I’ve just been reading the results of a survey conducted by some bank or other about which banks we like and which ones leave us really unhappy.
My bank, and I won’t mention their name, came near the bottom of the list, with fewer than half of its customers who were questioned saying that they would recommend it to friends or family.
I get letters and phone calls and messages from readers every day about their banks, and insurance companies, and utility companies, and for every person who tells me that they love company A and hate company B someone else will write and tell me that they hate company A but love company B.
There is no rhyme nor reason to this love/hate relationship that we have with these companies.
In some cases one company will have done something that we figure is so bad, and caused us so many problems that we will never, ever, deal with them again. Perhaps they wouldn’t lend us money when we wanted it, or they lost a cheque we sent them, or forgot to pay a direct debit on time.
On the plus side it might be that they did lend us money when we figured that perhaps they wouldn’t have done, or perhaps they extended an overdraft or wrote off some charges when they could easily have decided to make us pay.
The point is that if you have a good relationship with that company, whether it’s a bank or insurer or utility company, then there is no need to change just for the sake of it. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
That might sound as if it flies in the face of the advice I regularly give here which is that you should always be looking to switch for a better deal. But it’s not. I’m not saying don’t look around and make sure you always get a good deal, what I am saying is that if you already have a good deal where you are then perhaps there is no need to do anything!
No. Could never love or even like RBS. Been with them since 1960 and service now declining day by day. New outlet in Eastgate Centre, accosted by two assistants but when I needed to speak to someone about a direct debit not paid – first response “maybe not enough funds in account”. How rude to assume this. When I said plenty funds, then told a wait of at least 30 minutes to see someone. Couldn’t wait that long and eventually sorted with long long phone call. Not good enough. At Head Office on Harbour Road, long queues every day as only ever at most 2 tellers on duty. Are they trying to get everyone on internet.