If I complain about someone at the bank, that person shouldn't phone me to ask if I'm complaining about him.

[Sushipaws]

To cut a long story short - a mortgage advisor told us our mortgage application was complete, so we concluded the missives on our property. He then called us the next day and told us there was a problem with our application. Nearly 2 weeks later and loads of too and frowing, he calls to say we're not getting a mortgage. I have to move out of my house in one week and have no mortgage to buy my new place.

I complained about the guy and how he told me it was completed and how I was going to be homeless. The bank is looking into a new mortgage application for me and I'm dealing with someone else.

Then the guy called me, on my mobile phone to ask if I was complaining about him.

Surely if you complain about someone, they shouldn't phone you, it's a bit like harrasment. AIBU???

Is it? Depends on his manner really. If it's in a 'I'm really sorry you are unhappy and want to sort it out' spirit then that's fine, if he's trying to bully you out of it then it's not.

Sounds a little suss to me .
I hope you sort it out anyway sounds like a total nightmare .

if i complained about someone in this situation i would expect that when the bank spoke to him about it they would have kept the details private - shown him the application with the name adress ect blanked out. unless he was phoning up to apologise i would be upset both with him personally and with the bank.

Your reply should have been, yes most definitely and whats more I have told anyone who will listen, just how crap you are at your job.

No, he was polite but didnt appologise or anything. He said he'd got an email saying there was a complaint raised and he was wondering if the complaint was about him or about the banks decition not to pass my mortgage application. I told him, if the bank didn't want to give me a mortgage, that was fine, it's up to them, but he shouldn't have told me it was fine as I then completed the missives on my house.

He then said he'd looked at my notes and saw that someone else was processing a new application for me. He said he thought this was a waste of time as he didn't think it would work and I should let him look at my account again and see if there was something else he could do.

I said No Thanks and had to go.

which bank is it?

Halifax bank of Scotland

The worst bank in the world imo.

You need to tell them that he contacted you and everything he said.

But did he actually do anything wrong or did you misinterpret what he said? A mortgage application can be complete, but that doesn't mean that it has been approved and a mortgage offer is on its way. So perhaps he's confused as to why someone might complain about him, if he feels he hasn't done anything wrong.

I just thought I'd update. The bank has now finally declined my mortgage and I have less than a week to find another lender before myself, my husband and our 16 month old daughter are homeless.

To make things even worse, the bank are charging me an early repayment fee of £3000.

The exact words between this man and us were -

"Is that it, is it all done then" and he replied "Yes, it's all complete"

He then told me he would get in touch with my estate agent solicitor.

I don't see how we could misinterpret that, we're not financial guru's, we don't know how all these things work. If the man who's dealing with my mortgage tells me it's all complete and he'll be contacting my solicitor then, yes I took that as a complete mortgage.

The first time we went to this bank it was as simple as that, but that was 6 years ago and I'm sorry if I don't keep up with the exact job specifications of a mortgage advisor.

When he called me a few days later to discuss what further information he required, he said "I hold my hands up, I should've gone through all this when you were in the branch."

Even if he was confussed, then he shouldn't be calling me if a complaint was made against him. I don't like complaining, but I now have nowhere to live and I believe that to be the fault of the bank and it's bad training of it's staff, such as this man.

I'm now going to the FSA, Ombudsman and my local paper are interested in the outcome as they are doing a revue on the property crash.

It surely has to be in writing before it's official? I wouldn't have done anything without written confirmation/offer etc.
I hope you get it sorted.

No perhaps not, but I trusted him, after all he works for a bank! He knew we were on a tight timescale and were being presured to conclude missives. Why didn't he say it had to be processed or sent away to be confirmed. Nobody said anything about it having to be checked by other people or an official offer.

I work in banking.

Firstly yr solicitor wouldn't/shouldn't have exchanged contracts on the property without seeing a formal mortgage offer from HBOS on the house yr buying or selling (although maybe yr not selling) - they have to know you have the finance agreed and in place.

Secondly the person who caused the complaint would know about it as his superiors woudl have to discuss the whole case with him and find out his version of events. If you are uncomfortable with him ringing you then complain again to someone more senior. Doesn't seem to be the priorty though given you have no funds to move at the moment.

Try an independent adviser (estate agents tend to have them or look in yellow pages) get them to see if they can find you a mortgage lender - or try yr own bank (if it's not Halifax).

Good luck

Thanks Silkcushion, it's good to hear from someone in banking.

The solicitor asked us to call them once we'd been to see the mortgage advisor as we were on a tight timescale. They acted on my instruction but they didn't ask for any paperwork.

I'm quite happy for the bank to discuss the case with the mortgage advisor, but I didn't expect to get a phone call from him asking if I was complaining about him. In truth the complaint is not just about him, but also the first person I spoke to on the mortgage hotline. It's also about the bank's inability to train it's staff to include all the information people need to know and not just sell us insurance.

I'm not an ignorant person. neither is my husband, we are both quite well educated but we've only dealt with the banks regarding a mortgage once, 6 years ago. I don't see how this can be my husband and I being stupid if we are acting on the advice of professionals like this man at the bank.

Oh and we are dealing with a financial advisor now, cheers

I'm assuming you're in Scotland?

Normally, you can get a agreement in principle from your lender which says that they are able to lend you the money, subject to the credit scoring being okay with no defaults.

Once our mortgage adviser has taken all of your details, they complete all of your basic information then hand it over to a processing centre which progresses it to completion. Do you think you mis-interpreted what he said?

As for him phoning you, it doesn't sound as if he has attempted to reconcile any differences with you so he is unreasonable to phone you.

A long time ago, when my DP was with his XW they made an offer on a new house, were told it had been accepted and the estate agent reffered them to a solicitor they dealt with and got the ball rolling, they had a mortgage set up and it was only when DP's mother phoned him and commented that the slae had gone quick if the sold boards were up so soon that they realaised something had happened. DP had a strongly worded conversation (see the bed thread about DPs strong words) with the superior of the man who was 'personally dealing with it' it turned out some one walked in with a cash offer higher than was agreed while they were processing the sale so thew went with the cash offer. The man who was dealing with it phoned up when he had been disciplined by his boss to give DP an earfull for complaining, knowing DP that would have been turned around in about 5 seconds.
DP got a bill from the solicitors and a moaning letter for 'wasting their time'. He just forwarded all the bills onto the Estate agent and refused to pay them. These estate agents also sent DPs brother and SIL details off for credit scoring when they happened to view one house, even though they made it clear they weren't buying and were actually living in Germany. It caused them a few problems actually.

Our sympathy for the situation and I hope it all gets sorted soon.