Bring back the old days

The_MoneySavingKid

I much prefer now thanks.


All my applications never seem to take that long....at other banks.

nilrem_2

A few months ago I visited Alliance and Leicester with completed application forms to open a Fixed rate saving account, I was intercepted by the reception and informed that I had to make an appointment and come on another day, I explained that I had studied the account and had filled in the forms, all I wanted them to do was accept my Cheque and examine my ID etc, but I was wasting my time they insisted on an appointment, Result; I went down the road to the Nationwide and opened a similar account on the spot.

TBH it bugs me too when they do this.

ChuckCash

Increased rules and regulations need to be adhered to by all banks.
But still, some banks manage to offer great customer service, whilst other banks achieve the opposite.

It's been many years since I had a Bradford and Bringley account, but at the time I found their service was quite adequate. Not sure if they are suffering from the Santander effect, which seems to have brought down the service levels at every institution they have taken over, to a level almost as low as their savings rates.

paid4it

Aegis wrote: »

You'll find that tellers are generally not trained to open accounts. Cashiering and account opening seem to be treated as two separate disciplines within banking at the moment, and for good reason if you look at costs of teaching and maintaining the necessary skills for each role. As such, it's not that they were ignoring you because you didn't have an appointment, it's probably more that they genuinely couldn't help you out because of the regulations that they have to adhere to.

I'm not necessarily stating that this is the most efficient process, just letting you know why it shouldn't be taken as a personal slight or anything.

didnt take any offence and may use them in future just took my money and walked.

Aegis

paid4it wrote: »

didnt take any offence and may use them in future just took my money and walked.

Fair enough

martinman3

jack_spratt wrote: »

I cannot believe how naive some of the posters comments are!! yes money laundering is a very good excuse but if any bank employees are truthful its all about sales and sales opportunities .

What has home or car insurance got to do with saving or investment products !! most of the time the people who are opening the accounts for the banks and building societies are not authorised to give financial advice and you would then be passed onto there financial advisor !! If a teller was conducting the account opening it would not be possible to maximise the sales potential of the new customer

As another poster has pointed out quite correctly that you do not receive any advice to open on-line accounts and can move money around at will within certain limitations !! so the idea of giving best advice is a bit of a red herring as that scenario is more suited to investment products than savings accounts

Please do not take this as a attack on other posters its just my opinion

Santander and other banks have tried the subtle approach to encourage savers to open accounts online by offering higher rates than branch accounts for several years now. You can then use call centres with people reading from computer screens instead of trained employees.

Santander in particular has 2-3 times more branches than it would like after the A&L, B&B takeovers, Lloyds Banking Group has 2 times more branches thanks to HBOS merger. By discouraging use of branches they can easily cut staff or justify closure and save themselves a fortune.

The selling of insurance is used to justify branch employees when they need no such justification, providing customer service is an asset not a liability.Visit a true building society (not Nationwide) and see how it should be done.