Credit West Bank, Beware Policy Change!

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
06/04/2011 20:03

When this bank was trading as Altinbas Bank, a then minor player in the TRNC banking sector it rejuvenated itself by implementing different trading practices to those of the opposition and re-branded itself to a European name, 'Credit West' and aggressively targeted the expatriate community. However, success seems to have bred contempt by now following its competitors and reneging on previous promises.

One of the initial great advantages was that should one be caught short of cash between maturity dates of deposit accounts and need to withdraw monies twixt the dates, the interest loss was only of the amount withdrawn. Fair enough. No longer, all interest is now lost on the whole total sum deposited with a new maturity date given. When I asked why, the reason given was 'new Head Office policy, as that is what other banks do'?!

Banks, don't you just love them!



Richard

stellasstar1



Joined: 02/07/2008
Posts: 1519

Message Posted:
06/04/2011 20:16

It's always been that way with the other banks. If you touch the money before the maturity date then you forfeit the interest, and the date starts again. It's the same in England.

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
06/04/2011 20:24

Msg 2

I think you miss the point, it was Altinbas/Credit West big selling point to attract customers from other banks. Its interest rates were/are competitive but cut down on bureaucratic time wasting nonsense by form filling every time time date account was changed but alas, no longer.



Richard

Marion


Joined: 06/03/2011
Posts: 1816

Message Posted:
06/04/2011 20:36

Haven;'t you heard of a sprat to catch a mackeral. It happens everywhere all the time. at least it was good while it lasted.

halffull


Joined: 26/01/2009
Posts: 571

Message Posted:
06/04/2011 20:37

Credit West announced this change some time ago, like 6 months if my memory serves me well and in all fairness the once I went in to draw money out before the maturity date the young lady asked me if I was sure and explained that I would loose the interest and the date would change. At least they were up front with their policy change. :=)

TheScarlets



Joined: 14/04/2009
Posts: 877

Message Posted:
06/04/2011 21:02

Come on Dick, pull your neck back in

negativenick


Joined: 10/11/2008
Posts: 6023

Message Posted:
06/04/2011 21:07

mess 1 - its been like that for years !



its a time deposit account - you leave your dosh for an agreed amount of time and on maturity you get your interest and the option o go again....



if you try and move the goal posts once the game has started, sorry but it's your own fault.....



soz and all that..............

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
06/04/2011 21:15

Msg 5

'announced'! How, by what means? I had no letter, no email, no phone call, all of which they have in their record data base. They are turning out to be a bunch of cowboys reneging on previous promises & conditions. Should they be expanding into the building/legal/government professions? 'Corrupted food for thought', as there are many precedents for them to learn from!

Sorry, it's sharp practice at best but basic legitimised theft, no matter, what disguise the coloured umbrella is, they're all the same self-serving 'b'ankers!



Richard

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
06/04/2011 21:30

Msg 6, Ian

The delightful photo of yourself doesn't show you up in your true colours. I wouldn't want to meet up with you on conflicting terms on a sunny TRNC afternoon let alone in a dark alleyway at night, but £200 for a two week loan and wanting £252 back, I think you're in the wrong Country! Thought of Sicily, Cosa Nostra are looking for new recruits!



Richard

teatime


Joined: 20/10/2008
Posts: 852

Message Posted:
06/04/2011 21:46

And your vendetta against Credit West goes on, boring!!!

andrew4232



Joined: 04/07/2009
Posts: 1543

Message Posted:
06/04/2011 21:52

maybe brinsley if you dont like the policy you should move your account to another bank !!

as for you saying you did not know about the change am sure if you even look on here you see people were talking about it when it happened, i know i was told about it when it happened by the girls on the counter when the accounts were due for renewal

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
06/04/2011 21:56

Msg 10

Glad to hear you bank with Lehman Brothers!



Richard

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
06/04/2011 22:06

Msg 11

Not all account holders spend all their time in TRNC so are left out of the hearsay loop, and as to the suggestion of moving banks, Credit West now put a very low total amount of withdrawal of funds which makes that exercise impractical.



Richard

AnthonySmith


Joined: 14/05/2009
Posts: 455

Message Posted:
06/04/2011 23:10

Legitimised theft? So not theft then? Legal, but you don't like it? Well, easily sorted....

Marion


Joined: 06/03/2011
Posts: 1816

Message Posted:
06/04/2011 23:15

Could someone from CreditWest put a comment here to put the record straight?

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
06/04/2011 23:48

Msg 15

I doubt it, 'head in the sand' approach but I hope they will. I've already emailed their Head Office but have yet to receive a reply. Indicative of how the attitudes of many business's in TRNC have changed, 'ride rough shot' over the small and gullible. Sad but true!



Richard

Marion


Joined: 06/03/2011
Posts: 1816

Message Posted:
07/04/2011 00:23

Maybe iut is the world wide recession that has caught up here. let's hope you get a reply brinsley, and let;s hope someone posts something on here to keep us all in the picture.

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
07/04/2011 00:31

Msg 17

I'll keep all that are interested up to date but don't hold your breath, I'll be gagged with a kind comment from CW in the obituary columns!



Richard

deputydawg


Joined: 30/03/2010
Posts: 1727

Message Posted:
07/04/2011 01:07

Over the years I have had all sorts of bank debit cards, gold, platinum, etc and numerous titled deposit and current accounts all on the advice of the bank (suits you Sir) plus a "privileged customer Card". Within a few months of each change I found that new customers get a better deal than those who have been loyal to the bank for many years. Eventually I told them that I did not wish to be privileged just treated fairly but had to resort to the High Court to recover the monies I lost by discrimination. I have no business acumen but I feel that government deliberately let banks and utilities scam their customers so that they can apply swinging windfall taxes upon them and those monies do not come back to the customer. Stay like a dog with a bone Brinsley when it comes to Banks !

rsalih


Joined: 01/11/2008
Posts: 306

Message Posted:
07/04/2011 02:42

With As Bank you can withdraw and only lose interest on the monies that you withdrawn.

