.....often I have actually written an email back in point form having and getting them to confirm - my understanding - of things...... it goes a long way in a dispute and has saved me time.

 

Otherwise I am sure you are now banking with some other reputable establishment ?

[Ingot54 13]

Sorry to hear - my brother had a similar story Ingot and it cost him but he did not have the documents to back up his story.

From personal experience I keep every document - and now thanks to the wonders of scanning - also keep a computer record separately as well. It seems like a lot, but about 2-3mins a day might save you months down the track - this also applies if the tax man audits you. (put all those records in a big bag shake it up and present them as your receipts - so long as they are all there then you are fine, even if it takes them longer to audit you

 

Unfortunately these days you have to protect your own ass with all the documents and correct timelines as very few people in the banks are paid to take accountability and responsibility. Everything is compliance related and designed to protect the banks - deny, deny, deny, computer says no, is often the first response.

 

You are right that you have to know how to escalate these things and get everything in writing.....often I have actually written an email back in point form having and getting them to confirm - my understanding - of things...... it goes a long way in a dispute and has saved me time.

 

Otherwise I am sure you are now banking with some other reputable establishment ?

 

Siuya - every time I make any sort of phone call, I write in my diary who I spoke to, what it was about, what agreement was reached, and any sort of information about WHY the decision or agreement was reached. It saved me $5400 two years ago.

 

We were renting through a Real Estate office, but the landlady kept interfering with repairs and maintenance issues, and after the initial 3 months, the R/E office dropped her as a client, and told us in future they would no longer be dealing with her - and that we would need to deal directly with her ourselves.

 

No problem - we were reasonably friendly with her, and as long as we could put up with her procrastinating and disorganised ways, we would manage.

 

However ... we had a broken oven and because that model stove was no longer made, a new one had to be installed. It dragged on for 7 weeks instead of 2 weeks.

 

The lady finally installed a $6000 oven, and then decided she would really like to be living back in the home herself. Well - just quietly we had just about all we could take from her by then, and agreed that she could move back in. We found another place, and signed up for the lease. We gave her the required 2 weeks notice, and packed up.

 

Problem.

 

She had a change of heart, and decided not to move back to the home after all. We were told by her that if we moved out, we would be breaking the lease. We had nothing in writing. All the "hard evidence" we had, of her intention to move back, was a message on our answering machine saying that she had found us a lovely home close to my place of work, and a nice flat attached, suitable for our older son yada yada ... all rosy and cosy! I also had in my diary an agreed date that we would vacate, and the date and time of the "final inspection."

 

And ... I had diary entries of every single issue on every occasion. Copies of "notice to remedy breach" forms, from us to her, and ... you know the rest! We moved out, and she said she would sue for unpaid rent to the end of the contract.

 

Anyway - we ended up in the small claims court. We had over 120 date-stamped photographs of the home inside and out, as proof of the cleanliness and on the day of the "final inspection" she failed to show up.

 

I had a time-line of facts and events, without any of the subjective and emotional baggage that goes along with these disputes. It took me 2 weeks to prepare for the court case - I was working night shifts at the time, so I was totally spent ragged by the time we got to court. My wife and I were also tearing at each other over some of the issues - that will show you the stress and tension that we suffered.

 

In court, the magistrate asked her to first tell her story, and explain what she wanted the court to do for her. Straight away she rambled and raved, without getting straight to the point. It took five minutes for him to get it out of her, that she wanted the court to give her redress for a breach-of-contract situation against us as defendants.

 

Then I had an opportunity to respond. It was difficult to have listened to the lies and innuendo without making rolling-eyes faces, or body-language poses that spoke of our disagreement with her story - but I warned my family to keep a "poker face" and not perform the drama of television.

 

I handed the magistrate a straight-forward account of the situation - a full time-line of events and situations; copies of diary entries; statements from the R/E agent; and the coup de grace ... a transcript of the recorded phone message I mentioned above.

 

There was a bit more "he-said-she-said" but it was clear by the tone of the magistrates conversation with her, the he regarded her as petty and tiresome. In his summary, he said he said the case came down to an issue of credibility.

 

He found that the plaintiff was a person who had little grasp of the truth, with an element of paranoia throughout her statements to the court. On the other hand, he found that we were organised people who presented an entirely believable account of what transpired. he found our story and evidence consistent with the facts of the situation, and found in our favour.

 

He then said: "You can all leave now. You will be receiving a copy of my judgement in the mail."

 

The ex-landlady then proceeded to pour herself a glass of water, and was muttering about the magistrate being biased.

 

The magistrate told her: "Take your things and get out of my court-room now."

 

She told him: "I will when I'm good and ready."

 

He asked her if she would like 30 minutes in the cells to think about that.

 

She said: "Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you."

 

We were, by that time at the door, and I do not know what happened next. I can only assume he asked the bailiff to escort her out of the building. I'd like to think she did get that 30 minutes in the cells.

 

That would have been the cream on the cake, of that magistrate's decision in our favour, given all the stress, lies and wrangling we had endured in that six month period. But I guess the lady only had herself to blame for the entire mess. She ended up $5400 out of pocket for rent, as well as other "costs" (fictitious accounts and statements) which the magistrate dismissed.

 

The lessons:

 

*Always get it in writing if it has to do with money or business.

* Always keep a diary of every phone conversation involving inquiries and involving decisions

* Always be honest and open in your dealing with everyone

* Always take your time when making decisions that have the potential to affect your life and the well-being of your family as well

* Always keep receipts in a safe and secure place.

* Always seek confirmation of the intent of the other party to a deal

* Never deal with a deranged personality in business

[SIUYA 11]

good advice....

especially the last one..

Never deal with a deranged personality in business - especially if it is yourself.

 

The otherone which you mentioned and is good advice - when dealing with such small or large courts - only present the facts. Keep the emotion calm - this is not some TV drama, and the magistrates look down poorly on those who dramatise everything.....much like trading.

[Ingot54 13]

Good advice ... Never deal with a deranged personality in business - especially if it is yourself.

 

Keep the emotion calm - this is not some TV drama, and the magistrates look down poorly on those who dramatise everything.....much like trading.

 

What??!! Trading is NOT drama???

 

Well stone the crows! It might be time I took annual leave!

 

:haha: Ingot54

 

:rofl::rofl: