Halifax Appointment System

innovate

BMN wrote: »

I don't work for Halifax.

Alright, I apologise for accusing you to be a Halifax employee. Though your posts demonstrate an extraordinary insight into their working practices and policies. Like, for example, your following post.

BMN wrote: »

I disagree.
It's a key part of their training and job description
And only involves filling in a single form

And others of your posts. So if you are not a Halifax employee, perhaps you will be brave enough to declare your associations with Halifax, and to explain why you so steadfastly defend them on this thread, and why, and how, you know so much about how they operate?

innovate

gadgetmind wrote: »

One major complaint voiced hereabouts is that the wetware

wetware :rotfl:

helptoyou

Murison wrote: »

I appreciate everything you have highlighted but I am not in business and have have had a current account with that Halifax branch for seven years therefore they know who I am and as just about every transaction has gone through this account during that time they would know if I was laundering or not. The account was for my son but it required someone over 18 to open it therefore if there was something in addition to the norm they could have gave me or emailed me the information.

My main point is that none of this information was provided on the website. If it had said I had to make an appointment then I would have considered this option and been fully aware of its requirement to open an account. This was not made clear and it just said to go to a branch to open the account. I followed the bank instructions only to be told I couldn't open the account and had to return another day for a 40 minute appointment. If they had been upfront at the beginning I could have made a considered judgement, but not to inform me of the policy at the beginning of the process was poor to say the least.

Hi the pasted areas relate to the Halifax as a business i.e what there requirements are. I agree totally that being advised by the website to call into the branch and then having to make an appointment at a later date would rankle that should be more clearly explained on the website.

Other people mention opening accounts online but normally if you have held an account with a bank or other banks the ID & V procedures can be done electronically . I assume your son was the stumbling block in this case !!.

Fully agree that an element of these initial interviews would be to establish your/sons financial requirements hopefully with a view to matching products to you that are a benefit !!!!!http://static.moneysavingexpert.com/...smiley-014.gif

brewerdave

A couple of years ago I opened an online ISA account with Halifax - I had been a customer a few years before thru some SAYE accounts used for Company share purchase schemes,but that apparently wasn't good enough! -I had to "produce ID at local branch"- fair enough ,I thought-went to my closest proper branch with said ID -and was told that they weren't set up to verify my ID!!!!
They wanted me to go to a large branch in the centre of town!
I told them that it was totally unsatisfactory.......after a lot of toing and froing and about 15 minutes of standing around- somebody from the backroom staff came out and agreed to photocopy my documents.
One wonders how many customers would have walked out and taken their business elsewhere?:(

Rollinghome

opinions4u wrote: »

If you wanted some legal advice how soon after walking through the door of a solicitors' office would you expect to be seen by a solicitor?

If you wandered into a school wanting to see a teacher would you expect them to see you immediately?

Does your dentist drop everything when you turn up without an appointment and see you at the expense of others who did book in advance?

I'm fairly certain that they don't employ any qualified doctors, dentists or solicitors at my local Halifax branch: just several spotty youths and a young women who seems to be the manager.

While you as a former employee of the Halifax, I believe, may see things rather differently, from the point of view of a one time customer I do have every sympathy with the OP.

There now seems to be an obsession with making appointments for any task that would require anything more than 30 seconds of their concentration. This seems to be something fairly new that has got quite out of proportion particularly with the former building societies like the Halifax. It seems to be less of a problem in my experience with the traditional banks, including Lloyds of the same group, who presumably have staff with wider experience than just stamping passbooks and are likely to have a greater proportion of business customers.

Last time I used Halifax was after they lost a deposit I made. After getting nowhere from a phone call that was diverted to a call centre because no one at the branch bothered to answer the phone, I went in. The young women manager was behind the counter casually joking with her spotty lads and I was little put out to then be told that I needed an appointment for the honour of speaking to her. When I made clear that I'd be somewhat displeased to to be further inconvenienced by her or her clerks she got out to see me fairly sharpish. She also agreed to £100 compensation for the time I'd been forced to waste in seeing her.

nilrem_2

I often wonder why some of the banks or Building societies do not have the foresight and courage to register on here in their own company name and defend or explain when posters criticise their policies, obviously they could not discuss individual concerns but they could at least explain why the insist on appointments or such like?

If it was my business being complained about I would prefer to have the opportunity to defend it.

Surely we posters would like to hear a banks responses?

Is their a reason that Banks etc cannot post here? Just wondered.

BMN

Archi_Bald wrote: »

It's good to know you aren't in charge of anything at Halifax. At least I hope you are not.

Why? I'm only informing you.

innovate wrote: »

Alright, I apologise for accusing you to be a Halifax employee. Though your posts demonstrate an extraordinary insight into their working practices and policies. Like, for example, your following post.

And others of your posts. So if you are not a Halifax employee, perhaps you will be brave enough to declare your associations with Halifax, and to explain why you so steadfastly defend them on this thread, and why, and how, you know so much about how they operate?

I do work for another bank.

I don't believe I have defended Halifax and I certainly didn't intend to. Like I said before, I contribute to this forum to help people and provide explanations for issues such as this one - decisions aren't made just for the sake of it or to deliberately inconvenience you.

gadgetmind

brewerdave wrote: »

was told that they weren't set up to verify my ID!!!!

My wife ordered some foreign currency from Halifax last week, paid online with debit card, and opted to collect from nearest branch.

She took along her passport and debit card as requested, but the member of staff in the branch seemed to have very little clue what to do. The debit card threw her as she said that as this wasn't a Halifax card, she couldn't check that payment had been taken. My wife explained she'd ordered and paid online, and even showed confirmation and collection instructions, but it didn't seem to help.

The lady behind the counter then said she'd need to check with a colleague, came out from behind the counter, and disappeared out of the front door carrying wife's passport and debit card!

Of course, this was the only manned desk, so now there's no-one around other than the queue of people behind my wife.

Finally the lady returned and it all got sorted, but should it really take 10 minutes of queuing and then 15 minutes at a counter just to collect some currency?

gadgetmind

nilrem wrote: »

Is their a reason that Banks etc cannot post here? Just wondered.

Yes.

http://metro.co.uk/2013/10/17/british-gas-twitter-qa-backfires-on-day-of-huge-price-increases-4150204/

cloud_dog

BMN wrote: »

The Young Saver is a branch-only account - it can only be opened in a branch and it can only be managed in a branch.

BMN, I appreciate you are only trying to provide a 'balanced' view of the situation but this bit is irrelevant and.... partially incorrect.

You can operate the Young Saver by cash card from any Link ATM so once its opened you don't need to visit the branch again.