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Since the announcement back in 2005 that the 2012 Olympic Games are to be held in London, it appears that the organisation of the event has encountered blunder after blunder. If it’s not the £400,000 logo causing offence due to it’s ambiguous resemblance to a Swastika or ‘Zion’ reference, it’s the panic that the games will land the UK in yet further debt.

The games are expected to cost around £3.3billion, whereas sceptics expect this amount to rise to over 8billion. Largely, the taxpayer will fund this huge sum, at a time when the economy is already in crisis. Does the UK really need this extra economic burden?

The latest blunder directly affects those purchasing tickets, putting many at financial risk. It was revealed last week that for those ‘lucky enough’ to have bagged tickets, debit payments could see major delays. Although tickets have been allocated, payments were not due to be taken from accounts until May 10th but this has now been delayed until anywhere from May 16th to June 10th. This is due to the overrunning of ballot allocation and it could have serious implications for many people.

With no exact date given for transactions to go through, unless people ensure there are sufficient funds in their accounts, they could end up with unexpected bank charges. People could find themselves faced with penalty charges for overdrawn accounts or for returned fees. Some banks charge as much as 30% interest on withdrawals over the agreed limit, whereas banks such as Barclays charge £8 for every returned fee.

This is just another blow to the already debt-ridden population. Bank charges heighten the country’s debt problem by driving many people deeper and deeper into the red. Many people find themselves in the vicious cycle of being unable to bring their accounts back to being within the agreed limits as the bank keeps piling on extra charges.

Anyone who has bought a ticket for the games should be prepared for their accounts to be debited at any time between May 16th and June 10th. It goes without saying, avoid the risk of falling victim to dreaded bank charges by ensuring you have enough funds to cover the cost of the tickets.

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