Compensation Culture

RG2015

I recently had a minor query with NatWest which they decided was best treated as a complaint. They are now pursuing this and offered me £60 compensation and even asked if I wanted to claim travel expenses after being told that I had to go to a branch.

At no point did I actually complain nor did I suffer any inconvenience, upset or worry as they suggested.

This is my second compensation payment from NatWest when it was not my idea to complain. I am now beginning to understand how people can boost their income by complaining purely for the compensation.

Sadly though, it is the banks themselves that encourage this by their carefree attitude to giving out goodwill gestures.

le_loup

It's the same as the multi claims of people a few years ago who's toddlers tripped over paving stones. The practice was to give them a couple of thou to avoid going to court. It then became an epidemic and councils started to defend, won the cases and suddenly all the pavements became smooth as silk.
Toddlers still tripped but people accepted that that was what toddlers did!

agrinnall

Maybe it's just the RBS Group as it's mainly our money that they're handing out.

Flobberchops

Unsolicited free money? Sounds good to me!

If it's being offered, I would accept it in the spirit that it's given, namely a token of their appreciation of you as a customer and their hope that you'll maintain a business relationship for many years to come. Banks realise that loyalty and reputation are paramount as the consumer has more choice than ever these days.

I have a very dim view of those who game the system and in so doing make compensation less forthcoming for genuine customers, or drive up fees/interest rates down.

7sefton

Flobberchops wrote: »

I have a very dim view of those who game the system and in so doing make compensation less forthcoming for genuine customers, or drive up fees/interest rates down.

Do you take a similarly dim view of people who game the system in switching currently accounts constantly to benefit from the free money handed out in switching incentives? I.e taking money from a pot meant to attract loyalty rather than being milked every month by people just after the cash...

Mchambers

Sounds good to me.

veryintrigued

Flobberchops wrote: »

If it's being offered, I would accept it in the spirit that it's given, namely a token of their appreciation of you as a customer and their hope that you'll maintain a business relationship for many years to come. Banks realise that loyalty and reputation are paramount as the consumer has more choice than ever these days.

I have a very dim view of those who game the system and in so doing make compensation less forthcoming for genuine customers, or drive up fees/interest rates down.

Have these two paras been written by different people?

veryintrigued

There's a sub culture of people out there waiting to be offended and just primed like a coiled spring for compensation.

Fault rarely lies within nowadays.

TheBanker

Yes, I asked them to look into an error. They asked me what "outcome" I was hoping for. I said I just wanted them to check if an error had been made and if so correct it, or if not explain what had happened.

They found they had made an error and, unprompted, credited my account with £20 as an apology. They left me a voicemail, and when I called them back they asked if I was happy with the compensation. When I said I didn't require compensation as there were no out of pocket expenses, the person was quite surprised and also slightly confused. She asked me if I didn't thin the £20 was enough.

I accepted it and donated it to charity.

But I think this is their way of resolving complaints quickly so they don't have to include them in their published complaint figures.

EachPenny

7sefton wrote: »

Do you take a similarly dim view of people who game the system in switching currently accounts constantly to benefit from the free money handed out in switching incentives? I.e taking money from a pot meant to attract loyalty rather than being milked every month by people just after the cash...

The pot isn't designed to attract loyalty, it is intended to attract new customers in the hope they can be sold other products for the bank to make a quick buck.

Loyalty would be served by banks and building societies paying preferential rates to long-term customers.

For example, Nationwide say they value Loyalty, and even offer an account called the Loyalty Saver - though in this case it 'rewards' loyal customers with poor interest rates. Nationwide are also amongst the most generous when it comes to an incentive to new current account customers.

And anyway, it often isn't 'free' money - taking advantage of the NatWest switching offer is currently very hard work for some people

Flobberchops

7sefton wrote: »

Do you take a similarly dim view of people who game the system in switching currently accounts constantly to benefit from the free money handed out in switching incentives? I.e taking money from a pot meant to attract loyalty rather than being milked every month by people just after the cash...

Not really, no, although in some cases I'd question whether the legwork and book keeping involved is truly worth it.

I'm not sure whether it's intentional but your second sentence sums up the distinction as far as I can articulate it. It's one thing to take full advantage of incentives that are being freely offered - even if you have no intention of being particularly loyal to the bank or taking any fee-paying products, which is clearly their intention in offering the incentive. That's money that has been earmarked for the purpose, so fill your boots.

Compare that to being a serial complainer. Compensation is no doubt also budgeted for by the bank but on a more discretionary, ad-hoc basis, so I don't consider it as consequence-free. If a system that is supposed to operate on a goodwill basis for the benefit of genuinely upset or inconvenienced customers is abused, that will lead to either the bank staff tightening up their procedures (and probably reducing or denying compensation to other customers) or you eventually being handed marching orders. At the very least consider the bank staff you're pressuring to pay out compensation will be personally answerable for the financial loss - and that could mean a reduced rating at their next performance review, leading to missing out on expected financial bonuses, possibly being overlooked for promotion, and so on.

It's ultimately up to your personal morality and there are of course bigger things in life to worry about. But you would have to be naive to imagine you're tapping an infinite supply of free money.