Nationwide - and other similar type places that do this

username

I was in Lloyds the other week paying off my card bill (in full I might add!) and when I'd finished, the lad behind the counter said that my account was 'out of date'. I was about to tell him I wasn't interested but he'd went off the consult his colleague, taking my card bill with him.

Said colleague then came out of the secure bit and invited me to have a chat because the account was out of date and not paying much interest (a savings account). Told them I wasn't interested, grabbed my statement off the woman and left the branch.

I can deal with the odd sales pitch at the counter, but to go to this length of 'special treatment' when there's a large queue of people and only a few counters open is quite embarrasing.

Obviously he was quite keen to get his sales target for the month then. :rotfl:

HoneyAndLemon

I just don't understand that at all 'Username'.

What interest rate are you getting? Probably dropped down to like 0.5 or something. Yet you're not at all interested in getting a better rate?

I agree that maybe the teller could have just told you what other rates were available instead of going to get a colleague straight away though.

barbiedoll

Whenever any assistant asks me "is there anything else I can help you with today?" I always tell them that they can come and do my ironing if they like!


This hard-selling technique does grate on me too though, it's not as if they have loads of staff in the bank with nothing else to do, there's always a queue up to the door in my local branch. And I hate going into WH Smiths for a paper, the constant offers of a huge bar of [STRIKE]almost out of date[/STRIKE] half-price chocolate really annoys me. I wouldn't mind so much if it was any good but it's always the Cadburys crap or even worse....chocolate oranges! :mad:

username

HoneyAndLemon wrote: »

I just don't understand that at all 'Username'.

What interest rate are you getting? Probably dropped down to like 0.5 or something. Yet you're not at all interested in getting a better rate?

I agree that maybe the teller could have just told you what other rates were available instead of going to get a colleague straight away though.

The savings account had a tenner in and wasn't used for a long time, the interest rate has been pants for years (it was my old young savings account), so hence why I never bothered to put anything in it regularly.

I have my money in better paying accounts elsewhere, so I'm not fussed - plus, the over the top attitude made me want to not want to hang around.

lincroft1710

HoneyAndLemon wrote: »

I just don't understand that at all 'Username'.

What interest rate are you getting? Probably dropped down to like 0.5 or something. Yet you're not at all interested in getting a better rate?

I agree that maybe the teller could have just told you what other rates were available instead of going to get a colleague straight away though.

The LTSB cashier did the right thing. He referred Username to his colleague who would have been the Financial Advisor best placed to advise him of the best investments for his money. There are at least 3 tiers of FAs at LTSB, the more you have to invest, the higher the FA will be.

Although you may find their questions annoying, they are trying to help you get better interest rates.

lincroft1710

I suppose you could add to the annoying questions :

"Do you want fries with that?".

"You will of course be wanting to purchase an additional 2 year free repair or replacement warranty insurance, won't you?"

Nadia123

I've been a Nationwide customer for 20 years at least and I have always found the branch staff to be efficient and courteous but I do find the fact that a teller has the capability to browse through all my accounts when I'm only depositing a cheque in my Flexaccount really intrusive and annoying!

For that reason (plus lousy interest rates) I've closed my main saving accounts with Nationwide and bank online instead.

libertysurf

hotbanana wrote: »

Perhaps there be some kind of way of "opting out of sales pitches" that come up on their screen when the teller swipes the customer's card through? shouldnt be too difficult and think of how much wasted time of both teller and customer could be saved.

I was asked what I wanted to do with my savings when I paid in a cheque at Nationwide. Save them, I said. Then you should speak to one of our advisors. OK, I said.
I was brought another member of staff who after a conversation where I said no to the stock market (!), said they had various accounts and how long did I want to invest for. I said I'd choose one that was competitive. Did she know which ones were?

She said she could not tell me that, and just handed me leaflets that were on general display, and that was the end of our conversation.

I left bemused - what was the point of all that!

farfromhome

I would like to add my experience with Nationwide. I have been their "customer" for many years with mortgage etc. The last few times I paid in a cheque into my Flex Account I was told by the teller that I should really see their financial adviser and eventually I agreed that she could make an appointment for me.

What a bad decision. The guy wanted me to sign up for various investments there and then, not taking no for an answer when I said I wanted to take his recommendations home to mull over. He then constantly rang me at home and at my place of work to ask me to make another appointment which I eventually did and when I saw him then with various questions he seemed to take offence that I wouldn't sign up without wanting more answers. He then told me why had I asked to see him when I didn't like his recommendations?!

I said I hadn't asked to see him, I had only agreed to make an appointment because their tellers were constantly asking me and I was considering taking advice from an independent adviser. He didn't like that at all and practically shoved me out of the door. I found it all very strange.

pitkin2020

Your moaning about something that is effectively saving you money. Businesses (banks are businesses too) are just trying to sell more products so they can make money. Impulse purchases help businesses no end and if they stop asking people won't always think they needed something extra so won't purchase it. The business then makes less money and then have to add an extra % markup across the product range to make money still.

Damned if they do damned if they don't, in reality the question "would you like x, y or z" and your reply "not today thank you" takes all of 20 secs so get a grip people. Not to mention that just because some people know 100% what they are going to come out of the shop with doesn't mean others won't think about taking cash back, a top up or opening a savings account.