Alliance & Leicester Fixed Rate Bond Maturity "meeting"

IrishGypsy

oldfella wrote: »

so to sum up, you are recommending that he should go to a branch in order to ensure the bond doesnt rollover, rather than run the risk of a simple paper exchange which is what all the other banks and N$&I do, with no problems whatever ?

and you wonder why people get frustrated at the quality of bank service ?

That's exactly what we're saying. If the other banks use a different procedure then that's their call. Don't forget that us lowly frontline staff don't get to make the calls on how procedures are carried out (unfortunately)

TC1

IrishGypsy wrote: »

That's exactly what we're saying. If the other banks use a different procedure then that's their call. Don't forget that us lowly frontline staff don't get to make the calls on how procedures are carried out (unfortunately)

Or fortunately depending on which way you look at it ...

D1zzy

Thanks for the heads up on this. I also have an A &L bond maturing April and had assumed that (as with every other bond with just about every other bank) I would receive a letter with maturity options. One more reason never ever to deal with Santander again -whatever rates they offer.

Visit to my local branch now scheduled in for Friday.

GCH888

Hey all

Thanks for your responses. Now let me first apologise for being rude and snotty with regards to my original post. Okay ... it was mildly insulting but certainly not as extreme as the many other threads in this forum "discussing" the level of customer satisfaction with Santander. But anyway I appreciate your responses and for clarifying that this is indeed the standard procedure for bond maturity and not some dodgy scam .

However .. my point is this. I find it a bit of an inconvenience having to take time out during lunch to drive down to town, park the car and to physically have to go through this whole process. Can I claim for travelling expense and the car parking?

IrishGypsy wrote: »

Simply take in your ID, your savings bond certificate, bank statement, advise where you want your Bond funds transferred to, sign the form and then leave and chat with your IFA.

If you don't want the services my fellow Santander colleagues offer, then that's hardly an issue. Just say no thanks and leave.

Simply? That's not exactly how I would describe this process. If anything this has actually put me off taking out another bond with Santander. I mean ... with my other fixed rate bonds all I've had to do was either give my maturity instruction electronically or via mail (stamped address envelop provided!). Now that is simple.

And please ... none of us are naive. We all know this is seen by Santander upper management as simply a great opportunity to push their investment products to unsuspecting customers who don't have access to IFAs or are not money savvy. If it wasn't, it would be more cost effective to do what all other banks do which is to allow maturity instructions electronically or through the post.

And seriously ... can I claim travelling expenses?

GCH888

ses6jwg wrote: »

Blasted if we just let the bond default into 0.1% as most other banks do and blasted if we "automatically" set it to a Fixed Rate Reward Bond.

How about sending out a letter advising what will happen to the fund once the bond matures and perhaps giving out a checklist of options to be filled out and returned? So simple that you wonder why other banks don't do it. I'm a genius!

ses6jwg wrote: »

You haven't actually stated what you wanted to do with your bond?

Errrr ... I appreciate your concern but isn't that irrelevant? My rude and snotty tirade stems from the fact that I now have to take time to travel and visit Santander. And all because Santander is so caring of my financial wellbeing that I need to be physically present to be told that my money will default to 0.1% if I don't give any instruction. Phew ... thanks!

IrishGypsy

GCH888 wrote: »

Hey all

Thanks for your responses. Now let me first apologise for being rude and snotty with regards to my original post. Okay ... it was mildly insulting but certainly not as extreme as the many other threads in this forum "discussing" the level of customer satisfaction with Santander. But anyway I appreciate your responses and for clarifying that this is indeed the standard procedure for bond maturity and not some dodgy scam .

However .. my point is this. I find it a bit of an inconvenience having to take time out during lunch to drive down to town, park the car and to physically have to go through this whole process. Can I claim for travelling expense and the car parking?





Simply? That's not exactly how I would describe this process. If anything this has actually put me off taking out another bond with Santander. I mean ... with my other fixed rate bonds all I've had to do was either give my maturity instruction electronically or via mail (stamped address envelop provided!). Now that is simple.

And please ... none of us are naive. We all know this is seen by Santander upper management as simply a great opportunity to push their investment products to unsuspecting customers who don't have access to IFAs or are not money savvy. If it wasn't, it would be more cost effective to do what all other banks do which is to allow maturity instructions electronically or through the post.

And seriously ... can I claim travelling expenses?

Well you haven't been taken through the process by the right adviser (who'll make it all simple enough) in branch then have you?

You could always try and claim travel expenses via the complaints team should you wish, but that choice is up to you.

Upper management still have a job to do with regards to investments, as we're ALL paid to discuss Santander products, regardless of who's a fan of 'the selling' or not. The difference is, you just have to say no thanks and leave. It might not be right for you, but it may be right for someone else.

GCH888 wrote: »

How about sending out a letter advising what will happen to the fund once the bond matures and perhaps giving out a checklist of options to be filled out and returned? So simple that you wonder why other banks don't do it. I'm a genius!



Errrr ... I appreciate your concern but isn't that irrelevant? My rude and snotty tirade stems from the fact that I now have to take time to travel and visit Santander. And all because Santander is so caring of my financial wellbeing that I need to be physically present to be told that my money will default to 0.1% if I don't give any instruction. Phew ... thanks!

But - lets be honest here - there's no real need to be rude and snotty because you don't like something. By all means be frustrated to hell and back (and I don't blame you in the slightest, we'd much rather have a bond maturity system you're describing), but buy being rude - by your own admission here - isn't going to help anybody and will even make people less inclined to help you.

Santander might not be the golden boy in your eyes, but there's still quite a lot of staff who genuinely want to help customers achieve what they want (and many do every single day). Whether that be open investments, make more money or even get the hell out of the branch as quick as humanly possible...

Either way I hope yo get your issue resolved to your own personal satisfaction.

ChiefGrasscutter

Personally I'd sent them the bill for your time (at Solicitors rates) plus parking fees plus milage/petrol rate at at least 50p/mile.
If enough did that it might cause senior management to have an "attitude re-adjusment".

There was someone on the radio 4 a week or so back who wanted the FSA to change the rules on maturing fixed rate deposits - to make it the default condition that the savings institution repaid the capital to where it came from and not just move it to some other account. His plan was that this would stop the savings providers auto-rolling over bonds into "worse" accounts than they were offering for "new" money.

alanq

ChiefGrasscutter wrote: »

There was someone on the radio 4 a week or so back who wanted the FSA to change the rules on maturing fixed rate deposits - to make it the default condition that the savings institution repaid the capital to where it came from and not just move it to some other account.

The Close Brother 18-month and 3-year bonds launched are paid out on maturity to an account that you specify when opening the bonds. It is the first time I have seen such accounts. I suppose the danger is that the source account is closed by the time the accounts mature and the customer fails to inform the bank.

My preferred scheme is automatic roll-over with penalty-free access for a month. My least favourite is automatic roll-over (perhaps into a product which does not allow access) if one doesn't contact a bank BEFORE maturity date. I have no problem with funds being moved into a low-interest instant-access account at the end of an account's term. Anyone who cannot organise themselves to take action at that time has no cause for complaint in my opinion.

oldfella

I would suggest you say you are prepared to offer them a 5 minute appointment at your house at a time and date you specify

Arthurian

OP, you say you were told "Well you have to come in to sign off your bond before it can be released back to you ..." Yet one of the options (post #6) is to simply write to Head Office and ask for a cheque. Seems like you were lied to. I'd write to Head Office, keeping copies and proof of posting.