Is this normal for brokers?

ashleyk

davidla wrote: »

Are you going to take your complaint about the broker any further, Ashley, or will you just leave it with the boss?
I don't really see what Ashley did wrong. He tried to get for free advice. The other guy could have refused.
I work as a Corporate Travel Agent - if a client called up and asked for visa advice for a private trip I would give it as it is good for our relationship. If the client called up everyday asking for free advice that would be different.
David

I hope that it can all just be sorted out cleanly with no financial loss and left at that. Maybe the broker will be more careful in future as well which is important if he wants to have a future in that business.

I have no wish to go to war just for the sake of it and if this had been something small I probably would have just shrugged and moved on but messing with my mortgage and having my account debited £1500 is a serious matter, especially in times like this. For the time being I've left it with his boss and I'll just wait to see what happens. My dealings with his boss have always been very professional and friendly and for that reason I wasn't expecting any problems like this.

Gorgeous_George

If advice is free, it's probably worth every penny.

GG

feisty1

Suggesting a camera, or a holiday destination or the best cut of beef in the butcher's shop doesn't fall under the category of "advice" as regulation does with the FSA.

I can't go back to the butcher and request compensation for mis-selling because my steak wasn't as tender as he suggested!!!

ashleyk

Let's see, butchers. How about health & safety, hygiene, weights & measures and all the onerous regulations about sourcing healthy meat that is fit for consumption. Then there is the food standards agency etc etc. If a butcher advised you on a cut of meat that made you seriously ill you can bet he'd have to deal with some serious regulations.

feisty1

Oh pls!............. Do you always have to deviate can you not read what is written? A perfect example of someone who wants to see what they want to see and hear what they want to hear......or believe they are right when trying to cut the advisor out the loop but still expect help.......

silvercar

feisty1, you really should read this thread:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=325378

In particular,

Mortgage Advisers' signatures. If mortgage brokers want to add a signature about being a broker to their post it should be

I am a Mortgage Adviser

You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a Mortgage Adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice.




This should be the only text in your signature. There should be no other notes or hyperlinked text. Mortgage Advisers who choose not to use the signature should not indicate they are brokers in any other way within their posts.

feisty1

silvercar........why do i have to read that?

Quote: "If mortgage brokers want to add a signature about being a broker"

What is yr point?

davidla

feisty1 wrote: »

u can hardly compare a travel agent or photographer to a financial/mortgage adviser.......We are heavily regulated when it comes to advice, hence the reason NO ADVICE is given on here and why Martin Lewis is not a financial adviser, if so he couldn't go an TV and tell u all to fix yr mortgages or put yr money in IceSave.

So what's the issue here?
Ashley shouldn't have asked for free advice because you are so heavily regulated.
Or he shouldn't have asked for advice because he was expecting it to be free.
Re travel agents, if I told a client he didn't need a visa and he got as far as e.g. Indonesia and they refused to let him in because he needed a visa, then our client would demand compensation.
David

HelpWhereIcan

davidla wrote: »

I work as a Corporate Travel Agent - if a client called up and asked for visa advice for a private trip I would give it as it is good for our relationship. If the client called up everyday asking for free advice that would be different.
David

I thanked this post because i think it nicely cut to where the truth of this lies and where feisty and ashleyk are getting their respective knickers in a twist - even though they are probably in general agreement.

feisty is correct that we have to keep a careful eye on how our time is spent and the old 80/20 rule is king here. 80% of your income will come from 20% of your customers and we have to be careful not to allow those 'less productive' clients become the ones that consume our time and affect the service given to those who are 'more productive'.

If someone gets 'free advice' from you then arranges your reccomended deal direct and then comes back for further info you are going to get annoyed that you are being expected to work entirely for free - it is human nature.

However, if a client has done some business and asks for a bit of help on a (un)related matter there is potentially a lot to be gained from the kudos and goodwill that will come if the client does not see you as 'watching the £s' as ashleyk suggests.

The real question is balance. Where that lies is down to the client, the broker and the relationship they have. No client should have to pay for every little word that is uttered by their broker, but no broker should be expected to do everything for free.

I don't see that there is actually a conflict in feisty's and ashleyk's views.

However, this situation is the exact reason why I am restructing the way I work to be based on service levels given and customer agreed remuneration.

The brokers and IFAs here will know what I mean by those terms and I will not bore everyone else with a detailed explanation of the ins and outs.

Suffice to say I have spoken with one of my Buy to Let customers about charging a monthly retainer which will allow him to call me whenever he likes to discuss a property he has seen with the commission from any mortgages actually arranged being either rebated to him or offset against future months' fees.

This model will be rolled out to other (new) customers as when appropriate depending on the service offered - especially on the investment side of the practice.

HelpWhereIcan

feisty1 wrote: »

silvercar........why do i have to read that?

Quote: "If mortgage brokers want to add a signature about being a broker"

What is yr point?

Mortgage Advisers who choose not to use the signature should not indicate they are brokers in any other way within their posts.

Let's not all start falling out just for the sake of it.