Wasting time on bank appointments

virgo149

Just had to vent, am so blooming fed up.

Made an appointment with Santander for my lunchbreak today to set up a 2 year fixed Cash ISA. Thought 4% for a couple of years on my pennies would be quite nice!

Why, oh why, can't people stick to appointments when you make them. I could see when I arrived some people already sitting in the area used. I turned up on time and was asked to take a seat. After 10 mins, I enquired how long to be told 'at least another 10 minutes'.

I expressed my disappointment after I had taken the trouble to be there on time and it was my lunch break. Then high tailed it out of there, telling them I'll take my business elsewhere.

I would expect to wait 5 minutes, but 20 plus.......... :mad:

Pollycat

I sympathise with your frustration, especially if you had to be back at work for a specific time.

Maybe they had a member of staff off sick and that was why they were running late?

I had an appointment with Santander last week to open an ISA, I know they try to sell you their other products so maybe that could be a reason.

Taking your business elsewhere is fine if you can get the same (or better) deal elsewhere.

The rates are pretty good and not everywhere allows you to transfer ISA in as Santander currently does.

Azari

Pollycat wrote: »

Maybe they had a member of staff off sick and that was why they were running late?

If they had one less staff member they should have had the courtesy to get in touch with clients and warn them.

Anyway, it does not seem likely that they would only be running 20 minutes late by lunch time if one member of staff was unavailable.

It's appalling the way companies think they can waste people's time. It should be obvious to them that people who make lunchtime appointments are likely to be running to a very tight schedule.

fluffnutter

I'd take a lower interest rate any day over being a customer of Santander.

mynameistallulah

Azari wrote: »

If they had one less staff member they should have had the courtesy to get in touch with clients and warn them.

Anyway, it does not seem likely that they would only be running 20 minutes late by lunch time if one member of staff was unavailable.

It's appalling the way companies think they can waste people's time. It should be obvious to them that people who make lunchtime appointments are likely to be running to a very tight schedule.

If they already had one less staff member who do you suggest gets in touch with the clients? Doing this would then leave them two less on their normal duties, no?

If the delay was only twenty minutes it is quite possible that the advisor had one complex client that took longer than expected. What do you suggest the advisor does - tell this client to get lost, as they have someone else waiting?

bryanb

Why waste time on appointments to open ISAs? I do all mine on line.

PS I escaped from Santander a few years back.

Tina20

mynameistallulah wrote: »

If they already had one less staff member who do you suggest gets in touch with the clients? Doing this would then leave them two less on their normal duties, no?

If the delay was only twenty minutes it is quite possible that the advisor had one complex client that took longer than expected. What do you suggest the advisor does - tell this client to get lost, as they have someone else waiting?

No you expect a company to run their appointments professionally, and with adequate communication to the customer.

Pollycat

Azari wrote: »

If they had one less staff member they should have had the courtesy to get in touch with clients and warn them.

I didn't say they had one member of staff off sick.
I was just putting forward a possible reason for the delay.
It wasn't meant to be an excuse to be shot down.

I have no idea if virgo's experience is the norm, my appointment with Santander for the same reason started less than 5 minutes late.

Azari wrote: »

Anyway, it does not seem likely that they would only be running 20 minutes late by lunch time if one member of staff was unavailable.

How do you know that?
You don't know how big (or small) the branch was that virgo visited.
You don't know how many advisors there are in that branch and therefore how big (or small) the impact of a possible missing staff member might be.
You don't know what the previous customers had appointments for and therefore how long their appointments might have overrun.

Azari wrote: »

It's appalling the way companies think they can waste people's time.

I will agree with this if someone can offer proof that companies consistently start appointments late.

Azari wrote: »

It should be obvious to them that people who make lunchtime appointments are likely to be running to a very tight schedule.

Why should it be obvious?
I was offered a 12 midday appointment.
It was the only appointment I could get in any of the 3 Santander branches in our town for the whole of last week.
How are the staff to know that someone is on a tight schedule just because of the timing of an appointment?

I'm not championing Santander here, this is the first business I've done with them.

fluffnutter wrote: »

I'd take a lower interest rate any day over being a customer of Santander.

I'm the opposite.
My ISA will be fully subscribed by the end of this week.
They will contact my previous ISA provider and arrange xfer of the money into my new ISA.
I won't have to have dealings with them at all until next May (when the bonus rate expires & I'll be looking for another good rate) unless I want to withdraw some of my money - which I can easily do using the debit card they're sending me.

I can understand people who've had a bad experience with any financial provider voting with their feet for say, credit cards or current accounts but not for an ISA.

fluffnutter

bryanb wrote: »

Why waste time on appointments to open ISAs? I do all mine on line.

PS I escaped from Santander a few years back.

You got to sign something innit. You can only get so far with an online application.

Azari

mynameistallulah wrote: »

If they already had one less staff member who do you suggest gets in touch with the clients?

The manager. Assistant manager. Manager's secretary.

Are you suggesting that companies should run their establishments with so little spare capacity that if one person cannot turn up everything goes to pot and there is no one available to spend a few minutes phoning clients that were going to be messed around?

Doing this would then leave them two less on their normal duties, no?

I'm sorry to be blunt but if you really think businesses run on such a tightrope you haven't a clue. Any business has to be able to have someone available to cancel/reschedule appointments if, as is inevitably the case on some occasions, they are delayed or cannot be kept at all.

By your 'logic' if they were a member of staff short and that meant that they would not be able to see some clients at all they would just carry on and let them turn up before informing them that they would not be seen.

If the delay was only twenty minutes it is quite possible that the advisor had one complex client that took longer than expected. What do you suggest the advisor does - tell this client to get lost, as they have someone else waiting?

Why are you making ridiculous straw man arguments?

No one suggested anyone be told to get lost.

We are saying that a professional operation will inform clients if they cannot be seen on time.

It's bizarre the way there are people on this forum flying the flag for companies that are giving bad service.

fluffnutter

Pollycat wrote: »

My ISA will be fully subscribed by the end of this week.
They will contact my previous ISA provider and arrange xfer of the money into my new ISA.
I won't have to have dealings with them at all until next May (when the bonus rate expires & I'll be looking for another good rate) unless I want to withdraw some of my money - which I can easily do using the debit card they're sending me.

I can understand people who've had a bad experience with any financial provider voting with their feet for say, credit cards or current accounts but not for an ISA.

I appreciate that the lack of involvement needed makes an ISA a viable proposition but, out of sheer churlishness, I'd never invest in a company with such an appalling customer service record (although I suspect most customers are perfectly happy).

My favourite 'Santander are shit' complaint involved a widow trying to close the joint account she held with her recently deceased husband only to be repeatedly told (even by the branch manager fgs) that 'his signature is required to close the account'. !!!!!!?