Misseling banks .... How about unfair customers?

ILW

YoungNick wrote: »

If you tell your manager that you cannot in good conscience sell your bank's crummy ISAs, because you know that customers can get significantly better deals elsewhere, then your manager has no valid grounds for criticising you, let alone sacking you.

If any company aims at short-term sales, ignoring honesty, it will lose customers. If a company honestly admits not being able to meet a particular customer's particular need, that customer is more likely to trust that company to meet other needs. For example, if a salesperson admits that they haven't got a sweater that fits me, I'm quite likely to go back to that shop when I need a shirt. If I'm manipulated into buying an unsuitable sweater, I'll avoid the shop for ever afterwards.

By mis-selling these old people a premium account, you risked them moving all their banking business elsewhere when they found out they had been duped. Indeed, I hope they have now done so.

What a quaint (if naive) attitude.

opinions4u

Joe_Bloggs wrote: »

Somewhere it is written that between two thirds and three quarters of all cash ISAs are earning an interest rate of 0.5% or less. The cash ISA pool is close to 170 billion.

It's not just ISAs. 10% of consumers are pro-active rate tarts. 20% reactive when they realise. 70% can't be bothered at all.

(ok, my figures are guesses, but I don't think they're a million miles off).

So when a bank offers to "review" your finances, those who commit the time will invariably walk away better off than they were when they started the meeting.

Those who reject the meeting as a sales pitch (which it is, but a sales pitch that should be to the mutual benefit of bank and customer) will fall in to two camps - a small minority who will hit sites like MSE and discover a best buy elsewhere and move elsewhere. And the overwhelming majority who will continue to leave things as they are.

Apathy is the friend of the banks. It is also the friend of the rate tart who benefit significantly from it.

Fiddlestick

pmduk wrote: »

No offence to the OP, but I wish there was more awareness that you can't trust a bank staff member to tell you the truth, let alone what is best for you as a customer.

That's pretty unfair to the OP.

As a tied adviser he can only advise on his bank's products.

The best way for the customer to gain a higher rate of interest using *his bank's products* was to take a paid current account and convert to the higher paying account for their savings.

It sounds like he did tell them the truth and did the best he could; it's not his fault the customer did not listen.

JuicyJesus

Fiddlestick wrote: »

That's pretty unfair to the OP.

As a tied adviser he can only advise on his bank's products.

The best way for the customer to gain a higher rate of interest using *his bank's products* was to take a paid current account and convert to the higher paying account for their savings.

It sounds like he did tell them the truth and did the best he could; it's not his fault the customer did not listen.

I should point out that unless specified otherwise, bank staff are NOT advisers. They cannot give advice in any way shape or form; they can suggest products to you that might fit your needs, but they cannot tell you that a certain product is the best option for you.

From the OP's story, they didn't give any advice at all, or even suggest the savings product; the customer came in and wanted a product which a paid-for account was a prerequisite for having. As you say, they told the truth and the customer didn't listen.

Fiddlestick

JuicyJesus wrote: »

I should point out that unless specified otherwise, bank staff are NOT advisers. They cannot give advice in any way shape or form; they can suggest products to you that might fit your needs, but they cannot tell you that a certain product is the best option for you.

That's fair enough.

I guess I didn't draw the proper distinction between tied advisors and sales staff, some are the former whilst most are the latter.

IrishGypsy

*sighs*

With regards to the reply by DrSyn (that completely side-stepped around my actual reply) I think I will now politely decline to make any further comments on this matter, as I have a stern online policy of not feeding trolls! There's been plenty of common sense 'real-world' replies to this subject (compared to a barrage of naivety and wishful thinking), and I think it'd be safer to leave it as such. If people wish to walk into a high street bank and expect impartial advice on the 'whole of the market', then I wish them the best of luck, as I don't think even Indiana Jones would succeed in that adventure!

DrSyn

Juging from what I read here the the banks selling staff think:

(a) Most of their customers are dishonest.

(b) They are the only profession who do not need (or want) to tell their customers what the true cost of products are,when they buy them. Asking them how much they will get is out of the question!

(c) The customers are "thick" if they do not automatically know the bank staff are trying to sell a product & not "advising" about a product.

Are these views of just a few or the many in the industry? I will let you the reader think, decide & remember next time you go to the bank to buy someting.

Remember : Banks are now selling shops with money operations attached, Not the other way round!

opinions4u

DrSyn wrote: »

Remember : Banks are now selling shops with money operations attached, Not the other way round!

Banks are money shops selling money services.

I don't think anybody is trying to hide the fact.

ses6jwg

Of course a bank is a shop like any other all offering different products to tempt your custom.

How do other shops make money? They buy goods at low prices and sell them to you for a higher price. It's called a profit margin.

It's the same with financial services. They take your savings, pay you 3%, then lend it out to borrowers at 10%.

This is the system. This is the way capitalism works. Doesn't automatically make it a poor deal for the customer though.

People are quick to lay into the way that retail banks make money however I don't see people queuing up to complain in Tesco because the tin of beans they bought for 39p only cost Tesco 5p to buy in.

Like with other shops some customers are too lazy to bother to shop around. They are happy to pay £4 for a steak despite the fact they could go down the road and buy one for £3.

It's the same with banking. Some customers cannot simply be arsed to go anywhere else, if they can't, then it's not really unreasonable to expect the banking staff to try and get the best for that customer within their remit i.e. as a seller of that particular banks products.

Bank staff are not paid £16,000 a year to offer impartial advice.

JuicyJesus

DrSyn wrote: »

(c) The customers are "thick" if they do not automatically know the bank staff are trying to sell a product & not "advising" about a product.

I think you're referring to me. In which case I would be happy to reiterate that if you think you can go into a branch of a particular bank looking for a current or savings account and they will recommend the products of a different bank in preference to their own, you are quite thick. Because it's true.

What you have done there is conflate my true statement that doing the above makes you thick with my (also true) statement that bank staff are not necessarily advisers - to which I would also add that perception of such people as advisers is inaccurate but does not necessarily make you thick. A delightful straw man you built there, I must say. My hat is off to you.