Dear NatWest...

[julesjones]

I am currently re-organizing my finances. I *could* switch my primary accounts to some other financial institution that will pay me a bribe to do so, but really, it's a lot easier to just keep using the old, familiar, account numbers memorised, and until now very convenient set of accounts I've had with you since you were the only bank willing to give me a student account even though I didn't have an LEA grant.

Of course, if you send me a replacement card that I didn't request and is for your convenience, not mine, and then require me to phone a manned line to activate it so that I can be sold other products I am not interested in and be asked to give you my email address, and then fail to staff it adequately so that I am on hold for ten minutes before I can actually use my card again, I may have to reconsider how highly I rate the convenience.

And just for the record, yes, I did explicitly refuse the additional products, so if I get charged for them anyway, there will be tears before bedtime.

Comments

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

Sigh. I like my bank, though I have to say that one of the attractions is the fact that they require almost no human interaction. If, on the other hand, my credit card provider declines another instance of a long-standing monthly payment, and then proudly tells me that they are protecting my security, there will be Words.

[julesjones]

Other Half has a canned rant on the subject of locking cards because there has been yet another suspicious transaction just like the suspicious transaction every month for the last N years. That was the US version of MBNA, which at the time was otherwise vaguely sane compared with most US credit card companies.

One of the reasons I hung on to my NatWest accounts while I was in the US was that they had a very good automated telephone banking service that let you do a lot of stuff by pressing buttons at the computer, or talk to a human on the rare occasions when a human was what was needed. For a very long time they left me alone unless I actually needed to talk to them, at which point the branches were convenient or I could phone the helpline and speak to someone who knew what they were talking about.

Alas, now they just treat any interaction as another opportunity to sell me highly profitable services I have no use for. I have enough money with them that I can't use the branch without attempts to get me to see a financial advisor, who will then proceed to try to sell me the gold account and assorted financial products completely unsuited to my needs, while failing to sell me services I might actually be interested in.

[carl-allery.livejournal.com]

I remortgaged ages ago by transferring to a Virgin One account which was backed by RBS. Now it's marketed as just the One Account but actually it's not changed at all and my chequebook still says Virgin. It's an on-line account, and the closest actual RBS branch is in Taunton, but I can do everything except drawing large cash amounts on-line or by phone. And when I talk to a human they only ever ask what they can do for me. I'm so happy with it, I've kept it going in credit.

MBNA have only locked my card once, but it had been nicked and they were right to do so. Given they refunded everything, I'm still happy with them, but I don't use it that often.

[julesjones]

One of the reasons they'd have to seriously annoy me for me to shift is that they still have a branch in the local high street at home, in the two places where I need one in the SouthWet, and at least two within ten minutes' walk of the office, all of which have very helpful staff. (Admittedly the Somerset one is only open part-time, but at least it's there.) It's just that the wretched computer system has me flagged as someone they are required to ask to see a financial advisor.

The first and last time I was naive enough to fall for these, I did get a useful savings account I hadn't known about and was glad to open, but I also had to sit through an extremely determined attempt to sell me a gold current account on the basis that it included all sorts of shiny features I had no use for. Just to start with, I have a disposable PAYG mobile phone that normally has only twenty quid max on it -- I have zero use for "free mobile phone insurance!" in return for paying a 12 quid a month account fee. I was unamused by the less than subtle suggestion that the insurance included accidental loss as well as theft, so I if I lost my cheap phone I could replace it with something more expensive for free. The commission for staff who sell those accounts must be fairly high.

[ckd]

On my side of the pond, I use a bank in Texas even though I live in Massachusetts.

The bank in question is specifically oriented toward serving military folks and their families, who travel/move/get sent off to the far side of the planet all the time; you can do damn near everything online, 24/7, without needing to deal with a human.

On the rare occasions when I have to talk to someone they have only once tried to sell me on other products. (Well, sort of tried. They basically said "hey, you have a lot of money in that bank account; have you considered moving some of it into CDs to get more interest without any investment risk?" Since it was money that was going to be in that account for less than a week, I said "not right now, but thanks." They also send me mail now and then suggesting I might want other services they offer, but I can deal with that.)

OTOH, when work changes meant I had to move my retirement savings my former provider spent far too much time on the phone trying to convince me to put it in an IRA with them instead of moving it to my new plan the way I'd asked them to. Annoying.

[julesjones]

Sounds like a good bank.

I don't mind them advertising at me via stuff through the post, because I can look at it when it's convenient to me. If they want to send me marketing material along with my statements' that's fine by me -- occasionally I even find it useful. It's the being ambushed face to face or on the phone when I just want to use my account that I object to.

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

If you go into the branch, they'll activate the card with a minimum of fuss and no sales pitch, at least they did with mine.

[julesjones]

Thanks, that's worth knowing. It's still inconvenience, but at least I can see how long the queue is. The "all our operators are busy" message simply suggested trying again later, instead of offering an estimate of how many people were ahead in the queue. (I think I first ran into the "you are tenth in the queue" thing while trying to sort out a problem with a British Airways booking, where it greatly reduced stress levels to know that if I stayed on the line I *would* get to speak to someone eventually.)