Bank staff being pushy.

[PassingStranger]

Had an appointment today to open something at the bank.

I knew exactly what I wanted. I had researched and everything. Didn't expect all that evolved.

Bank member of staff was pushy and kept suggesting something else. I said I wanted to stick to what I went in there to open.
I could sense she didn't understand or like the fact I didn't want to take her up on her suggestion.
Several times, she asked me why I didn't want to take her up on her suggestion.
Twice she said is there any reason you don't want to go for her suggestion.
Then at the end she tried to flog.me life insurance.
I had researched what I wanted before I went. I wasn't expecting all the questions disappointment I didn't go with her suggestion.
AIBU.

They are forced to do this, they don’t want to, but they are given targets to hit to sell these products.

Having worked closely with banks/buildings society's etc in the past..they are targeted to sell. However, the management seem to have flavour of the month ideas when it comes to products and she may have to sell the product she was pushing to hit target and would get nothing for what you actually wanted.

Mine throughout covid and after really pushed for a "financial review" with the manager. I had it showed I am financially clued up and haven't heard from them since!

I guess it's an option to just walk out and then they don't get any business/money from you at all.

Pushiness dosent really work.

As others have said, unfortunately bank staff are made to upsell 'products', rather than do what you want them to do. The last time I had to go into my bank was to pay in several hundred pounds in cash which I had collected from friends to pay for a ladies spa weekend. I got the third degree from the cashier, why hadn't I got a savings account, didn't I realise this money would be better earning interest, had I got motoring breakdown cover and had I got a mortgage! I told her it was absolutely none of her business and could she get on and pay in the money and give me a receipt. Yes, it was part of her job to have to ask these intrusive and irritating questions but the snooty, disapproving attitude when I refused to answer them didn't help. I agree that pushiness doesn't ever work with me, in any scenario. These organisations have to remember that you're the customer and in the case of banks, it's YOUR money!

Yes, a cashier once commented that I had a lot of money in my account and I should open a savings account. I said I'd just been paid and it would all be spent by the end of the month.

One of the reasons I'm with an online only bank.

Banks are odd at the moment.

I went into a bank recently, asked to open a child’s savings account and one for me. They basically refused. Saying they didn’t have the product we wanted and they didn’t open branch accounts although online they say they do for this account.

They turned away a lot of business that day, as we have recently had an inheritance. I was really surprised. I was expecting to be sold to and advised on which product the wanted me to have. It was a very strange experience. I don’t think I look dodgy.

To be fair to bank staff, sometimes customers think they know what they want but a different product could be better. Obviously you had researched and they shouldn’t have been pushy.

Many years ago I worked in a building society, a man screamed at me for letting his elderly mother leave thousands in an instant access saving account with almost no interest, I was able to show him that it had been suggested to his mother on many occasions over the years that better products where available. (This is just one example)

My grandmother went into her branch to make a bank transfer to pay the undertakers for my grandfather's funeral. They tried to flog her a mortgage!

Really that's awful......

I'll be more aware of this then...

Staff are obliged by regulators to encourage customers to get a product that suits their needs best. I can see this being an issue if you want a product that isn’t the one that best suits your needs.

Either the bank had a better product for you that you hadn’t looked into or they didn’t understand your needs properly.

That's an arrogant way for them to look at it, though.

Yes, there may be features of specific products that may appear to match your needs; but any product that I don't want to choose to buy automatically does not suit my needs.

I'm a human with personal agency and preferences; not a computer that just does what it's programmed to do without caring one way or another. Even if they believe my choices not to be the best (on paper and/or in their opinion), they are MY choices for MY money.

Exactly..... I knew what I wanted. I thought I was just going in for that.

I don't like the way she said is there any reason that you don't want to go with what I suggested.
Err yes because I don't want too.

One of my parents worked for a large high street bank. They were bullied and harassed by managers if they didn’t make target sales of products. The management didn’t care if it was a more suitable product. One of the staff members regularly had older customers in tears in his office, giving them untrue horror stories of what would happen if they didn’t sign up to what he was pushing.

My parent quit because it was unethical. They aren’t always trying to sell you the best product for your needs. Sometimes they are just trying to hit their monthly target to avoid finger pointing and pressure from above.

Oh well lol it didn't work with me.

Just pre-covid, I made an appointment with Santander to open an account. After intros with the man working there, his next words were 'Where is your husband?'
I was married, but asked the relevance, because the account would just be in my name.
He then asked if I wanted to return another time with my husband! WTF! I was 40 and this guy looked younger than me!

I assume OP that the person you saw got a kick back or bonus for getting people onto the offer they were trying to flog!

I remember around 25 years ago when I used to go and deposit my pay cheque at NatWest each month, the lady at the desk asked my why I don't use their other services such as mortgages or insurance and made me feel guilty for just using their current account.

I can't remember what I said but it was obviously bc they weren't competitive.

Feedback to the bank that you feel their staff are being treated badly, and suggest you think that the pressure to sell could be the verge of bullying. Perhaps also ask them whether they think this is fair to those for whom English is an additional language (as it is for some Welsh people, for example).

I worked for Halifax doing account openings etc and we had to give “informed choice” and offer every product with an explanation of what the features were etc.
If for eg you may have said you want to be able to access your money, but then chose an account with limited withdrawals, I would have to make it glaringly obvious that I’ve offered you alternative products but you’ve chosen something else.
Obviously some banks have sales targets still, but not that many are pushy for sales purposes.
It will have probably been you’ve maybe chosen a different product then what was suited to your stated needs.

I think the stark disconnect comes from the fact that most of us - especially those of us over a certain age - will see bank staff, particularly counter staff, as there to assist us and to carry out our instructions.

Unfortunately, they're now essentially just salespeople with targets like in any shop - whether they're on commission for achieving them or their jobs/incomes are at risk if they don't.

From the banks' POV, our mundane ordinary transactions can/should all be done online - so if we venture into a branch, our main purpose (and the chief purpose for them keeping the branches open) is to be sold new products that benefit them, so we're ripe for the plucking.

I've started saying very bluntly that I am not interested because I don't value or trust their recommendations and so if they aren't interested in completing the transaction I've come in for I will just leave. (And put in a complaint).

I know they are saying what they're saying because they are told to by their employer but that doesn't make it all right and I'm not going to nod and smile about it.

Its hard to know whether the person was trying a hard sell or was genuinely trying to help you if your choice wasn't the best option. Iv had it with customers where you're genuinely trying to help them but they think they know better and they end up paying more and think your horrible for pushing. I'm not necessarily saying you op but it's so frustrating watching someone make dumb decisions because they just won't listen

Nah, I didn't say that, I knew exactly what I wanted and what it entailed.

What product did you want to open and what were they offering you instead?

That's a really good and diplomatic way to go about it without blaming the customer facing staff directly who might not have much choice in the upselling or targets they were given.

I know that sometimes the staff thinks there could be a better product, but that's because they have limited information about people's lifes. In order to really give the best match of product and customer, the customer would have to disclose a lot of private information about their plans and aims in life, and current situation, and not everyone is ready to do that. Especially when such talks happen in an open bank office where everyone else can hear the answers. At least the staff should be offering to do that in a closed office.

Couple of times the advice can be not that great, too, like everyone pushing ETFs (I know they have advantages) and now the stock market zig-zagging because of US and European politics.

I thought this upselling had stopped in recent years. I agree op, the only way to stop it is to be prepared to walk out. Or is there any way to just sign up online? You could ask them, is there a reason you are so against me taking up this particular product? Are you on commission? Ie why advertise the product at all if it is so bad. And you shouldn't have to explain your reasons, I hate this level of pushiness.