Hello, I'm a first home buyer who is building a house.
I've been having some bad experiences with n*b bank and would like to ask you for some advices.
We needed to settle our land but because the bank was very disorganised eg. missplaced documents, forgot to book in.., we were 8days late from the settlement day and had to pay interest as a result of that.
Also we have instruct them to do something for the settlment which they promised but of course it wasn't done as requested so we are paying a higher interest..
And whenever we try to contact them to sort out the problems, their attitude have been so bad and unprofessional.
They often raise their voice and telling us that they are very stressed because they are under staffed, even use "F" words under their breath, it's unimaginable how they treat us.
It's not that we did anything wrong, we were always treating them with respect regardless of the stress we getting from the inefficiency of them.
Dealing with the bank has ruined our excitement of building our first home and made us so stressful.
We are worried about how they will deal with the future progressive payment that needs to be made to the builder.
Due to the past experiences with them, I think they'll keep stuff things up.
I'm writing a letter to the branch manager to make an initial complaint.
But what I would like to know is is there any body or organisation I can lodge complaint about it? So they'll at least treat their customers with some respect.
Thank you for reading.
Distressed FHB.Wow that is terrible! There is a banking ombudsman, might be worth having a chat to them
first complain to the banks own internal complaints section. should be able to find it on their home page.
Terryw | Structuring Lawyers Pty Ltd / Loan Structuring Pty Ltd
http://www.Structuring.com.au
Email MeLawyer, Mortgage Broker and Tax Advisor (Sydney based but advising Aust wide) http://www.Structuring.com.au
I'm really surprised that you have had such trouble with n@b. We bank with them, have forever, and have found them to be very helpful. Have you just struck a bad person, or a bad branch? Perhaps there is another branch you can do business with in the future? I guess this is one story that illustrates why it can be good to go through a finance broker (but I guess that doesn't really help you now, though). Do follow the complaint up, and try to change your contact point with the bank, so someone else can look after you and you can start your relationship with the bank afresh. Goodluck.
SYou have my deepest sympathy. We just sold and bought and the bank's inefficiency, tardiness and difficulty in being about to talk to anyone who had the right information etc was quite painful (different bank to yours). We are told it is due to lack of sufficient staff members.
The late settlement is not that uncommon these days. Request to speak to whoever is the most senior person or at the top and refuse to speak to anyone else. Threaten to move banks and demand they pay the penalty. We've had this happen before and didn't have a problem getting them to pay it. It was another bank but I'm sure the Big 4 are all pretty much the same. Make sure you complain about the swearing, ask people their names and ask them to spell it so they will realise you are writing it down. Keep records of dates and times called and always refer to who and when you've spoken recently. Sometimes a written letter can make a big difference also. Be sure you keep your cool on the phone but be firm.
You'll win so don't give up!
All phone conversations are recorded now unless you (the customer) choose to opt out.
If you know the day and approximate time, they can dig it up and verify.
How do I know? Worked for one of the big fellas and help them architect the IT solution behind it.
Hello,
Thank you all for your advice and words of encouragement.
We'll follow it up and let you know.
Cheers.
We bank with n@b and have found them generally very good. You may have come up with an incompetant person/branch. Many years ago we used to bank with Wpac and had a dispute with them which we refered to the Banking Ombudsman. It took us over a year to resolve as the ombudsman kept going round in circles. It was a matter of just $4k, but that was a lot of money for us in 1992 so we kept persisting and were eventually paid out. The point I am making is that once you go to the ombudsman, let them know that you are willing to persist and "will not just go away". It is worth remembering that whilst the Banking Ombudsman is an independant body, it is a self regulatory body funded by the banks. Link below from Choice gives a letter template that may be of use.
http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticle.aspx?id=100266&catId=100568&tid=100008&p=6&title=Letters+that+get+results
Good luckI had a similar experience (also with the same bank) with settlement being delayed 17 days. I was selling so whilst I wasnt paying defaulkt interest, I wasnt getting the benifit of the interest savings on other loans. above all REMAIN AS UNEMOTIONAL AS POSSIBLE. all concerns and total up the amount you believe you are out of pocket. Word it as not play the blame game (let them save face as much as it pains one to do so…. you WILL catch more flies with honey than with vinegar!!). I was sucessful in getting a refund of the settlement fees (for my inconvenience) as well as 17 days interest on my sale amount. This totalled up to be a significant amount and well worth chasing. It had to go through the channels and ended up taking about 6 months. I tired to be empathetic to my local branch (all documents are now centralised and it is often not the fault of the local branch). This strategy worked well as I had the local loans officer going to bat for me for the refund as well.
All the best and I hope that helps. For future reference, I now start calling the bank 2 – 3 weeks before (ie normally get the docs one week before, so call 3 weeks before). Be patient but proactive and get agreement of timeframes from the start.
Cheers
Mick
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. If you don't have an account, you can register here.
