- Joined
- Jul 24, 2008
- Messages
- 33,627
- Points
- 0
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Paying lip service to 'addressing concerns'?
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I READ Mr Victor Khoo's Forum letter ('Minibonds: Bank adamant despite MAS advice', March 27), and ABN Amro's reply yesterday, 'Minibonds: Bank ready to address client's concerns', with a sense of deja vu.
As a victim of the Minibonds saga, I first wrote to the Forum page on Oct 12 last year. ABN Amro replied on Oct 14. This was followed by an interview with the bank's representatives on Oct 22, during which my wife and I furnished all the information we had to support our claim that we were mis-sold the product by both the relationship manager and the bank.
During the interview, we were told that a decision would be made in a month's time, following the bank's evaluation.
The reply came on Feb 5, more than three months after the interview, advising that our appeal for compensation was rejected, and that we could, if we wished, appeal to the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (Fidrec) for another review. We were also advised that the maximum claim permissible was $75,000 per transaction, regardless of the investment quantum.
Before filing our appeal with Fidrec, we explored the possibility of the bank allowing us to appeal for the full quantum of our investment, but was advised by the relationship manager that the bank would not approve. In fact, a friend, who was similarly affected, wrote to the bank's head of service quality on the same issue but got no acknowledgement or reply.
We thought we had a sufficiently convincing case. We had been fairly longstanding customers, with a rather substantial investment with the bank, which must surely count for something. As such, we expected some compensation. So we were greatly disappointed when we were advised of the outcome. This outcome has prompted us to significantly scale down our transactions with the bank.
So when I read ABN Amro's reply that the bank is ready to address a client's concerns, I cannot help but consider it an attempt at being politically correct and paying lip service. Lawrence Loh
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I READ Mr Victor Khoo's Forum letter ('Minibonds: Bank adamant despite MAS advice', March 27), and ABN Amro's reply yesterday, 'Minibonds: Bank ready to address client's concerns', with a sense of deja vu.
As a victim of the Minibonds saga, I first wrote to the Forum page on Oct 12 last year. ABN Amro replied on Oct 14. This was followed by an interview with the bank's representatives on Oct 22, during which my wife and I furnished all the information we had to support our claim that we were mis-sold the product by both the relationship manager and the bank.
During the interview, we were told that a decision would be made in a month's time, following the bank's evaluation.
The reply came on Feb 5, more than three months after the interview, advising that our appeal for compensation was rejected, and that we could, if we wished, appeal to the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (Fidrec) for another review. We were also advised that the maximum claim permissible was $75,000 per transaction, regardless of the investment quantum.
Before filing our appeal with Fidrec, we explored the possibility of the bank allowing us to appeal for the full quantum of our investment, but was advised by the relationship manager that the bank would not approve. In fact, a friend, who was similarly affected, wrote to the bank's head of service quality on the same issue but got no acknowledgement or reply.
We thought we had a sufficiently convincing case. We had been fairly longstanding customers, with a rather substantial investment with the bank, which must surely count for something. As such, we expected some compensation. So we were greatly disappointed when we were advised of the outcome. This outcome has prompted us to significantly scale down our transactions with the bank.
So when I read ABN Amro's reply that the bank is ready to address a client's concerns, I cannot help but consider it an attempt at being politically correct and paying lip service. Lawrence Loh
