Banking

[rockyracoon]

I'm sitting here, on the phone, waiting to speak to the shower that is the Halifax. For 2 hours they have been telling me how busy they are and that my call will be answered shortly. I've had to plug my phone in to the charge in case it runs out of battery.

It's all Covid's fault, apparently.

Covid seems to be a buzzword for poor customer service.

Arghhhhhhh

[Ken4155]

I feel quite lucky in retrospect. Only took me 37 minutes to actually speak to someone at the Pensions dept to ascertain if they had received my application, posted almost 6 weeks ago.

[Buenchico]

Ummmm:
I hope you have more luck paying your mortgage off than I did. Several months after handing over a banker's draft for over thirty grand to the Woolwich, I got a shirty letter from them, telling me that they were about to repossess my house because I'd not been making any mortgage repayments.

When I got them to hunt for the missing payment (which had definitely left my bank account), they apologised for their error and then demanded over two hundred quid to pay off the interest that had built up between me handing over the money and them actually crediting it to my account. i.e. they expected me to pay them for THEIR error!

When I protested they said "Sorry, there's nothing we can do about it now. You'll have to pay us the interest". When I threatened to take my story to the press though, they suddenly changed their mind!

About a decade later, I wanted to sell part of my garden to my neighbour, only for our joint solicitor to tell me that the sale couldn't go through because the Land Registry records showed that the Woolwich still had a charge registered against my property! As the Woolwich no longer existed by then, I had a battle to find someone at Barclays (who'd taken over the Woolwich) who could get the charge lifted.

[david small]

It seems to be the English disease. Lack of pride in doing a good job. Indifference to service priorities. Couldn’t give a fig, I’d rather not be here. I’m in a position to help if I can be bothered. It’s too much effort, and besides your a nuisance. Not all, but many are infected with the up yours attitude. Back in the day........

[Ken4155]

Forgot to add; i tried contacting them last week but was told that, due to the Covid 19 virus, unless i was notifying them of a change of circumstances or a death, i should "try again at a later date."
When i phoned today, this message was repeated over and over again, then i got a choice of pressing 1 2 3 or 4 - none of which were of any use to me - or hold the line. Obviously i held the line and received repeated messages of various flavours throughout the next 30 mins or so. Once i got through, i was sorted in about 3 minutes. Having said that, she told me a letter had been sent out on 27 Feb and i haven't received it yet. Must've been sent by 'snailmail'. I actually qualify for the pension next Monday.

[Jackdaw33]

Remember back in the good old days when the maxim of any decent business was, 'The customer is always right'.

[ummmm]

Chris, he's spoke to both banks. The endowment has been paid into one and he's transferring it to the other.

I used to be a book keeper....I always make sure I leave a trail with large sums.

[ummmm]

Jack - The customer isn't always right.

[ToraToraTora]

I had a similar problem with Sky. I could not do what I needed on their website and it took Sherlock Holmes to even find a number, let alone get them to answer it. All blamed on Covid. I still struggle to see how Covid makes any difference but I digress. So I emailed saying that if I am not called back in 24 hours to close my account and I would be cancelling my DD. They called me within a few minutes!

[rockyracoon]

Thanks all for your input.

My husband had the same treatment from Lloyds (parent company of Halifax) yesterday when he tried to pay a large sum to a company to buy a lorry. He was sitting on the phone for over an hour when he called to ask me to pay the money out of my account, then my bank wouldn't pay it and said if I didn't call the fraud line (which was a lie, it wasn't the fraud line) within 24 hours my account would be frozen. Shocking service all round. I really don't mind the extra security, but not a two hour wait to get it....not on.

My husband could have lost the lorry which we desperately need due to the new LEZ rules. He was lucky the seller was understanding and stayed until after he should have closed to make sure the sale went through.

I'm going to buy wine with my £40 compo.

Wolf, he's a beaut isn't he. Thanks for enlarging the photo, Chris.

[bednobs]

I rang my insurance provider yesterday and they answered in 2 rings - a real person and everything!

[ummmm]

Chris - the mortgage has been paid off. Nationwide has just transferred all the money :-) Happy me...

[Buenchico]

Ummmm:
I recommend downloading the title document for your house in a few weeks' time, to see if there's still a charge registered against it. (It'll cost you three quid but it might save you a lot of hassle later on!):
https://eservices.landregistry.gov.uk/eservices/FindAProperty/view/QuickEnquiryInit.do

[bednobs]

I am so jealous - you are the same age as me (ISH) and I still have 17 years to go on mine :(

[ummmm]

Why would there be a charge on the house? We don't have any debts.

Bednobs - It's a great feeling. Our mortgage payments were very small but it's just the security of owning it now.

[barry1010]

uummm, Buenchico has explained that his mortgage company forget to remove the charge after he had paid off the mortgage.

[Ric.ror]

I hope you know your call is important to them

[ummmm]

Barry, yes, but there is no charge on our house. Neither of us have debts and I'm sure we would have heard about it after living here for 25 years.

[bednobs]

the mortgage co will have put a lien/charge (whatever the term is) on it, and HSOULD remove it now, but the don't always

[ummmm]

OK....I'll tell him to phone them.

[barry1010]

Yes, a mortgage is a charge on the property