Banks - register your complaints

Seriously or even not so seriously, what business would put its customers on hold for 20 minutes? What business, by the way, would tell its customers please fax me copies of the contract and transfer, then proceed to routinely lose those same documents, to the point where they must be re-faxed several times. What business would sell you a loan, yet is unable to book in the settlement til the actual day of settlement, at best the day before?

No prizes for guessing, its our major banks.

And the worst offender, by a long mile, is the Commonwealth Bank.

That's the treatment dished out to their customers and the customer's representatives. And this is business as usual for the majors. Seriously the banks and its executives would be aware of the problem. But what are they doing about it? Or do they just keep on getting away with it? Or are they just as frustrated as all of us.

The result of a survey and the responses from 50 conveyancers and lawyers is the banks treat their customers and mostly the customers' representatives with a universal disdain. Or my guess is the system's woes are so bad, the banks cannot recruit and retain staff with the experience and qualifications required for the job. The situation is worsening year by year, month by month as the banks' service is spiralling down. This too is having an impact on Law firms and Conveyancing companies recruiting and retaining qualified and experienced staff. It is not an industry that can readily attract or retain young individuals. Their attentions can easily be diverted to other more attractive industries. This is clearly unsustainable.

In a report that was far worse than I expected, the results of the survey make grim reading. Here's the link to the results of the survey. Thanks to those who responded to the survey. Your message is being passed along.

I cant quote everyone, so here is a response from Nick

"I am sick of wasting my time on things that should be in order, sick fixing things that the Bank clearly stuffs up. Sick of organizing and filling out bank forms (i.e. discharge authorities) which clearly is a bank document that should be completed by the Bank. Sick of answering questions for the Bank when they could pick up the phone and ask the client directly Sick of being charged reattendence settlement fees when the error is from the Bank Sick of Promises of call backs which hardly ever occur. My Time is precious and the Banks clearly waste my time for no other reason bar lack of care and incompetence."

20 plus years ago, two other markets, the share market and the money market, recognised and foresaw the problems with settlements and invoked technical solutions that reformed their industries. The solutions were all in the pre-internet days. The results transformed their industries. The solutions were put in place in recognition of what would happen if change was not instigated. It is remarkable to think the ASX introduced SEATS the day before the stock market crash in October 1987. This was followed by CHESS and what is called today T+3 (settlements within 3 days of the actual trade). Ditto Austraclear which reformed the money markets for trading bills and bonds. Austraclear is same day electronic trading and financial settlement. I recall the days very clearly as I ran the settlements side of a merchant bank in the 1980's. Trades were done in the morning and settlements were effected in the afternoon, with turnover regularly over $100M - physically drawing bank cheques, exchanging those cheques for the certificates for the bills and the bonds and switching securities. Austraclear changed all that overnight.

Fast forward 20 years, I would describe major banks' mortgage operations are run using Henry Fords 1910's conveyor belt assembly-line, updated with 1970's fax technology and overlayed with the latest 1980's centralised call centre. It sucks.

If the evidence already is not damning enough, I have created a Register of Complaints where you can report individual incidents on client files, estimated loss of time, cost to the firm and costs or losses to clients. Please bookmark this link to the Register of Complaints against Banks and start reporting on a regular basis. I only mentioned this to a colleague and right away she had a file where the bank on the other side had lost or misplaced the title. Lost time one hour plus. Cost to the firm $150.

Link 1 http://247legal.questionform.com/public/Report-a-Complaint-Bank-Settlements

Link 2 http://247legal.blogspot.com/2008/03/register-complaint-bank-settlements.html

Typical incidents you can report are

• Kept on Hold longer than 20 minutes
  
• Had to fax the same thing more than twice
  
• Mortgage / Loan Documents had to be redone
  
• Bank not in position to book 48 hours prior
  
• Title lost / misplaced
  
• Settlement delayed through a bank stuff up
  
• other:
  

Plus report on estimated -

• lost time,
  
• cost to the firm,
  
• loss to client for a bank stuff-up.
  

Industry reform across Australia is urgently needed.

Complaint Register. Register your complaints now or anytime and as they occur, perhaps using the time when you have been put on hold for 20 minutes or longer

Bookmark this link -

http://247legal.questionform.com/public/Report-a-Complaint-Bank-Settlements

The next step, you can help by -

1. reporting incidents on an ongoing basis; and
   
2. forwarding this email to colleagues and urging everyone to start reporting and registering complaints on a per file basis.
   

Our industry should be thriving, not struggling on a daily basis.

Campaigning for reform has started. Your responses and feedback will help shape the reform.

Brett Hayton
www.247legal.com.au

03 9557 3344

Action Group for Reform of property and mortgage settlements