halifax incompetent in helping elderly customer

Lokolo

No, not because she is an elderly person who can't see, its because she is oblivious to the fact interest rates are low, or change.

It isn't because she is old or can't see very well. Many young people come on here complaining about how crap bank interest rates are. The reason? They just shove the money in and don't keep an eye on the rate.

No business wants to give out more money than they have to.

judithray

how is a savings account with a good rate of interest an unsuitable product- what would you have suggested leaving the account with less than 1% incase it was too much bother for the halifax to explain what complications upgrading would cause - we are not all financially superliterate- which is surely why there is a forum to warn each other

judithray

why should you have to change the whole account just to remind them to give you a good rate - are you saying that they dont deliberatlely make it more trouble than it is worth to try and get a good rate - i personally do online banking and constantly upgrade but that is not appropriate for my mother because she can not do it herself .

Lokolo

judithray wrote: »

how is a savings account with a good rate of interest an unsuitable product- what would you have suggested leaving the account with less than 1% incase it was too much bother for the halifax to explain what complications upgrading would cause - we are not all financially superliterate- which is surely why there is a forum to warn each other

We do. We research. We don't go into the bank with £10,000 and say "Put it in your highest paying savings account". Why would the bank want to do the work for you?

You find the account, you open the account, you deposit into the account.

The bank reduce the interest rate.

You move the money and repeat process.

Simples.

martinman3

Although the account type is not mentioned, I am assuming that we are talking about the Guaranteed Saver Reward account at 1.50% AER.
In the T&Cs it says

• You can pay into your account at most of
our cash machines, in our branches, over the

telephone or using our online service.

but BACS is not mentioned so no bank credits,
but my favourite part is

On and after 17 July 2008, provided you keep
at least £2,500 in your account, the interest
rate is guaranteed to be no lower than 0.50%
below the Bank of England bank rate until at

least 1 January 2013

with the bank rate at 0.5%, not much of a guarantee !

It was a unfortunate situation for the OP because, once the money was transferred, if she was unhappy with the new account she couldn't get the old account back with its original account number to allow the BACS transfers to work.

judithray

are you talking about yourself or your elderly relatives the problem is not how to help yourself - but how to help frail partially sighted elderly who the bank are happy to allow to have their fraily exploited

opinions4u

why should you have to change the whole account just to remind them to give you a good rate

Because different accounts have different features which may or may not be appropriate. They can't simply say "oh, she's getting on a bit, let's pay her an extra 1% as she's a sweet old lady".

are you saying that they dont deliberatlely make it more trouble than it is worth to try and get a good rate

Degrading old accounts and introducing new ones is irritating. For small balances it is more trouble than it's worth, but for larger balances half an hour to get more money seems a fair swap.

judithray wrote: »

are you talking about yourself or your elderly relatives the problem is not how to help yourself - but how to help frail partially sighted elderly who the bank are happy to allow to have their fraily exploited

If you feel that they are deliberately exploiting her disability, I'd suggest you take them to court and sue them under the Disability Discrimination Act.

I was quite sympathetic when I posted earler. It now seems that you are trying to blame somebody else for a mistake that you made when trying to help your Mum.

As I said before, enquire about their large print service for partially sighted customers. It's very good and was something my Grandmother valued.

Additionally, get a power of attorney in place while she's still of sound mind. If her mind fades in the future you will think it's the best thing you ever did for her.

Cook_County

opinions4u wrote: »

Additionally, get a power of attorney in place while she's still of sound mind. If her mind fades in the future you will think it's the best thing you ever did for her.

This is the wrong way around. She does the LPA for her own benefit. The Attorney does not get any benefit apart from peace of mind. An LPA is a complex legal document. Many of us would need a solicitor to draft one.

Brodiebobs

'' Halifax were employing people with limited desire to care - no empathy no personality - I wonder why you defend them so eagerly''

i understand you are not happy how it was dealt with but is it Halifax's fault they have to adhere to Data protection or FSA regulations.... i'm sure if some nasty person took advantage of your mum and was stood behind her prompting her answers to pass security and steal all her money you'd be on here complaining about lapse security.

as others have posted it seems you didnt fully understand the implications of the new account... again not halifaxs problem, and if you dont like their aproach as suggested by others get a power of attourney then you can deal with her affairs.

opinions4u

Cook_County wrote: »

This is the wrong way around.

Not quite with you there. In what way is it "wrong way round"?

She does the LPA for her own benefit.

I didn't intend to suggest anything else. If she doesn't want it, then it doesn't happen.

The Attorney does not get any benefit apart from peace of mind. An LPA is a complex legal document. Many of us would need a solicitor to draft one.

I agree with you. I'm not sure why you appear to be disagreeing with me.