Halifax account opening fiasco

zkw29

Thought I'd share my recent experience of trying to open a Halifax Reward current account in case anyone else is considering them.

1. online, wouldn't load the application page
2. online, got to the "Making a decision page" but then they gave me an error code
3. phoned the 24 hour helpline but told to call back during office hours
4. phoned and was told my application had been received and I needed to be patient
5. waited a week and phoned to be told there had been an IT error and I would need to apply in branch instead
6. went to branch with all my ID, had the "getting to know me" chat for half an hour then was told there was no one in the branch who could open an account so I'd need to come back
7. made an appointment to go back in a few days but was called the evening before to cancel because they had double booked me
8. made an appointment to go back the following week. Got to the branch and was told I'd been double booked again! Out of the 8 staff standing around, apparently only one could open accounts and she wouldn't see me because she was booked by another customer who hadn't turned up and she was worried he'd be annoyed if he did turn up and no one could see him! :rotfl:

Obviously I have no intention of switching to them now - not even for the £100 - it's just not worth the hassle. Out of curiosity, do the branch staff still work to sales targets or work on commission? Just trying to figure out if there was a reason why they were so uninterested in putting my application through.

jonesMUFCforever

Perhaps they could 'see' more about your application than they were prepared to disclose. It might have been a decline?
I believe its targets targets targets still - IMO the other person was a better bet for points.

Sorry to say that it is still the way of the world in banking today.

zkw29

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Perhaps they could 'see' more about your application than they were prepared to disclose. It might have been a decline?
I believe its targets targets targets still - IMO the other person was a better bet for points.

Sorry to say that it is still the way of the world in banking today.

Yeah, I did wonder that but I think my credit rating should be alright and I was trying to switch from Lloyds/TSB after 10+ years of trouble-free banking so I'd have thought they'd share that info internally.

Interesting about the points - that probably explains it though.

HoneyAndLemon

zkw29 wrote: »

Out of curiosity, do the branch staff still work to sales targets or work on commission? Just trying to figure out if there was a reason why they were so uninterested in putting my application through.

No they do not get any commission. Or sales bonus anymore. They will be targeted on how many 'points' they get each day, and will have targets & pressure to meet them, but there are no incentives attached.