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alliance leicester interest on savings account complaint

Please will somebody tell me if my experience with the Alliance and Leicester is a typical one that I should expect with any bank, or should I change to another one? This is what happened:

I have had a Plus Saver savings account with them for about one year. Towards the end of September I had an interview with their financial advisor about the possibility of moving the money into another account or a different investment scheme with a view to higher returns. I was advised that there was nothing that did not involve tying my money down for several years. Last night I went to their websitre to check interest rates. I was surprised that people who had started a Plus Saver savings scheme about the beginning of September were getting about 4%. People who had started their account somewhat earlier got 3.75%. The interest rate for people who had been with their Plus Saver account for about a year was difficult to find, I had to send them an email to inquire. Today I received the reply and was shocked to find that I was only getting 3.5%. A kind of punishment for being loyal?... I went to my branch and they said, amongst other things, that people like my myself were not automatically given the higher rate, or told about it, because: a. Many people would choose not to go for the higher interest rate account as it meant changing their account number! b.It was not deemed right by Alliance and Leicester to encourage current Plus Saver account holders to cancel their policies and restart new ones as it was a case of changing "like for like"!

They have said I can cancel my account and start again with the higher interest one, BUT, surely this cannot be right?

Reply to
wayne llewelyn
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why not use

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(currently 4.2%, on call, IIRC) and forget about alliance and leicester? e2003

Reply to
sunny edinburgh

.....when base rates were 3.5%, and since last week 3.75% ?

As regards the different interest rates for the same product - what did you expect ? If your're loyal or you build up a relationship with a finance company they will abuse it to make more profit out of you. That's what customer relationship management (CRM) is all about.

As an Alliance & Leicester shareholder might I pass on my sincere appreciation for the part you have played in the 20% profit I've made over the last few months.

Daytona

Reply to
Daytona

I think their financial advisor must have been brainwashed about the perils of so-called 'churning' where some advisors have recommended that endowment policies are stopped and new ones started (thus they get more commission). I wouldn't call a Plus Saver account a 'policy'. It's a deposit account and stopping a poor one and starting a better one must be good for the saver. There are no up-front charges to be incurred as there would be with an endowment policy (and no commission either!).

Rob Graham

Reply to
Rob Graham

In theory it shouldn't work like that. It costs companies more to acquire new customers than to retain existing ones, and in some respects that does get passed on - for example you can usually get better deals if you shop around and approach the company than if you respond to a mailshot or just ask in a branch. The trouble is that banks and b/socs have lots of customers who are totally price-insensitive and will stay put however low rates go, and they make a lot more from them than they lose from the few people who go elsewhere for a better deal.

Reply to
Stephen Burke

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