TIGHT-FISTED, grasping, clutching and covetous. Ring a bell? Charles Dickens uses these words to describe Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Unfortunately, they may also strike a chord with readers who have suffered at the hands of unscrupulous financial institutions this year.

There has been lively debate on our website about which banks, building societies, broadband companies and other financial providers should be on our list for the Scrooge of the Year, but here we name the worst culprits.

We have excluded Farepak, the collapsed Christmas savings company, as all our Scrooges are going concerns with the capacity to make amends. Let’s hope that they take note, much as Ebenezer did after he was visited by the three spirits and became “as good a friend, as good a master and as good a man as the good old city knew”.

Carphone Warehouse



More than half a million people signed up for free TalkTalk broadband from Carphone Warehouse as part of its £21-a-month international call package. But Carphone Warehouse was unable to meet demand. Tens of thousands of customers were left with no broadband at all, while others found that their connection was slow. To add insult to injury, Charles Dunstone, the chief executive of Carphone Warehouse, asserted that “you always hear more noise from people who have problems”.

We have been inundated with readers’ letters and online postings, detailing their dreadful treatment at the hands of TalkTalk. G. Patino writes: “I had to wait three months for a broadband connection after being told that it would take six weeks. I have only been connected for three months and have now been disconnected during a bodged upgrade.”

A Carphone Warehouse spokesman says: “If you are on a train and are told there is a delay, you don’t feel happy. If you are told why there is a delay and when you will set off, at least you know what’s happening and that someone’s working on it. That’s the approach we have taken with customer service problems.

“This probably means that the industry doesn’t have high enough service levels.

So next year we intend to become the leader in customer service, as we are with the customer offer.”

Nationwide



Nationwide Building Society discovered the folly of preaching one thing and doing another last month. While its television advertisements poked fun at other mortgage lenders that discriminate between new and existing customers, the UK’s biggest building society announced that it would be offering preferential deals to new mortgage customers or existing borrowers who move house.

One longstanding mortgage customer writes: “I had intended to stick with Nationwide when my current deal expires early next year, but the society’s deplorable actions give me absolutely no reason to believe that I would not be better off switching to a lower-rate deal with one of its rivals.”

Alan Oliver, head of external affairs at Nationwide, says: “Our mortgage range offers extremely competitive deals whether you are a new or existing customer, with better rates and fewer fees and charges.”

First Direct



For many years First Direct reigned supreme. The online bank paid good rates of interest and provided top-class customer service. However, its decision to levy a charge on current accounts from February has provoked anger. The only way to sidestep the charge is to deposit £1,500 a month in your account or take out a second financial product from First Direct. About 200,000 of its 1.3 million customers will be affected.

One reader says: “Yet another big company trying to milk it’s loyal customers. Good luck to them; I will be taking my money elswhere.”

A First Direct spokesman says: “More than 85 per cent of our customers will be completely unaffected by the new banking fee. Unlike Scrooge, First Direct’s renowned service representatives will be talking to customers throughout Christmas Day — and night — as we never close.”

ING Direct



Only two and a half years ago ING Direct was heralded as the saviour of the savings market. While the Bank of England base rate lingered at 3.75 per cent, ING Direct arrived on the scene to offer 4.3 per cent and win legions of new customers. But recently it has taken its foot off the accelerator. ING now offers 4.75 per cent on its savings account, the same rate it offered at this time last year, since which time the base rate has risen by half a percentage point.

Customers were also incensed by letters they received from the savings institution. One reader fumes: “The letter almost made you feel as if you were supposed to be grateful that it hadn’t increased its rates.” Another says: “If it had saved the cost of these letters, perhaps it could have increased the interest rate.”

An ING spokesman says: “We pay all customers 4.75 per cent in our Easy Access account. There are some real Scrooges out there paying less than 1 per cent.”

Royal Mail



Readers have been frustrated by bad service from Royal Mail, especially with letters and parcels sent by special or recorded delivery. Mike Bradley writes: “I have had such an abominable service that I now work on the assumption that mail will not arrive.”

There was also outrage when a helpful local postman, who told residents how to avoid having junk mail delivered to their homes, was disciplined by Royal Mail.

British Gas



Customers of British Gas feel that they have been ripped off. Not only does it have the worst record for customer service, according to a survey by uSwitch, the price comparison website, but its rates are among the most expensive on the market. It has continued to raise prices, including another increase to online rates next month, despite the recent fall in wholesale energy prices.

In addition, some British Gas engineers are accused of providing shoddy service. Roger Brereton says that his mother was told by British Gas engineers that she needed to replace her boiler at a cost of about £3,000. “I arranged for an independent inspection and the boiler was found to be perfectly sound,” he says.

Toys 'R' Us



Most consumers ignore the sales patter at the checkout in shops these days, but harried parents who agree to sign up for an Easy Buy storecard at Toys ‘R’ Us, provided by GE Capital, will pay an extortionate 29 per cent interest.

When there are credit cards on offer with rates as low as 9 per cent, it is difficult to see the appeal of these cards.

HM Treasury



The special Scrooge prize goes to Gordon Brown. The Chancellor has proved his credentials repeatedly, but his tour de force came in last week’s Pre-Budget Report. He performed a neat U-turn on alternatively secured pensions and put the squeeze on holidaymakers by doubling air passenger duty.

The tax burden on individuals has also risen sharply. Last year the Chancellor received £375.4 billion in taxes and duty. This year the figure is set to increase by 6 per cent, netting Mr Brown a windfall of £399.1 billion, which is 85 per cent more than he received when he took office in 1997.

Additional reporting by James Charles.