IFA – Are my expectations too high?

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  • Doglegger
    Doglegger Posts: 99 Forumite
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    I do have some sympathy for the OP. The IFA I appointed operated on the same time-scale as coastal erosion and all contact with him was initiated by myself. I'm talking in the realms of months (many) here and not weeks BTW. I think in most other service professions this would be seen as p-poor service.
    From a lot that gets said on these threads then this level of contact/service is not uncommon and possibly should be expected. Good luck to them though if it's due to being so busy.
  • Malthusian
    Malthusian Posts: 10,938 Forumite
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    DairyQueen wrote: »
    I have had reason to engage an IFA in the past and, on that occasion, the IFA was extremely efficient. Communication second to none and he went the extra mile to work around OH's availability. Unfortunately he operates in a different area from the one in which we now live.

    Is that a problem? If he already knows you there is less need for a face-to-face meeting. It should be possible to do the work you require via phone and email.
  • DairyQueen
    DairyQueen Posts: 1,822 Forumite
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    Malthusian wrote: »
    Is that a problem? If he already knows you there is less need for a face-to-face meeting. It should be possible to do the work you require via phone and email.

    Good point, but would he need all of the paperwork relating to OH's old DCs, or would he approach the providers directly (with our letter of authorisation) for the info he needs?

    As you can tell I'm pretty green where IFAs are concerned.
  • DairyQueen
    DairyQueen Posts: 1,822 Forumite
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    Thrugelmir wrote: »
    Lots of people work Bank Holidays. You are far from unique.

    I didn't state that I was unique. Far from it. However, it would appear that working Bank Holidays may be unique within some sectors of the IFA community. Indeed, working for a week either side of Christmas and New Year seems to be antithetical to my local IFA.

    (Btw, still no contact).
  • Thrugelmir
    Thrugelmir Posts: 89,546 Forumite
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    DairyQueen wrote: »
    I didn't state that I was unique. Far from it. However, it would appear that working Bank Holidays may be unique within some sectors of the IFA community. Indeed, working for a week either side of Christmas and New Year seems to be antithetical to my local IFA.

    I assume you'd feel the same antipathy to any tradesperson or other professional that was unable to jump when commanded to so. Given that this discussion is based on assumption and no facts. Casting aspersions on an individual who isn't a position to defend himself seems extremely harsh. If the matter was that urgent I would have thought it more appropriate to give him a call. Would only take a few minutes of time. Far better use of valuable time than asking total strangers for confirmation bias.
  • Fatbritabroad
    Fatbritabroad Posts: 573 Forumite
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    There's alot of people here who clearly have never dealt in service roles.it's not to say you have to work to customer timescales although you should if possible but you should at least manage expectations and communicate well. If i had the attitude some do on here I'd have no customers left!
  • DairyQueen
    DairyQueen Posts: 1,822 Forumite
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    Fatbritabroad wrote: »
    There's alot of people here who clearly have never dealt in service roles.it's not to say you have to work to customer timescales although you should if possible but you should at least manage expectations and communicate well. If i had the attitude some do on here I'd have no customers left!
    That's my point. The last communication stated that he would be in touch when he returned to work on the 2nd. Fair enough except that he has not been in touch.

    I do not expect him to jump when I whistle but I would have been impressed had he taken an hour out of his holiday to meet us as he knows that OH's availability is limited. That would have demonstrated a level of service that exceeded my expectations. Alternatively, he could have suggested a date to meet very soon into the New Year. Instead he has chosen to leave me hanging.

    He has given a loud message that he considers his time to be more valuable than mine (and OH's). That is simply not good enough. As you say, meeting customer expectations is key in any service role, and the aim should be to exceed them.

    The forum has answered my question. Thank you.
  • DairyQueen
    DairyQueen Posts: 1,822 Forumite
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    Thrugelmir wrote: »
    I assume you'd feel the same antipathy to any tradesperson or other professional that was unable to jump when commanded to so. Given that this discussion is based on assumption and no facts. Casting aspersions on an individual who isn't a position to defend himself seems extremely harsh. If the matter was that urgent I would have thought it more appropriate to give him a call. Would only take a few minutes of time. Far better use of valuable time than asking total strangers for confirmation bias.

    I suspect you take a month off over Christmas :)
  • steampowered
    steampowered Posts: 6,176 Forumite
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    My personal view is that you are being unreasonable.

    There is a bit of a contradiction between you wanting to wait several months after the initial contact, and then getting upset after a delay over the Xmas and New Year period.

    Given that you left it several months between past contacts, it would not be unreasonable for the IFA to assume that you would contact him again when/if you are ready to arrange a meeting.

    You could have emailed or called the IFA to set up a meeting in the time it took to write your post !
  • Aegis
    Aegis Posts: 5,688 Forumite
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    DairyQueen wrote: »
    That's my point. The last communication stated that he would be in touch when he returned to work on the 2nd. Fair enough except that he has not been in touch.

    I do not expect him to jump when I whistle but I would have been impressed had he taken an hour out of his holiday to meet us as he knows that OH's availability is limited. That would have demonstrated a level of service that exceeded my expectations. Alternatively, he could have suggested a date to meet very soon into the New Year. Instead he has chosen to leave me hanging.

    He has given a loud message that he considers his time to be more valuable than mine (and OH's). That is simply not good enough. As you say, meeting customer expectations is key in any service role, and the aim should be to exceed them.

    The forum has answered my question. Thank you.
    Just to put this into context, when I go on leave, I turn off my work phone and don't log in to my emails. My leave time is my own, and it's incredibly important to me. If someone told me that I needed to take time out of my leave - and bear in mind that half an hour might sound like a little, but it could ruin a whole day's plans - I'd almost certainly say no.


    You can argue that it's putting my time over my clients' - I won't disagree. It is still my approach to work/life balance.
    I am a Chartered Financial Planner
    Anything I say on the forum is for discussion purposes only and should not be construed as personal financial advice. It is vitally important to do your own research before acting on information gathered from any users on this forum.
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