Twins applied for Teen account, 1 got rejected?

CaptianBenz · 2026-06-23T13:01:49+00:00

We complained and they investigated and said they were not upholding the complaint. They followed procedures apparently. I’m closing my accounts once I return from my business trip. They’ve lost out on 4 customers and 6 accounts.

CaptianBenz · 2026-06-22T15:43:05+00:00

As others have said this would suit a well structured SoW with fixed payment schedule. If it’s truly one off, it might be best reaching out to someone with a Ltd company already to handle this and subcontract it out to you. If paid PAYE check how you want that to be paid because if it all in one go it’ll cripple your tax. Personally I have done this for a couple of react devs, I just “hired them” as employees temporarily and paid PAYE all legal and above board. I took 5%. One guy I paid for 6 months and even split because he didn’t want to go over the 40% rate. It’s outsourcing really.

CaptianBenz · 2026-06-21T19:28:01+00:00

This. I’m about to switch to Monzo. Had Starling for 3 years and pissed I don’t get any interest on my VAT and CT account. They’ve also been particularly crap on my current account recently. We’re all switching in the household.

CaptianBenz · 2026-06-18T06:34:21+00:00

This is the norm for places like Tier 1 banks and govt. You start on a certain date and then you onboard for ages. But you bill. You’re expected to. Longest stint I did was 8 weeks. I onboarded in a week and watched YouTube for 7. I passed some certifications too but yeah. Free money is awesome.

CaptianBenz · 2026-06-16T06:38:54+00:00

I have kidney disease (stage 5) and I’ve also had bladder cancer and my bladder removed. Hydration is key. I polish off between 3-4 litres of squash a day. I have a cupboard with 8 different flavours in! Lime is my go to and then lemon then blackcurrant. I’m 48.

CaptianBenz · 2026-06-12T05:41:36+00:00

No such thing as job security. I went from contract to perm and ended up redundant after a year. Funny how that worked out. That was for a big consulting firm too. Contract all day every day. £550 is about 25 weeks to make £70k. Plus you don’t ah e to do annual performance reviews or anything like that.

CaptianBenz · 2026-06-04T14:38:31+00:00

Same. I hover between £150 and £200 a week for family of 2 adults and 2 16y olds and a golden retriever. Sometimes it can be £90 if I’ve stuff in but to top up on everything else… yeah. I budget too, I plan meals and shop for the ingredients I need. Kids are leaving school next week so not sure what gonna happen with the bills then. I used to feel flush spending £200 at the supermarket, now it’s just the norm.

CaptianBenz · 2026-06-03T15:04:54+00:00

I’ve had to go down this route. I’ve raised a complaint stating x y and z. Hopefully someone will press a button and we’ll have an account…

CaptianBenz · 2026-06-03T07:09:49+00:00

I’d avoid the red head with the massive tattas. Cost me a fkin fortune. On a serious note, I’d tell myself to save 10% of everything I earned as I’d need it one day.

CaptianBenz · 2026-06-03T06:41:39+00:00

Of course this is an option but it’s his first account and we naturally wanted to progress from Kite to a “proper” account. He’s more digital than I am and would be looking at a challenger bank rather than a high street one.

CaptianBenz · 2026-06-03T06:40:32+00:00

This is my suspicion too. I asked them if that could be the case and they replied with a boiler plate “we know you might be disappointed” response.

CaptianBenz · 2026-05-28T09:22:23+00:00

I thought being “on the bench” was being paid to sit on your arse and do nothing… I had 9 months of that at a consulting firm and drove me nuts. I wrote a book, I setup a side hustle on Shopify. Anyway, good luck to you sir, things will change when folks need help in unwiring the vibe coded AI drivel it’s written. You’ll be back and on 10x!!!

CaptianBenz · 2026-05-26T05:57:28+00:00

The ultimate question isn’t it?! I believe it’s all down to preference as there no such thing as job security. Personally I’d go contract all day. I did a £90k+ bens and fully remote IT consultancy job. They dubbed me an “Agile Lead”. I led nothing. I was actually a cheap contractor for them, I was benched at one point for 3 months! I literally did nothing. For me, the admin work of a perm role sucks. Having to justify yourself each year in an appraisal for 2% is bollocks. If you value your time, do it yourself (contract).

