Many people see financial advice from banks, but can you be sure that your getting the right financial advice
I am prepared to give anyone the benefit of the doubt and treat people as I find them. But this is about people’s money and financial advice is a serious subject. When you see first hand the poor treatment of a customer, it’s difficult to continue having faith in organisations and the people working within it. After all every business is just a collection of individuals working towards a common goal. It’s a people world.
Back in mid October 2013, I went to see a potential client who required financial advice about a pension review and how best to invest a lump sum of money that he had recently received. So on the day of the meeting all went well, collecting the information required, so that I could put together a report on our recommendations. And the end of the meeting the client told me that his bank of the last 20 years had told him that due to the amount of money he had, he qualified for a “free financial review“. Not unusual, but not something that I encounter that often. He was actually going to see the bank directly after seeing me.
Six weeks later I went back to see the potential client to present my report and recommendations on the financial advice areas we had discussed. All went well and I left the meeting feeling that after due consideration I would soon be taking on a new client. My new potential client was still waiting to hear from his banks financial adviser about their recommendations.
As Christmas was upon us I decided to re establish contact in the New Year. The bank had not come back to him and he felt it only fair to wait to hear from them.
To cut a long story short, in the first week of February a meeting was arranged with the banks financial adviser and the day before the meeting, the received an email to confirm the meeting the following day. All fair and reasonable I hear you say. The same evening the client received a phone call to be told that he no longer qualified for advice as he had insufficient funds to invest with the bank and that there would be no meeting. Understandably an unhappy client to say the least and a lot of time wasted. More than three months to be precise.
The worrying part about this is how shoddily they will treat their own customers. Now let’s assume for a moment they had taken him on as a customer. Could they be trusted to act promptly when required, to look after a client’s financial affair with care and diligence? I’ll let you decide.
So when choosing an adviser, be sure to pick the right one who will work with you to help you achieve your goals and objectives. My article How to choose the right adviser for you will help you make sure you select the right financial adviser to work with you.
