Why is Irish banking so rubbish

C

Chewbacca

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Maybe it's me, am I the only one who thinks banking is woeful here, spent many years in the UK.

Trying to upgrade an AIB credit card to platinum, call..... have to go through all the options until you hear we only work Monday Friday 9-5 due to Covid... even still (how about saying that at beginning), can't apply for card online as hold basic card, and they don't work outside 9-5 any day not even half a day Saturday from what I can see..... day off today and on hold 25 minutes already..... joke

An Post give a credit card with a 1,500 limit , that looks like it came out of a lucky bag and if I want to do a balance transfer I have to request a call back, seriously in this day and age?
 
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I attribute it to us the consumers being a subservient shower of don't want to make a scene sheep for decades maybe centuries.

We're growing up rapidly now as consumers in control and expectations but sadly the retail banks are not even close to keeping up.

I can relate to your observations about retail banking overseas and kept all my banking overseas when I moved back here.

I pay about eur400 per year in charges but the benefits I get with my credit card more than covert hat cost. Client Adviser allocated that. Personally answers my emails in 24 hours.
 
Chewbacca said:
Maybe it's me, am I the only one who thinks banking is woeful here, spent many years in the UK.

Trying to upgrade an AIB credit card to platinum, call..... have to go through all the options until you hear we only work Monday Friday 9-5 due to Covid... even still (how about saying that at beginning), can't apply for card online as hold basic card, and they don't work outside 9-5 any day not even half a day Saturday from what I can see..... day off today and on hold 25 minutes already..... joke

An Post give a credit card with a 1,500 limit , that looks like it came out of a lucky bag and if I want to do a balance transfer I have to request a call back, seriously in this day and age?
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As the world is becoming more automated, more issues can be solved without having to deal with a human. Humans cost more and phone in sick, so companies want less of these and more automation. That is why you are on hold. Stick you earphones in and go about your business until your turn comes up.

If you want to apply for a card on a Saturday, go to an AIB hub, they are open.
 
We went from gross under regulation of banks until the financial crash, international banks were clamouring to get in here .

Now we have gone to the opposite extreme over regulation of banks , defaulters cannot be kicked out of properties except with great difficulty. As a result all the international banks including ones like ulster and national Irish Bank with very long histories here having fled yet still happy to remain in the tiny NI market, go figure
 
Rang BOI yesterday to sort something out on my app and was on hold for about 10 minutes and a very helpful person sorted out my issue in another 10. End of the day, we don't pay very much for banking services in this country and you get what you pay for.
 
joe sod said:
We went from gross under regulation of banks until the financial crash, international banks were clamouring to get in here .

Now we have gone to the opposite extreme over regulation of banks , defaulters cannot be kicked out of properties except with great difficulty. As a result all the international banks including ones like ulster and national Irish Bank with very long histories here having fled yet still happy to remain in the tiny NI market, go figure
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+1.

It's as if something bad was to hit the Irish grocery market tomorrow causing SuperValu to shut down and Lidl and Aldi to leave. A decade later, the standards in Dunnes and Tesco (by then designated as 'pillar' supermarkets) would be in a shambles as they'd have nobody to keep them on their toes.
 
Horatio said:
I attribute it to us the consumers being a subservient shower of don't want to make a scene sheep for decades maybe centuries.

We're growing up rapidly now as consumers in control and expectations but sadly the retail banks are not even close to keeping up.

I can relate to your observations about retail banking overseas and kept all my banking overseas when I moved back here.

I pay about eur400 per year in charges but the benefits I get with my credit card more than covert hat cost. Client Adviser allocated that. Personally answers my emails in 24 hours.
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I think you're being too hard on the poor old consumer! What choice do we have? The real issue is competition, it fosters innovation and efficiency. The UK has it, we don't.
 
mojoask said:
I think you're being too hard on the poor old consumer! What choice do we have? The real issue is competition, it fosters innovation and efficiency. The UK has it, we don't.
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Yea, fair enough.

So that begs the question; what stifled the competition? Other on here have pointed to over reaching regulation biased against banks (and probably Landlords by extension, or is it the other way around?)
 
Horatio said:
I attribute it to us the consumers being a subservient shower of don't want to make a scene sheep for decades maybe centuries.

We're growing up rapidly now as consumers in control and expectations but sadly the retail banks are not even close to keeping up.

I can relate to your observations about retail banking overseas and kept all my banking overseas when I moved back here.

I pay about eur400 per year in charges but the benefits I get with my credit card more than covert hat cost. Client Adviser allocated that. Personally answers my emails in 24 hours.
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I agree with the first point, I will put up with some level of poor service etc to a point but not the 'sure we're grand it's Ireland' nonsense I have a been a firm believer over many years if service is not being delivered then go to the top , sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't in the main it works. I often refer to CEO email addresses (google it) as they don't want some irksome customer emailing them so it usually gets escalated to some executive assistant to the CEO but it does get sorted.

