I have a preferential rate at my bank. Normally I’d need to give 90 days notice to quit, but they’re about to reduce the rates so for a limited period I can quit immediately. The thing is they’re supposed to give 60 days notice. There is nothing on the bank’s own website that indicates the upcoming change.
They apparently sent out letters and emails to all affected people about a month ago but I never received either, and I only found out due to a random comment on a 3rd party website. Their records show they sent a letter, (which I can’t disprove, I only know I didn’t receive it.), and they are looking into whether they sent an email or not. For all intents and purposes I’m not affected by the late notice, I’ll wait until the rate changes then quit as the new rate is not good.
Should I insist they keep my account at the old rate for 60 days from now, as whether they sent a letter or not I didn’t receive it and therefore was not informed until today? Or would such an insistence be tilting at windmills with zero chance of success because I’m not really going to go to court or anything like that?
It’s always worth a shot but as long as they can “prove” they “sent” the information, you’re most likely hooped. A few years ago I had renewed “on line” a term certificate with the Scotia Bank for a higher interest rate.
The “old school” in me (age 67 and a basic old man mistrust of electronic transactions) instinctively printed out the information so I had a paper trail of everything. When I got electronic confirmation of the new term certificate, all reference to the applicable interest rate was much lower than what I thought I was getting. When I phoned them of course the person with the strong accent very politely explained how I was the one that was wrong. That all changed remarkably quickly when I explained my paperwork proof and if they need me to email them a PDF of my paperwork proof, the matter was immediately referred to a supervisor who manually made the corrections about as quickly as I’m typing this out.
Had I not printed that stuff from the web page I’d have been SOL. This is part of the reason I’m a strong advocate of getting some form of proof of any electronic transaction whether it’s something printed or even taking a smart phone picture.
I agree, you should press your point. Sounds like you have it covered either way. UK mail declining these days.
If it is an on-line account you should check if the account includes on-line messages.
Do they have your correct email address?
It will all come out in the wash anyway!
It’s more than a zero chance, and totally worth it.
LArge service companies generally apply a squeaky wheel approach; they will take away incentives and raise rates in the hopes that most customers
Won’t even notice, or
Will notice but won’t complain.
Customers who DO complain will tend to get breaks; it’s worth it to them to give/retain the discounts for the 5-10% of customers who raise a fuss so as to look nice.
You should call your cell phone provider, bank, cable company (if you have one anymore) and those sorts of things every single time they jack up your rates and even if they don’t once a year, and demand discounts and better service. Be nice about it but just say you want to get more or pay less, and that you’re shopping around. You’ll be surprised how often you can shave a few bucks off the bill. Or in your case, a few quid.