Sainsbury Bank ISA rate better for new customers

refluxer

sounds said:

I've just had a reply from Sainsburys, who said I have to "ask" for the rate to be raised on a variable rate
I have therefore raised a further complaint and ask to see where it is in their T & C's which should be interesting as having read them they are very sketchy  and dont say clearly one way or other. 
This is well out of order!

Rather than putting yourself through this repeatedly if Sainsburys are going to be awkward, why not do yourself a favour and transfer (via the proper ISA transfer channels) to a different provider ? You can get up to 50% more interest elsewhere than the rate in their current Easy Access Cash ISA.

sounds

eskbanker said:

sounds said:

I've just had a reply from Sainsburys, who said I have to "ask" for the rate to be raised on a variable rate

How exactly did they word that?

I can understand it if they said that you'd need to open a new issue to take advantage of better rates, but if the actual issue that you have has its rate changed then obviously that shouldn't need customer intervention!

Hi,

This is the extract from their message and to confirm its a variable rate ISA.
"We can increase your rate for you, unfortunately this is not done automatically so I would advise sending us a message if you see we have increased the rate
Thanks for getting in touch"

eskbanker

sounds said:

eskbanker said:

sounds said:

I've just had a reply from Sainsburys, who said I have to "ask" for the rate to be raised on a variable rate

How exactly did they word that?

I can understand it if they said that you'd need to open a new issue to take advantage of better rates, but if the actual issue that you have has its rate changed then obviously that shouldn't need customer intervention!

Hi,

This is the extract from their message and to confirm its a variable rate ISA.
"We can increase your rate for you, unfortunately this is not done automatically so I would advise sending us a message if you see we have increased the rate
Thanks for getting in touch"

The current and previous interest rates shown on their website do illustrate that they apply different rates according to when the account was opened (without explicitly identifying these as different issues as such) but it can also be seen that such rates have changed for individual accounts in the past, so it appears that they do sometimes (but not always) vary rates on existing accounts.

The above advice about voting with your feet would seem to be the obvious response if you're unhappy with their practices, which do seem legal but not particularly admirable....

Chloe_G

Also, when you ask, as I said earlier, you then have to go back and check a few days later that they have actually applied the higher rate to your account.  Don't assume they have actually applied it.

sounds

Hi this is a direct quote

"We can increase your rate for you, unfortunately this is not done automatically so I would advise sending us a message if you see we have increased the rate."

sounds

refluxer said:

sounds said:

I've just had a reply from Sainsburys, who said I have to "ask" for the rate to be raised on a variable rate
I have therefore raised a further complaint and ask to see where it is in their T & C's which should be interesting as having read them they are very sketchy  and dont say clearly one way or other. 
This is well out of order!

Rather than putting yourself through this repeatedly if Sainsburys are going to be awkward, why not do yourself a favour and transfer (via the proper ISA transfer channels) to a different provider ? You can get up to 50% more interest elsewhere than the rate in their current Easy Access Cash ISA.

Thanks for that and I do intend to  transfer out after the next BoE Rate Meeting as I expect the % rate to go up and of course after I have got all thats coming to me albeit not a lot but I will make them pay for their actions if they dont give me what I want by complaining which will cost them more than them paying me out, but if thats the way they want to go, then I will oblige. Its no hassle to me whatsoever,  if it goes further than their Customer Services it costs them even more money as I believe they are charged if cases go to the Ombudsman, win or lose.

Unfortunately big companies (having worked for a multi national that has an Obudsman) don't take notice until it costs them money directly, so I would encourage people to complain rather than just walk away.

thrifty_pete

eskbanker said:

The above advice about voting with your feet would seem to be the obvious response if you're unhappy with their practices, which do seem legal but not particularly admirable....

It surprised my that the supermarket wants to share their brand with a bank that operates like this. 

eskbanker

thrifty_pete said:

eskbanker said:

The above advice about voting with your feet would seem to be the obvious response if you're unhappy with their practices, which do seem legal but not particularly admirable....

It surprised my that the supermarket wants to share their brand with a bank that operates like this. 

Their principal supermarket/banking competitor operates in the same way, so perhaps Sainsburys just didn't feel the need to differentiate themselves?