Why I left the Royal Bank of Scotland December 9, 2008
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Miscellany , trackbackI run a small business, and when I set it up I banked with the Royal Bank of Scotland. I’ve never been happy with that so, a few months ago, I switched to the Co-operative Bank. Today I went to close down my accounts with RBS.
It’s an irritating story, not worth getting het up about, but it epitomises so much that’s wrong with them.
Today in the mail, I get a letter from my ‘Business Manager’ saying that he’s always there to help. I’ve never spoken to him, but it reminds me that I need to close the accounts down.
I ring his number.
I wait. He’s on leave until 12 Jan. Who sends out a marketing pack and then goes on holiday?
I ring the telephone banking number.
I wait. After a struggle, I manage to remember the appropriate passwords and passnumbers. I get through to someone who will close my current account. I have to explain why, and he has to offer me lower fees or something to persuade me to stay. Too late for that, so he has to send a message to the branch to tell them this.
I wait. He can’t close the credit card, so transfers me to someone who can.
I wait. I get through to the personal credit card division. They put me through to the commercial card division.
I wait. A chap takes my card number and, when I tell him I want to close the account, puts me through to the account closure team.
I wait. Shaun answers, and actually has my details in front of him. He wants to know why I’m closing the account. I tell him what I’ve already told the first bloke, embellished slightly for the extra wait and inefficiency. He offers me a free card and some extra benefits. I tell him that would have been interesting a few months ago but not now. He closes the account. He can only refund the very small credit balance to my RBS account, which is now closed, so will have to send a cheque. He can’t transfer it to my new account.
He asks if he can do anything else to help me today. I say no thankyou politely, and goodbye.
I doubt RBS are unusually inefficient or irritating. If they are ever really going to make a profit for the taxpayer, they surely need to have a look at their processes, and their customer service. I should be able to do everything with one person, not four or five. There should be a low cost, internet-based option for small businesses (without these ‘business managers’).
That’s what I’ve got at the Co-operative Bank. Good service, good ethical stance, no mucking about with wierd and wonderful financial derivative fantasies, and the profits go to their members (that’s me). It’s beyond me why anyone is still banking with RBS and their ilk.
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