Turning the Tables on the Bank

News of the positive sort

Dmitry Argarkov of Voronezh, Russia, received a credit card offer from Tinkoff Credit Systems. He didn't like the terms spelled out in the contract, so he wrote up his own contract and sent it to the bank. Like most people confronted with a lot of small print, the bank didn't bother to read the contract and accepted it.

Mr Argarkov's version of the contract contained a 0pc interest rate, no fees and no credit limit. Every time the bank failed to comply with the rules, he would fine them 3m rubles (£58,716). If Tinkoff tried to cancel the contract, it would have to pay him 6m rubles.

When Argarkov went deep into debt and the bank tried to call in its usual fees, they ended up in court because Argarkov did not consider himself liable for fees not specified in the contract. And a judge agreed -Arkarov is only liable for the outstanding balance ($578), not the banks fees ($1,369). Next, Argarkov is suing to get the bank to pay HIM the penalties stated in the contract they signed. Good luck. More