Great 'Work in a bank? What should we know' Hunt

Paul_Herring

Hi I've read a lot of this site but found it hard going, not for content, but for design. My question is, is there a bank that comes out better/least bad of them all?

Erm - no. They all have their bad points.

sak46

Hello

We have banked with Lloyds tsb for 30 years, we have a platinum account .
We have been paying 10.00 per month for long time.

We have been notified that they are going to put this up to £15.00 per month.

Do any staff out there think that they would let us keep it at the £10.00 rate per month if we gave them a call.

Thanks for any advice.
Sak46

natweststaffmember

no they wouldn't but i am assuming you pay 120 quid a year for additional benefits. Do you use them? if not then convert the account back to a standard account without account fees.

scousechild16

convenience101 wrote: »

IF YOU ARE AN RBS CUSTOMER, PLEASE READ THIS!

Some of you will be more surprised than others to read this! When your branch cold calls you and 'invites' you in for a "Customer Service Review", beware! This is not intended in any way to benefit you, but rather the bank, who will attempt to sell you RBS products. Let me talk you through the process.

1) The person who has called you has selected your name from a HUGE printout of branch customers, and has quickly checked from your account transactions and balances that you could be sold a loan, mortgage, credit card, etc. When they speak to you on the phone the will suggest that the CSR would be beneficial to you by saving you money. Sounds tempting, doesn't it? An appointment is arranged for you with one of our Customer Advisors.

2) Before you arrive for your appointment, the CA trawls your accounts for the past year. We can see details of all your switch transactions (eg how much you spent in Ann Summers last month...) and direct debits, salaries paid etc. It is very easy to tell if you have loans, mortgages, credit cards elsewhere. The CA will then work out what they will try to sell you.

3) At your CSR appointment you will be asked to give details of all your outgoings and debts owed, including other loans and store cards, just to firm up the info the bank has on you. They will then try an tempt you into buying RBS products. The CAs earn commission on what they sell to you and are targeted using a points system. At the top of the points tree are mortgages and loans. At the very bottom are instant access savings account. Guess what you'll be pressurised to buy?

Bearing in mind that, with the occassional exception of mortgages, just about all financial products are better sourced away from your high street, there is no need for you to enter the CSR process. You can ensure this by writing to your branch and insisting that you are taken off the email/mail and telephone contact lists.

This approach has made RBS a lot of money, so much so that HBoS started doing something similar not so long ago. I would ask you not to take out your rigtheous indignation on bank staff. The CAs need the commission as, like all branch employees, they get paid a pittance. Most of the money made seems to go towards the astronomical salaries of Sir Fred Goodwin and the Bank's numerous directors.

hi all,new here so here goes!!

these customer reviews fill me with dread!!we have just moved our mortgage,life assurance and loan from the natwest and i think they were a bit shocked that we did it ourselves after the poor mortgage rate they offered us!!
some times we do go a bit over drawn,but nothing major.but we still get these telephone calls asking us to come in for a review and see"how we are doing"?
where do we stand with this?we dont want anything from them,and in actual fact going with a different lender has saved us a bundle,somthing natwest couldnt even manage when we asked for help!
i really cant bear sitting in an office while "mr friendly"tries to sell us somthing we dont need or wags a finger due to being a bit overdrawn.we are working hard to clear what overdraft we have,but feel so pressured.

any advice please?:money:

:j :money: :j :money: :j :money: :j(p.s.its an advantage gold account which we only use for wages going in,not for any benefits that may come with it)

natweststaffmember

Well, you have telephone preference system, write a letter stating that you want your name taken off marketing calls. If you advantage gold that you do not use then downgrade it and save £144 a year. The reviews are good to have but if you know that there is a competitive product elsewhere then by all means say NO

mrmajika

sak46 wrote: »

Hello

We have banked with Lloyds tsb for 30 years, we have a platinum account .
We have been paying 10.00 per month for long time.

We have been notified that they are going to put this up to £15.00 per month.

Do any staff out there think that they would let us keep it at the £10.00 rate per month if we gave them a call.

Thanks for any advice.
Sak46

The Platinum account has been £15 for quite a while, so it seems like you may have been on some form of special rate for the account already.

If you phone, want to downgrade, then you will go through to rententions. They have the power to alter the prices paid. If you tell them that you are happy with the benefits, but feel that £15 is too much - they might lower it back to the £10 for you.

zoe1982

I used to work for Natwest (this was a couple of years ago but im sure it hasnt changed). When you go to open a bank account do not be talked into advantage gold. They will try to talk you into it as it is so heavily targted but please please make sure you read the literature thoroughly, In the 3 years I worked there I very rarely came across someone who could actually get their moneys worth from the account for the fee it charges. Beware of special rates as they are still only typical until the credit search is done
and home/car insurance discounts - i still found them more expensive than other insurance institutes.

Hope this helps

jonesMUFCforever

sak46 wrote: »

Hello

We have banked with Lloyds tsb for 30 years, we have a platinum account .
We have been paying 10.00 per month for long time.

We have been notified that they are going to put this up to £15.00 per month.

Do any staff out there think that they would let us keep it at the £10.00 rate per month if we gave them a call.

Thanks for any advice.
Sak46

Are you sure that you were not on the OLD Premier service??

Present rates (disregarding any discounts) Select £7pm, Gold £10, Platinum £15 and NEW Premier £25!

C_Ronaldo

I have a NW flexaccount which i havent used for 3 months and NW have decided to remove my overdraft as i havent used it, would they reinstate it if i used it more often

Bernie

Crumbs! Just read this last page and it gave me a bit of a shock! People actually PAY monthly charges for their bank accounts - Hells Bells!

The wife and I have accounts with Smile for our "normal" banking needs, Intelligent Finance for our offset mortgage (and associated offset deposits and ISA accounts), Cahoot - now only used for internet buying/selling, ICICI for any cash, Nationwide - for large household stuff and holidays (wife's earnings go into this).

We do not pay any charges for any of these and that has been the case for decades. Have we missed something?