Bank Service

Momax10

I'm about to recall a somewhat surreal meeting my wife and I had with a representative from our local bank. I would appreciate any thoughts anyone has regarding the meeting as we are still astonished by it, even though it took place about a month ago. During the meeting we agreed to change from our current buildings and contents insurance to a policy the bank could supply as it gave us better cover and value for money. Having decided this the bank rep asked if we could cancel our current policy there and then and said she would be happy to call the company to do this. However, she then asked if we would mind her claiming to be a relative, our daughter, as some companies could be a bit wary of a third party conversation. She admitted this was "a bit naughty"! I ended up making the call. This, on its own, seemed bad enough but at the end of the meeting the rep said we may subsequently receive a call asking for feedback on the meeting. She then told us in no uncertain terms that marking her as "very good" just wasn't good enough for her and her team, it had to be "excellent". Added to this, she also completely ignored my wife for the first part of the meeting, made numerous disparaging remarks about the town we lived in and claimed never to have heard of the Investec Group, despite having worked in financial services for some time. In addition, she has clearly fabricated one aspect of the interview record we were subsequently sent. All in all, we found her comments pretty astounding but are in a quandary about what to do about it, if anything. I had drafted up a letter to the bank but have not sent it as yet as it's pretty much our word against hers and the bank does not have a good record of upholding customer complaints. Has anyone come across anything like this before? And what would be the best thing to do? Any advice appreciated.

murphyg

I would send the letter of complaint recorded delivery, if nothing else it will make you feel better. Unfortunately the culture within banking has not changed since the financial downturn in 2008. Personally I don't find it surprising, staff are financially rewarded for meeting sales targets and exceeding customer service, this is why she asked you to mark her as excellent. If they don't they are placed on "Performance Management". This of course does promote rather dubious practices.

Pollycat

Momax10 wrote: »

During the meeting we agreed to change from our current buildings and contents insurance to a policy the bank could supply as it gave us better cover and value for money. Having decided this the bank rep asked if we could cancel our current policy there and then and said she would be happy to call the company to do this. However, she then asked if we would mind her claiming to be a relative, our daughter, as some companies could be a bit wary of a third party conversation. She admitted this was "a bit naughty"! I ended up making the call.

If any bank employee suggested doing something 'naughty' I'd probably have ended the meeting there and then.

Momax10 wrote: »

This, on its own, seemed bad enough but at the end of the meeting the rep said we may subsequently receive a call asking for feedback on the meeting. She then told us in no uncertain terms that marking her as "very good" just wasn't good enough for her and her team, it had to be "excellent".

I would have told her - in no uncertain terms - that she was not going to dictate to me what feedback I should give.

Momax10 wrote: »

Added to this, she also completely ignored my wife for the first part of the meeting,

If my husband & I were in a meeting relating to our joint financial affairs and the bank employee ignored me, we'd be out the door.

Momax10 wrote: »

made numerous disparaging remarks about the town we lived in.

This sounds strange.
How far is the town you live in from the bank branch you visited?

Momax10 wrote: »

claimed never to have heard of the Investec Group, despite having worked in financial services for some time.

Why would you expect her to have heard of Investec Group?
She may have worked in financial services for some time but I would expect her to be knowledgeable about the financial services offered by her bank, not some other financial institution.
How did Investec Group come into the conversation?

Momax10 wrote: »

In addition, she has clearly fabricated one aspect of the interview record we were subsequently sent. All in all, we found her comments pretty astounding but are in a quandary about what to do about it, if anything. I had drafted up a letter to the bank but have not sent it as yet as it's pretty much our word against hers and the bank does not have a good record of upholding customer complaints. Has anyone come across anything like this before? And what would be the best thing to do? Any advice appreciated.

As you say, it's her word against yours.

If you feel strongly enough, I'd send the letter.

RuthnJasper

I would be livid if it were me, Momax. These are people charged with looking after your money and I wouldn't want anyone doing anything "a bit naughty" with it.

That said, if you felt that the person to whom you spoke was acting as she did because she was put under unreasonable pressure to do so by her managers, then I'd be complaining to Head Office about them.

redmike123

This was a salesperson, not a banker. I would check very carefully exactly what you have been sold, I would read through everything to make absolutely certain that you had not been misled or lied to.

bod1467

Financial advisers tied to a single supplier/group are interested in only one thing ... selling their employer's policies so the adviser can get their commission/bonus. The customer is merely a vehicle to achieving this.

keyser666

I would be making a complaint and would to the FSA as well

pmduk

I suspect your first mistake was attending the meeting in the first place. You weren't going to get advice, but a sales patter.

Momax10

Thanks for the comments everyone. I probably will send the letter off and write to the FSA. Fortunately, the policy we were sold seems ok.

DCFC79

If it were me I would cancel the policy and start a policy elsewhere, very rude and wrong what she did.

giraffe69

Why would you expect her to have heard of Investec Group?

Because it is quite a major group with a big Zebra.