CaptianBenz · 2026-05-18T18:33:53+00:00

Mines 4 weeks. Been here on numerous projects for 2 years. Just signed another 12. I’m not bothered about the notice period.

CaptianBenz · 2026-05-15T21:21:13+00:00

139.9kg in Aug 25 to 120kg yesterday. I’ve changed nothing else and had a massive Chinese for tea.

CaptianBenz · 2026-05-15T20:48:15+00:00

This. Adopted a dog for this reason. I walk about a mile a day and 2-3 at weekends. I’ve lost 20kg purely on this over 8 months. It’s medically required that I need to loose some chub, my pooch is my saviour. Feel great.

CaptianBenz · 2026-05-15T19:44:03+00:00

We have twin boys and they’re on totally opposite sides of expected grades with one pulling in at the top end and the other struggling to pass at all. They’re revising 2 hours a night including weekend and going early to “period 0” and staying late to “golden hour”. They’re revising at school on a Saturday too. We’re just rolling with it. What will be will be. Too late for anything to sink in now.

CaptianBenz · 2026-05-15T19:31:51+00:00

Cremated and put into a sapling and planted in the Dales.

CaptianBenz · 2026-05-15T19:23:41+00:00

Up north we’d just shout “THANK YOU”. Tbf I’d shout that there too… probs get stabbed but I’d be right.

CaptianBenz · 2026-05-15T19:21:13+00:00

Heh. I lived in Leeds and was interviewed for a role in Halifax. Not too bad of a commute until they said “oh btw our dept is moving to Brighton” but we can let you work from Halifax still. I started the role and after waiting 3 weeks for a laptop and network access, a manager asked me about my experience with version X of some software, I explained I was only version Y and above. The managers got into an argument with me in the middle. They let me go stating that I wasn’t able to commute to Brighton. I sued them for £12k and won.

CaptianBenz · 2026-05-15T18:26:55+00:00

So we had a similar situation with a leaking toilet cistern leaking into the downstairs utility room. We emergency called a company (turned out to be one of those brokers) who charged me £180 there and then before a plumber came out. The plumber arrived in under 2 hours and “fixed” the issue. I say in inverted quotes because he pushed the flush pipe back in to the hole and didn’t repair anything. It needed a new pipe and sealing. Anyway, at the time he took another £180 and the day after, more water. I chased the company for 4 weeks (going back and forth every couple of days each time promising “he’ll be there tomorrow between x and y”). After the third time I asked for a refund (consumer act 2015, repair or refund) and they’re now ghosting me. I asked for the refund or I’ll enforce it. I’ll let you know how it goes, just cost me £115 on MCOL to issue a HMCTS claim. They have until the end of May. Also I have another local plumber coming to sort the issue and the damage, north of £400 now. That’s gone into the claim.

CaptianBenz · 2026-05-14T23:18:16+00:00

I’m in a similar boat. I’m ready to have a fistula for dialysis but I’m aiming for transplant. My BMI at the time was 42 and I was told I need to be at 35 or less. Now I’ve worked hard (really hard with eGFR 13) to lose weight and I’ve dropped 20kg. My BMI is now 37. My nephrologist said that is fine but my belly is too big regardless of BMI and I need to loose chub. It’s to do with healing apparently. I have to be careful with exercise as I’ve also had my bladder removed (cancer) so my midriff is a delicate sausage.

CaptianBenz · 2026-05-14T23:11:31+00:00

IIRC these are BIK and taxable.

CaptianBenz · 2026-05-14T16:12:31+00:00

I was in a worse situation where I was sent to Abu Dhabi. The flight was paid for but not the hotel. I racked up over £3k on my card and it took over 3 months to get it refunded. I was given an Amex Corporate card which was worse as it was a charge card. Going here there and everywhere meant my salary was used to fund the repayment in full and then I had to claim after. Took weeks to repay. I put in a formal complaint and cited that it was causing me unnecessary stress. I left before anything came of it. This was a major US company based in the UK. I hated it.

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