I received a new debit card about two weeks ago and needed to activate it with my bank so I called the activation line to speak to a customer advisor. From the outset of the call the advisor tried to sell me identity theft protection, I politely declined, and yet he still continued with the hard sell. He started to tell me I could end up in court protecting myself which could cost me thousands and I politely declined again, telling him I was in no position to afford it. He then actually put the phone down on me!
I've banked with this bank for 15 years and never once had a reason to complain, until now. I sent them a letter explaining everything that was said and how upset I was by his attitude. I was assuming he was on commission and really needed to make a sale, however there is no excuse for rudeness.
The customer services department telephoned me last week to apologise and yesterday I received a lovely cheque from them for £50. August extra income is up and running.
That's one way to get the extra income ;-) But you're totally right - complaining is worth it in most cases. My bank took more than a month to open my ISA despite me submitting my application three weeks before the new tax year. When they finally opened it, the interest was down by 0.25% and I was really annoyed. So I phoned them up and after some lame apologies they send me a cheque covering a month's worth of interest on the maximum balance allowed for the ISA (£3,600) - even though I had opened the account with substantially less! I was certainly pleased...
ReplyDeleteWay to go!! Good on your for standing up for yourself, too many of us don't bother. Mind you, after your post I will be more inclinde to do something next time I get bad serice or the like.
ReplyDeletethanks kirsten and lisa -in the past i would of ignored this sort of thing, not anymore!
ReplyDeleteWOO HOO! Way to go you!!!
ReplyDeleteFifty quid? Blimey, that's definitely more than I'd have expected. Good job you complained. I shall definitely be following your need (should I need to, obviously).
ReplyDeletethanks sharon and ft - I was surprised by the ammount also!
ReplyDelete