AGMs - what do you do?

poppystar

Bridlington1 said:

I've voted in every general election, PCC election and local elections I've been eligible to vote in and would've voted in referendums had I not been too young to vote in the last one.

I can't say I bother with AGMs though, every year I get dozens and dozens of emails about them, I just delete them and move on, I don't vote unless I've got a good understanding of what I'm voting for, and my dealings with building societies seldom goes beyond me chasing the best rates of interest, freebies, keeping accounts with £1 to get hold of loyalty accounts and occasionally complaining and getting a bit of money as an apology.

A really useful distinction there. I would always vote in general, local elections and referendums and I think that sense of duty had somehow got conflated with the building society ones, so the guilt of ignoring them had also been passed on. In fact for the building society voting it’s more akin to asking me to vote for the board of a store chain I’d spent money in. Would I do that? - not unless they’d really upset me or I felt the outcome might impact me adversely. Thanks, I shall look at it differently now and do a big delete! 

Archerychick

Nothing at all, I vote with my feet. If the financial products don’t meet my needs or compete with others I’ll go there. 

aroominyork

gravel_2 said:

aroominyork said:

gravel_2 said:

Never voted and don't see the point... whatever they propose will pass through inertia.

I love this! If Seinfeld comes back you could get a job as a scriptwriter.

Can you rephrase this for the under 40s?

I love this! If Biden comes back you could get a job as a speechwriter.

ljayljay

I usually vote & never tick the box for all recommendations as instructed by the board.
Turnout is always pitifully low, which is what they want so that shareholders & members don't interfere with their decisions.
This would never be allowed in trade union voting when a minimum turnout is required for many decisions. However, previous governments have brainwashed many people in believing business leaders know best & unions are troublemakers. Unfortunately many people have fallen for this & that's why most don't bother to vote at AGM's.

Reaper

If you are motivated want to make a difference I suggest going to the AGM and asking awkward questions. I once worked for a investment company where the same customer regularly pointed out at each AGM how high the total charges were compared to the alternatives. The management actually reduced them to avoid having to squirm every year in the spotlight trying to justify them!

That's how to make your vote count.

Hattie627

Reaper said:

If you are motivated want to make a difference I suggest going to the AGM and asking awkward questions. I once worked for a investment company where the same customer regularly pointed out at each AGM how high the total charges were compared to the alternatives. The management actually reduced them to avoid having to squirm every year in the spotlight trying to justify them!

That's how to make your vote count.

I would like to attend some of the AGMs but they are all too far away. Closest would be Penrith, Furness or Newcastle but still a journey of over 100 miles each way. The only Scottish building society is Scottish BS but they haven't had a decent RS for a long time. Think they are headquartered in Edinburgh.