Part-time halifax

SilverLiz

Has anyone else experienced difficulty consulting a Halifax Savings Adviser?

I have two Children's Accounts maturing 20th July and needed advice on what to do with them. When I rang for an appointment I was told I couldn't get one until the 28th August!
Apparently the Savings Adviser only works part time and has a long back log of appointments.

Admittedly we are only a smallish town but this sounds like the dark ages.

2010

This is absolutely typical of the Halifax.
I had the same problem and was actually in the bank when I was told to make an appointment for a later date.
There were plenty of them sitting about doing nothing and just one or two customers in at the time.
The upshot was either see me now or the money goes elsewhere.
The girl still refused and insisted I had to make an appointment, the money is now with N Rock/Virgin Money.

Halifax seem to go out of their way to make it difficult for their customers.

innovate

Keep in mind that a bank's advisor will only tell you about the products the bank has on offer. These may or may not be your best choice.

It is likely to be a bit more work to do your own research on the Internet (comparison sites, bank sites, forums like MSE etc) but at least you will have an objective picture of what is on offer.

MoneySaverLog

http://www.halifax.co.uk/savings/interest-rates/personal-rates/#Kids_Regular_Saver

grey_gym_sock

yes, 'advisor' is a bit of a misnomer; banks really have 'salespersons'.

it doesn't sound like an incredibly hard job to ask what kind of account you're after and tell you what they have in that area. halifax could train more of their staff to do that; they may be making a false economy on their training budget.

2010

If you say, have a 1 year fixed bond with most providers, they write to you about a month before maturity and offer you something as close as possible to RETAIN your custom.

The Halifax seem to move your bond, on the day of maturity, to an obscure account paying about half a per cent.
Then it`s up to you to find a better home.
If you`ve got any sense

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away from them.

rb10

Phone them up?

http://www.halifax.co.uk/contactus/callus.asp#Savings

SilverLiz

This is a Children's Regular Saver and cannot be dealt with over the phone. They will only advise in banks.
I am rather stuck with this account as my grandchildren live in the Channel Islands and I had a lot of trouble setting up the accounts with birth certificates etc.

However I still would not advise anyone to take up these children's regular saver accounts = they are so complicated and thats why I need to see the adviser.

You save originally with the Children's Regular Saver - its a good interest rate but you have to remember its 'compound interest' so you don't make that much at the end of the year.

At the end of one year they move the balance into a Save4It Account which is very lowinterest so you have to go to the branch (the only route) and either draw it out or move it into a higher interest account. You cannot do this until the day after maturity date so if they cannot see you until one month after this you are losing interest.

I do wish I hadn't started the accounts with them in the first place - so if you want a 'trouble free' saver for children then avoid this one.

HoneyAndLemon

SilverLiz wrote: »

This is a Children's Regular Saver and cannot be dealt with over the phone. They will only advise in banks.
I am rather stuck with this account as my grandchildren live in the Channel Islands and I had a lot of trouble setting up the accounts with birth certificates etc.

However I still would not advise anyone to take up these children's regular saver accounts = they are so complicated and thats why I need to see the adviser.

You save originally with the Children's Regular Saver - its a good interest rate but you have to remember its 'compound interest' so you don't make that much at the end of the year.

At the end of one year they move the balance into a Save4It Account which is very lowinterest so you have to go to the branch (the only route) and either draw it out or move it into a higher interest account. You cannot do this until the day after maturity date so if they cannot see you until one month after this you are losing interest.

I do wish I hadn't started the accounts with them in the first place - so if you want a 'trouble free' saver for children then avoid this one.

Just wanted to correct something. The childrens regular saver matures into a young saver at 2%, not a save4it, as it is no longer offered.

The balance can then be withdrawn and the account redesignated back to a regular saver at 6%, or the balance can stay in the young saver and a new regular saver opened. All needs to be done in branch. Appointments need booked as it needs to be done with a banking advisor. You wouldnt walk into a dentist/doctors etc and expect to be seen straight away, and I would imagine banks have a larger amount of people walk through every day so wouldnt have the capacity to see everyone there and then.

Also, people are stupid, and walk in without any form of ID etc and expect to be able to open an account on the spot. Appointments give people time to come prepared.

innovate

HoneyAndLemon wrote: »

Appointments need booked as it needs to be done with a banking advisor.

Modern banks allow their customers to do all these things online. My FD Regular Saver matures into a mediocre savings account on day x. Same day, I open a new Regular Saver, and I move my money out of the mediocre savings account, also on day x. Takes me less than 20 minutes to do all of this, and I don't even have to leave the house. Not to talk about having to make an appointment with a sales person posing as an 'advisor', who will doubtlessly try and prod for other sales opportunities. Admittedly, the FD Regular Saver doesn't appear suitable for minors but the principle of managing it is still valid.

But if Halifax insist on a face-to-face, they should then ensure that they have sufficient capacity to deal with the demand.

dunstonh

Banks ought be banned from calling their staff advisers or managers unless they really are. (Adviser in the regulatory sense and manager in the original sense that they are responsible and have discretion).