CreditwestRep


Joined: 04/11/2008
Posts: 214

Message Posted:
07/04/2011 10:59

Hello everyone, banking practices change all over the world, all the time. Our personnel do advise customers at renewal of the changes implimented by the bank. Unfortunately we are unable to make Richard happy about banking with Creditwest and this is not the first time he has found fault with us, but he continues to bank with us, this in itself speaks volumes, it is not normally my policy to speak out like this on public forums but the more we try to maintain an accomadating attitude the more Richard finds fault. I would like to thank all our customers and those that are not for their support when trying to provide clarification on issues raised by Richard, which we have also tried to do on many occassions via email and face to face but unfortunately to no avail.

eager


Joined: 23/02/2007
Posts: 1272

Message Posted:
07/04/2011 11:13

Have always been very happy with Creditwest, Queries answered quickly, staff very friendly no complaints from me.

gwhiz


Joined: 07/04/2011
Posts: 26

Message Posted:
07/04/2011 11:14

CreditwestRep when did you inform customers there is a charge for atm cards when they close accounts ?



You did not tell me about this 25 tl charge per card when opening the account, only when I wanted to withdraw my savings.

CreditwestRep


Joined: 04/11/2008
Posts: 214

Message Posted:
07/04/2011 11:31

gwhiz it is near enough impossible to give all the information covered in the small print when taking applications for eg creditcards or account opening although I do accept that it could have been made clear to you but this also differs from personnel to personnel the more experienced they are the more information you will get. I have been in banking for over 30 years now both here and in the UK and this oversight is not uncommon.

andrew4232



Joined: 04/07/2009
Posts: 1543

Message Posted:
07/04/2011 11:34

i would assume that the responsibility belongs to the person opening/ using the account facilities to ask the basic questions like what are your bank charges and not the bank to have to tell you unless you ask they would assume that you knew !! just like any other bank in the world

gwhiz


Joined: 07/04/2011
Posts: 26

Message Posted:
07/04/2011 11:41

i would assume unless told otherwise atm cards are free no other bank in trnc has tried to charge me for them. thanks for the prompt reply CreditwestRep.

Schoie



Joined: 26/12/2008
Posts: 299

Message Posted:
07/04/2011 11:49

well done Credit West, it will be impossible to keep all th Brits happy but we are more than happy with the service provided by your excellent Bank to us and long may it continue, well done again.

breezyboy


Joined: 14/05/2007
Posts: 1179

Message Posted:
07/04/2011 11:50

Brinsley.



If you continually find it necessary to take out money you previously thought you could leave for 12 months then why not have a number of accounts with small amounts in them Then it won't matter if you need a few thou during the year from one or more of these accounts. I have always assumed that I would lose all the interest if I needed to cash in something. You can also spread these small account's maturity dates across the year thus limiting the possibility of losing interest.



I like CW and I like th guys that work for them. They are definitely not out to get you as you seem to think.

Marion


Joined: 06/03/2011
Posts: 1816

Message Posted:
07/04/2011 11:55

Glad that CW has responded. Personalloy I like the guys and gals that I know there - but I also like some of the other banks, but do find on the whole that CW are a little more 'on the ball'. But it would not do if we all thought the same, would it. It would be a colourless world.

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
07/04/2011 15:50

Update. I have received an email from CW which wasn't as subtle as in Msg 21, but grateful for a reply. The gist of it was, if you don't like it take your money and piss off. I think they missed the point, changes do happen in business practices but transparency in informing their client base would help immensely to avoid confusion.

To answer Msg 28, I have a monthly account and by my own stupidity got caught short this month, not normally a habit I make. However, for a £200 withdrawal the cost would have been £52 for a 2 week period. Excessive by anyone's standard.

Overall, CW have been good but it seems to me that the bigger they are becoming the less they are listening to their customer base needs.

As to the stated fact that I'm the only customer to complain for their perceived errors, well, they would say that wouldn't they!



Richard

Rosie64


Joined: 13/11/2010
Posts: 72

Message Posted:
07/04/2011 16:39

If you banked with northern rock would you moan to them on a publc forum and expect to get a reply ?

eager


Joined: 23/02/2007
Posts: 1272

Message Posted:
07/04/2011 18:42

Cw rep you have no need to reply on here, best to stay above it. Keep up the good service your staff in Catalkoy are spot on.

Marion


Joined: 06/03/2011
Posts: 1816

Message Posted:
07/04/2011 19:21

Disagree 'eager' - I thnk it is good they post on here as it shows tey ARE concerned. Better thn silence which c ould meanthey are hiding their heads in the banking sands.

fiendishpaul


Joined: 18/05/2008
Posts: 1720

Message Posted:
07/04/2011 20:12

Have been with CW for just over 2 years and have nothing but praise for them. Excellent customer service coupled with extremely competitive interest rates. Having previously banked with Turkbank, I know where I would rather invest my money. Staff at CW branch in Karakum are superb. Keep up the good work.



Paul

eager


Joined: 23/02/2007
Posts: 1272

Message Posted:
07/04/2011 20:45

Yes its good to see that they are concerned but maybe they have better things to do than get involved in a baiting game.