War and Peace to the Halifax...

tripled

I've now been battling to open a savings account (regular saver) for two months. In all fairness, the account is now open, but it still has the wrong interest rate and there are other problems still to be resolved. I've come to the end of my tether and have wasted two hours of my Sunday writing chapter and verse - I wonder if it'll have any effect.

Below are the last few paragraphs:

To summarise, I have now completed a Web application, called seven times, and visited your Hereford branch, yet the problems with my accounts have still not been resolved – indeed, you have now surpassed yourselves by dragging my current account into this sorry mess. Of the three promised call backs, I have received none, and now have to spend a Sunday afternoon writing to you instead of relaxing in the pub. I also notice that despite the advice in your helpful guide ‘Personal Customer Complaints – Here’s what we’ll do’, it doesn’t appear you ‘want to fix it, quickly and simply’, nor have I been provided with ‘a reference number unique to my complaint so I’ll never need to repeat the information I’ve given you’ - indeed the opposite is the case.

I now expect the following to take place. If this is not possible, I shall further my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman and close all my accounts with the Halifax:

·My regular saver will have an interest rate of 7% applied to it
·The ‘guaranteed saver’ will be converted to a ‘Web saver’
·My current account will be redesignated a ‘high interest current account’
·I will receive a sizeable amount of compensation credited to my account for all the time, inconvenience, frustration and expense I have incurred (a sum approaching £50 wouldn’t seem unreasonable)
·I will be provided with a reference number unique to my complaint so any further issues can be dealt with more easily without me having to repeat myself
·I will receive a written letter confirming all of the above actions, an explanation of why your service has been so abysmal and details of what measures you are going to take to ensure this does not happen to me or other Halifax (or Lloyds Banking Group if you prefer) customers in the future. You may optionally also explain why you have made it so difficult for me to open a savings account with you, instead preferring to borrow money off me via Gordon Brown.

I expect all of the above to take place by Thursday 12th February 2009. If the issues are not resolved and I have not had written confirmation by this date, I will contact the Financial Obudsman (I believe the 8 weeks since I first reported a problem will have elapsed by this point). I will also transfer my accounts to alternative provider (of which there are many to choose from).

I eagerly look forward to your response.

Hopefully my Sunday afternoon hasn't been wasted in vain and I might actually end up with a couple of bob for it. I won't hold my breath though!

Richard_Cocks

I'd reword it to take out the accusatory terms (abysmal, etc), stick to facts of what you've done, what they've done.

I'd keep in "what you'd like to happen", although I'd take out the compensation amount, £50 is actually quite low and it'd be nice to give them the chance to offer more! If they offered less you could always ask for more later after they've accepted responsibility! (If they offered 25 you could point out the considerable time it's taken to resolve, not to mention the phone calls etc!)

But overall, and I mean no offense here, your attitude stinks. The fact you see compensation/goodwill gestures as some kind of alternative income really takes the !!!!; compensation should be about redressing lost money/time, not a bonus to cash in!

ShelfStacker_3

To be honest, I think that letter sounds petulant. You've got a list of demands and a pointless stab at the bank having to take government funding, not a complaint or request for action. And frankly, specifying a level of compensation that you want is a bit cheeky.

Finally - if they've f*cked you around that much, why are you still bothering with them?

Extant

ShelfStacker wrote: »

To be honest, I think that letter sounds petulant. You've got a list of demands and a pointless stab at the bank having to take government funding, not a complaint or request for action. And frankly, specifying a level of compensation that you want is a bit cheeky.

Finally - if they've f*cked you around that much, why are you still bothering with them?

It is petulant. "Child like sulking" doesn't even cover this.

Most people don't seem to grasp that the person who will read this letter is just doing a job, and will just roll their eyes at such things. Nobody is going to be hurt by it, it really does just make the customer look like a little butt hurt child.

Keep it professional and business-like.

Calchas

BarclaysManager wrote: »

Keep it professional and business-like.

Do not follow the above advice!

You are dealing with a bank. They don't understand the concept of business and they are certainly not professional.

In short, you will confuse them!

ShelfStacker_3

Calchas wrote: »

Do not follow the above advice!

You are dealing with a bank. They don't understand the concept of business and they are certainly not professional.

In short, you will confuse them!

Um.... yeah.

In the real world, keep it businesslike and professional.

rb10

If these are just the last two paragraphs, how long is the whole letter?

Remember that this is going to be read by someone - a real person - in Customer Relations. They do not want to spend half an hour just reading a letter. Chances are, they'll skim through bits, as that's just human nature. And that will not help your case in the slightest.

Keep it short, simple, and to the point.

Calchas

ShelfStacker wrote: »

In the real world, keep it businesslike and professional.

I agree, but when in a bank don't confuse things by acting in a way that is alien to them!

Extant

Calchas wrote: »

I agree, but when in a bank don't confuse things by acting in a way that is alien to them!

I'm very sorry that you've had some sort of bad experience with a bank in the past.

That, however, does not mean that you should be petulant as above when dealing with a bank. Nor does it mean that being "professional and business like" is alien to bank staff, because by and large, that's exactly what bank staff are.

The vocal minority on these forums will of course disagree, but do remember you are dealing with organizations here that employ not thousands or tens of thousands, but hundreds of thousands of people.

Calchas

BarclaysManager wrote: »

I'm very sorry that you've had some sort of bad experience with a bank in the past.

I can't take all the credit: fact is, it's every tax payer in the country, to the tune of billions!

BarclaysManager wrote: »

That, however, does not mean that you should be petulant as above when dealing with a bank. Nor does it mean that being "professional and business like" is alien to bank staff, because by and large, that's exactly what bank staff are.

Perhaps you are right. If they weren't "professional and business like", they might have lost trillions rather than billions! :rotfl:

BarclaysManager wrote: »

The vocal minority on these forums will of course disagree, but do remember you are dealing with organizations here that employ not thousands or tens of thousands, but hundreds of thousands of people.

The vocal minority? I guess that judgement can be measured in much the same way as unwrapping financial derivatives. :eek: Your pomposity does nothing to aid your bank!

Extant

Calchas wrote: »

I can't take all the credit: fact is, it's every tax payer in the country, to the tune of billions!

Perhaps you are right. If they weren't "professional and business like", they might have lost trillions rather than billions! :rotfl:

The vocal minority? I guess that judgement can be measured in much the same way as unwrapping financial derivatives. :eek: Your pomposity does nothing to aid your bank!

Perhaps you would like to put forward some comments or arguments actually related to the matter at hand - how to deal with a bank's complaints department?

Because so far all I can see is some unconnected and baseless commentary that goes off on a derogatory tangent as opposed to offering anything of note.