I am in the process of reviewing our bank accounts and investments and researching what accounts to set up for our daughter. The majority of my time has been spent on the internet, reading newspapers or brochures sent through the post, however yesterday I went into two high street banks and neither experience was great.
I am planning on making some long term investments while the stock markets are declining, however when I went to make my purchases I discovered my account is still in my maiden name and I am not able to make any additions to my account until I have updated my details. All I need to do is show them a copy of my marriage certificate, but as they are on an online institution I need to send them a certified copy of the certificate.
I went into the bank where I have my ISA (tax free savings account) and our mortgage and asked if they would certify a copy of the certificate. Their response was no, they are not allowed to certify anything unless it is for one of their own products. I pointed out they had previously certified copies as I held an account with them, but no they refused, even though it would only take a couple of minutes and the bank was empty.
I have to admit this made me frustrated as I previously had big issues with their online bank when I first changed my name and it was only because I held this high street ISA account that I was able to resolve it. I have kept my money in the ISA longer than I should have, but I felt it was important that I held one high street account so I was willing to take the cut in interest rates. But, as I may need to pay my doctor £13 to certify a copy (if they are willing to do it), I’m no longer happy to take the cut particularly as they are only paying 0.25%.
I went into a second bank to get application forms to transfer my ISA (they are paying over 2% more) and to set up a children’s saving account for Beth that has a large interest rate. My plan was to pick up the application forms and return later in the week with them, however, I soon discovered they no longer provide paper application forms. This was explained as providing good service as I could sit down with someone and discuss what type of account would be best for me (even though I know this from my own research), but they also mentioned it saved them time in entering the details from paper forms into the system and I wonder if that is the main reason. Now I have to wait until next week before I can open these accounts.
I was fairly frustrated after this unsuccessful trip to the banks and thought the banks were offering poor customer service. However later in the afternoon I wondered if perhaps its me; maybe I’m unusual in doing my research up front and then wanting to get the task completed once I’ve made a decision and most people would be happy to receive a one to one service to discuss their situtation. Or should banks be able to provide simple services to help customers such as providing application forms to complete at your leisure and certifying certificates. What do you think?
There will be some interesting battles ahead between banks and their customers. Banks under significant pressure from the public and the government will be seeking to claw back as many of the lost billions as possible. But they absolutely musn’t lose sight of the fact that they still exist to serve customers. Without them as we all know they have no business.
I came across an incident recently where a customer paid their credit card bill 6 days late, and then automatically got slapped with the standard £12 late payment fee plus interest. No problem with that. The customer phoned up to negotiate the £12 fee, and unlike previous flexibility that this institution had provided, this time they were as immoveable as Ayers Rock. No dice they said – albeit politely. Customer gets frustrated and vows never to use the card again. They told me their average spend is £400 – £500 per month. So how long will it take before that financial house will have lost the £12 they heroically saved themselves ? I’m not a banker, but not long I guess. Short-term thinking won’t save the day or the bank.
Andrew,
Yes bank charges are an interesting one. My husband has recently had charges from his credit card as the payment bounced when they tried to take the money before the agreed date! Of course they could justify why they did that and then charged interest for two months. The only reason he stayed with them was because the card has cashback and the money he’s received has been greater than the charges.
Banks are rarely good at everything. It often pays to chose a different bank for different type of service. On this new website http://www.verygoodservice.com/finance.htm we list award winning companies offering good customer service. Tell us what you think
banks are not really providing the best services that we are looking for. sometimes, their customer services needs improvement and it makes us discourage to think that we can do nothing about it.
Verygoodservice,
Thank you for your comment and the link to your website. Interestingly one of the banks I had problems with is on your list of good banks! However it is reassuring to see the company I’m thinking of getting a Child Trust Fund through on there.
Kenneth Sena,
Yes it is discouraging that we can do so little to improve service. I can threaten to close all my accounts, but what I have with them is such a small proportion it would make very little difference to them. Even if I’d named the banks in my post I’m sure it would have made very little difference.
Some banks provide good customer service especially when the staff internalize what they are there for. I think it’s just unlucky that you were able to come up to that situation. It must be frustrating. Nevertheless, there are still a few good people working in a bank, I hope.