Not sure how you're paying €400 a year, I retained a HSBC Premier account in UK , they might kick me off soon but sounds similar no charge dependent on income/assets in accounts.
 
mojoask said:
I think you're being too hard on the poor old consumer! What choice do we have? The real issue is competition, it fosters innovation and efficiency. The UK has it, we don't.
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No you do have a choice and don't ever think you don't. I emailed the CEO of AIB today saying I wasn't happy with their service and that I had better things to do than being on hold 30 minutes , that I wanted to upgrade my card to Platinum and for someone to email me yes or no and if no I'd move my account elsewhere (don't really care). Your choice is to move your money whatever to a better provider, that can be better service same/higher/lower cost but there is always a choice. I await AIB response and will post if I get one.

FYI - I complained to Barclays CEO in UK via email many years ago, got a reply from his email (probably written by PA), £150 compensation (slightly higher than standard mandatory compensation) and a personal Barclays advisor to get matter sorted out. Do not accept sub standard service, you always have choices.
 
Chewbacca said:
I agree with the first point, I will put up with some level of poor service etc to a point but not the 'sure we're grand it's Ireland' nonsense I have a been a firm believer over many years if service is not being delivered then go to the top , sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't in the main it works. I often refer to CEO email addresses (google it) as they don't want some irksome customer emailing them so it usually gets escalated to some executive assistant to the CEO but it does get sorted.

Not sure how you're paying €400 a year, I retained a HSBC Premier account in UK , they might kick me off soon but sounds similar no charge dependent on income/assets in accounts.
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Yes I. Agree you can be forceful in your escalation and may get traction but you are the exception rather than the rule. I'd guess 95+%. Of people will throw their hands and eyes in the air, walk away and moan about it to whoever will listen.
 
Chewbacca said:
No you do have a choice and don't ever think you don't...
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Of course you can move/escalate, but you've missed my point, we've got a banking oligopoly, there is very little between the banks. Too little competition, too little incentive to improve offerings/service.
 
Having read all of the posts above, I sit here wondering - would enough Irish people pay a higher fee, for better customer service, to justify a true "Premier" type account?

Past experience in the market suggests that most of us won't pay higher fees, for higher service.... And I seriously doubt that's changed.
 
I started my life working in a bank branch. I got a good 6 months training with plenty of people keeping a watchful eye over me. I learnt a lot about banking. As a cashier I used to sort the "dirty" notes and remit them to the central bank once a week. All my notes faced the same way before handing them out to my customer. We took pride in our work at ground level.

When I walk in to a bank branch now, you can tell that the majority of staff really don't know what they are doing. They get nil training, don't even know their own products, let alone any of their competitors products. They don't give a toss and they are backed up by managers who are just as bad. The banks got rid of their "good" staff over the years and replaced them with yellow pack staff......the yellow pack staff are now running things at management level.
 
I see Revolut are offering loans now, but, in order to get one you must show your deposits in a 'pillar' bank only. I use CUnion & N26 for no fees banking. I also see AIB still use a little calculator type thingy to get a number to do a transfer. How outdated is that.
 
SDMXTWO said:
I see Revolut are offering loans now, but, in order to get one you must show your deposits in a 'pillar' bank only. I use CUnion & N26 for no fees banking. I also see AIB still use a little calculator type thingy to get a number to do a transfer. How outdated is that.
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As per my post in a thread about new accounts for Ulster/KBC people, revolut customer service is utterly appalling.
It would make eir seem superb. - It's that bad!
 
SDMXTWO said:
I see Revolut are offering loans now, but, in order to get one you must show your deposits in a 'pillar' bank only. I use CUnion & N26 for no fees banking. I also see AIB still use a little calculator type thingy to get a number to do a transfer. How outdated is that.
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That calculator thing is a pain. I get it’s very secure, but you need to have it to hand. Tore the house apart one day and couldn’t find it so had to get a new one sent out and pay for it. Took 5 days and I had to delay an urgent transaction
 
IsleOfMan said:
I started my life working in a bank branch. I got a good 6 months training with plenty of people keeping a watchful eye over me. I learnt a lot about banking. As a cashier I used to sort the "dirty" notes and remit them to the central bank once a week. All my notes faced the same way before handing them out to my customer. We took pride in our work at ground level.

When I walk in to a bank branch now, you can tell that the majority of staff really don't know what they are doing. They get nil training, don't even know their own products, let alone any of their competitors products. They don't give a toss and they are backed up by managers who are just as bad. The banks got rid of their "good" staff over the years and replaced them with yellow pack staff......the yellow pack staff are now running things at management level.
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Times have changed. Years ago you had to use a cashier for so much, so it is important that they were well trained. Most branches don't have a cashier desk anymore, it's all automated. In my local branch, there is no cashier desk. If there is something that I can't use a machine/ online banking for, someone will do it for me. But the world of banking has changed and most of it can be done online. People want more money put into the online offering, to make it easy and secure. Humans are only needed for 5% (making up that number) of banking, so why would they put lots of money into a service that is no longer used?
 
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