Money Magazine: "Banks play hard ball"

Beat the Bungling Banks Story by Nicola Field, November 2005.
Reproduced courtesy of Money Magazine.

Bruce Ford of Dispute Assist adds his weight to help recover $12,000 for one of his clients. Read the Money Magazine's appraisal of his effort.

Banks play hard ball
Solid evidence proves the point

After ten years of helping consumers resolve bank disputes, Bruce Ford of www.bankdispute.com.au says: "More often than not, there's a mistake with an account." Getting a financial institution to part with large wads of cash is sometimes easier said than done. It can involve spending time and probably even money, if litigation is involved.

Not surprisingly, Ford says: "Sometimes people just give up out of sheer frustration." This explains why Ford, and others like him, are able to make a living out of championing the consumer's cause.

In achieving success for his clients, Ford's armory of tools includes the Interest Savers software. He describes it as "invaluable" for tracking errors, saying: "It delivers a credible accounting figure."

Recently the software confirmed a $12,000 error in an investment account belonging to one of Ford's clients. Armed with the Interest Savers printout, Ford was able to demonstrate the precise amount of unpaid interest. He says: "With the evidence before them, the bank could not argue the point."

The fee for a service like Ford's is often based on a percentage of the amount recovered. If the bank proves difficult, it could be money well spent. In the aforementioned dispute the customer spent several fruitless months wrangling with the bank. It took Ford just 10 days to secure a full refund.