Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Where’s the logic

"Oh, and signatures...I have always had different ones for different purposes" Oh nice idea Jon, had not thought of that one.

Try asking for something like £40,000 in cash? It makes bank staff into dribbling idiots. I had to go back after hours, convince at least 4 senior staff that I wasn't being conned, explain exactly what it was for, and leave by the back entrance with a bag over my head - well not the last bit. Whilst pleased they were now taking things seriously, I kept thinking is it worth it just to get to my own money?

And a warning. I paid a £250 cheque into the bank via an auto. machine, the cheque was made out in joint names to my wife and I, but I paid it into my own account, as it was actually for me. The machine accepted it but a week later I had a letter saying it had to be paid into a joint account, not my personal account. OK, give me the cheque and I'll clear it through our joint account and transfer the funds. But no, the bank had destroyed the cheque so I couldn't do that. I was told to get another cheque, however the person I got the cheque off first time, was unknown to me, so I couldn't ask for another (yes, I know, I know,) so that was that, lost £250 through the banks policy. I have had a complaint pending for at least 3 months now, which I must chase, but you all know what will eventually happen..........

On accessing one’s own money, I'm not happy with Ebay. I've recently had some (non-spam) messages:

"Previously, we asked you to submit information to verify your identity or other details associated with your account. However, it appears that you haven’t provided this information. As a preventative measure, we’re committed to reducing fraud and negative buying experiences on the site. To maintain a safe marketplace, eBay may restrict selling activity, end active items, or suspend accounts until information on the account is verified. Your selling activity has been restricted until we receive the information we need to ensure a safe trading environment for you and the eBay community".

Basically they want my bank details. No thanks ! The solution to that one is just open a new account for that purpose. No overdraft allowed, so anyone trying to hack into it will be out of luck. Or am I wrong ?

And I can see how they are trying to comply with anti-money-laundering, but for me as a “hobby” Ebayer the old system of selling stuff, having the funds paid into (and lodged in) a PayPal account was dead handy as I could use that to make a larger purchase at a later stage.

And don’t get me started on having to receive a text from PayPal with a one-time code just to make a payment of a few quid.

I stopped selling on E Bay because of that change in payment issue. I just can't be arsed.

If I want to sell something, my daughter doesn't mind doing it, so two fingers to E Bay.

I feel the same about Amazon. Their relentless pressure to take Prime, which I neither need nor want, so I avoid Amazon.

Ironically I just got my good old fashioned paper based bank statement through. Once I had finished crying at the way the number just keeps going down I noticed a few things.

1. I have more entries on my statement for paypal than any other vendor. I appear to spend a lot of time buying through the Internet now.
2. I have had less problems sorting out payment issues on paypal than most other vendors, except AmEx who are remarkable.
3. Using Amazon in conjunction with Prime must have saved me a lot of mileage trying to find stuff I could never have got otherwise.

DaveW, each of us have different views but for me Prime has to offer the best value of almost any product we pay for.

1. Free deliveries. Knock on being that one poor sod in a van does 150+ in a day and saves me a fortune in petrol. A bit Eco and getting more so with the BEV vans they are moving to.
2. Extra TV channels which include quite a lot of good content through the Interweb cables. loads included free. Discovery+ £5 month, Disney £5 a month, SkyQ £2000 a month or trying, Netflix £10 a month. The BBC £12 a month (but you do get all those other lovely free channels as well)

When travelling through Italy we used Prime to deliver to our next days hotel using our iPhone. Just like ordering from the sofa in the UK but totally different. Still next day.
Last minute presents both local and international can be done so quickly and efficiently

Trying to find specialist nerdy bits for computers used to be a nightmare but now takes seconds (and I find sooo many other nerdy bits I definitely need during the process)

Prime comes out as amazing value for money in our position.

I definitely get guilt pangs about a few things.
Conspicuous consumption is not a good thing and this does make it way to easy to over stuff.
I guess the workers are in many case wage slaves and this does need addressing.
It is driving the high street into a cocked hat which has a quite profound effect on regional economies and high streets.
There is the question of taxation and commitment to regions which has been raised well on here before.

I think on balance I would be hard put to do without Amazon and Prime now.

So maybe we should all be pursuing the “Escape to the Country” rural idyll.

But beware the demise of the High Street. In our little town (where I grew up – but we were then away for nearly 30 years), you can get a mainline train, to the beach or the Forest in 10 minutes, to a hospital in 15, a few still-functioning banks, an Arts Centre, a Farmers’ Market, halfways decent restaurants and pubs, all the major supermarkets, a department store, any species of coffee (shop), be bamboozled by a surfeit of estate agents, several churches, and charity (shops) by the bucketload.

However you can also get drugs if that’s your thing, mugged, knocked down on a zebra crossing or on a pavement by a mobility scooter. And there’s no longer a cinema (remember those ?), but I worked at the local palais as a projectionist when I was teenager.

That's a hell of a price!

They just seem to get more and more expensive.

It’s not £2000 yet but it is beginning to feel that way. Still annoys me marginally less than the BBC Tax.

To Echo Alistair's comments, I've had Amazon Prime for some years, it is worth it.
Amazon annoys me less than most of the other On Line commercial entities.
I no longer use EBay in any way.
I no longer use PayPal.
And yes, AMEX is brilliant.

Do AMEX have a fee for the user?