What A Darling

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normanr

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Thought you might like this guys.
Norman



A 98 year old woman in the UK wrote this to her bank. The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in the Times.
Dear Sir,
I am writing to thank you for bouncing my cheque with which I endeavored to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the cheque and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honour it. I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my Pension, an arrangement, which, I admit, has been in place for only thirty eight years. You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account £30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank.

My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally attend to your telephone calls and letters, when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become. From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person.
My mortgage and loan payments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank by cheque, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate. Be aware that it is an offence under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope. Please find attached an Application Contact Status which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative. Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Solicitor, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts,=2 assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof.
In due course, I will issue your employee with PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modeled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Let me level the playing field even further. When you call me, press buttons as follows:
1. To make an appointment to see me.
2. To query a missing payment.
3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
4. To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.
5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.
6. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home.
7. To leave a message on my computer (a password to access my computer is required. A password will be communicated to you at a later date to the Authorized Contact.)
8. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through to 8.
9. To make a general complaint or inquiry, the contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service. While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call.
Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement.
May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous, New Year.
Your Humble Client

(Remember: This was written by a 98 year old woman; )
DOESN'T SHE MAKE YOU PROUD!
 
certainly does. sometimes you wonder if they do not actually delay the time for the funds just to get the £30.

I mean it was the day i refused to buy credit card insurance from the bank, the very next day i was issued a new card and before i got it, i got a phone call telling me someone is spending the card around liverpool.
I said it was not me and they said, do not worry we will cancel and issue another one.

The cheek
 
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In a similar vein, here are the contents of an e-mail I sent to the wonderful Warwick DC last year.

Sir/Madam

This is to put into writing just how I feel about the shambles which you have the nerve to call a 'recycling and refuse collection service'

I came home today to find that the items that we had carefully put aside for recycling in plastic bags had been left. (not for the first time, I might add)

I called the sort-it 'helpline' to enquire why - this was to be told (after 30 minutes of being on hold) that it was because I had glass bottles in the bags, and this was in the leaflet we were sent.

No it isn't.

When I asked why the carrier bags that did not contain glass were not picked up I was told that it was because the handles were tied. and this was explained in the leaflet.

No it isn't

I was told that it was on the back of the leaflet.

No it wasn't.

When I requested a requested a return visit as per your leaflet - I quote 'If you have observed all of the points in this leaflet and your boxes have not been emptied on your scheduled collection day, please let us know within one working day of your collection and we will return to empty them the next working day' I was told that this could not happen as I had not conformed to the new rules that had been put on your website and the local press.
Well, for your information I do not visit the Warwick DC website or scan the local press to see why you are unable to carry out your promises and commitments - I expect to be informed directly.

How can you possibly (and please excuse me mixing my metaphors) set out your stall, and then move the goalposts to the extent that you have? What next? Pink carrier bags only, but we won't tell anyone until they call in (assuming they have 30 minutes to spare listening to how many extra staff you have taken on to allow people to vent their spleen).

This is a complete bloody fiasco. We only put the stuff in the carrier bags because you have been unable (as per your promise) to deliver additional reuseable red bags which we ordered six weeks ago.

Please don't reply to me, and insult my intelligence by telling me how sorry you are, that you've been overwhelmed by how good we've all been with our recycling, how changes are being made, how successful this has all been - it doesn't wash. You cocked up.

Incidentally whose stroke of genius was it to give us a small red box to accommodate two weeks worth of a family's recyclable material? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realise we need more storage.

So there you are. You and your colleagues can slap yourselves on the back, and tell each other (and anyone else who cares to listen) what a wonderful job you have done, and what a great success this has all been - well don't kid yourselves, it's a bloody shambles. Consider yourselves fortunate that you don't run a brewery, as events there would no doubt be sober affairs.
 
I'd bet that you must be writing what others are only merely talking about!

I feel that it's high time that people take the initiative and wrest back control over how their money (in taxes) gets spent by....[choose own favourite]
 
I wrote to Warwick council to complain about the proliferation of illegally placed estate agent boards.
Within a week I had a site visit and email response. 10 days later all the estate agent boards had been removed.
Result! If only all Warwick council staff were that efficient.
 
Consider yourselves fortunate that you don't run a brewery, as events there would no doubt be sober affairs.

Excellent.. I may have to plagiarise that one!

Cheers,

Gaz
 

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