Friday, May 21, 2010

Why I hate banks II

I've ranted about banks before, and I suspect this won' t be the last time.

I recently asked my RBS account lead to provide interest statements on my mortgage accounts for my UK tax return - for those that don't know, you can claim the interest paid on a mortgage loan against your tax liability.

I was quite promptly replied to advising that the policy had changed for 2010 and all such requests now carry a flat £10 charge per statement. And that since this is my first request since the changing of the policy, I would be eligible for a waiver this time; the interest certificates will be with me at the end of next week.

Apoplectic is not the adjective to describe my somewhat over-reaction.

Here is a copy of the letter I sent back to them (enjoy):

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RBS,

I find this astounding...absolutely astounding.

RBS wastes reams of paper every month by sending me TWO statements for each of my mortgages under a SEPARATE envelope, then sends a statement of account (3 separate envelopes) and nowhere (unless I'm mistaken, and that's been known previously) does it indicate the separation between interest and capital repaid. So even if I didn't mind RBS' inefficient statement process, and the unnecessary wasting of paper, I can't even calculate the interest payments myself.

So RBS' solution, is to charge me for your own lack of information.

Citibank sends this information AUTOMATICALLY for my Singapore mortgage at the end of each calendar year.
ABSA in South Africa (for goodness sake - raised eyebrows in startled kind-of-3rd-world-way look) sends me annual interest statements via email!

While I'm grudgingly appreciative of RBS waiving the charge this time, I do not expect to pay this in subsequent years.

I should be charging RBS for the extra time taken to open up all of the unnecessary envelopes every month - I charge S$750 per hour at work.

By my calculations (conservative though they be) I spend an extra 90 seconds each month on this needless task and thus chalk up 7.5 minutes each year - which at my rate converts to S$93.75 meaning RBS owes me money.

If the irony of this mail is lost on you, I'm at a loss as to what to say.

Sincerely sourly,

Darren

PS When customers pay for this "service" does it always take you TWO WEEKS to produce the said piece of paper?! I have to concede that end of next week is acceptable, having no other choice.
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I'm sure I'm blacklisted with RBS and all partner banks and will be ineligible for all types of loan in the future....but am I misplaced in my spleen-venting? Am I unreasonable to expect a so-called 1st world bank to have information ready for its clients in advance? Am I just too demanding in a world full of "customer-centric" hypocrisy and "customer always comes first" - (except when it impacts our bottom line too much) kind of BS?

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