Following the massive take up of its product range, brokers have complained the lender had ‘been impossible to get hold of’ and had not informed brokers of the problems it was having.
Alan Lakey, senior partner at Highclere Financial Services, expressed his disappointment at the lenders service. He said: “BoS has had problems with its service. It happens to any lender that introduces a range with popular rates – the take up is massive and it can’t deal with it, causing the backlogs.
“However, with BoS, there is no other way of getting through to them, other than the phone, which currently has a message on it saying they are unable to take any calls. This does not instil confidence in the lender.”
Another broker, who wished to remain anonymous, added: “BoS has extremely good rates, and brokers know that there are going to be a few problems with backlogs and so on. However it is impossible to get hold of the lender. Its online system has also not been kept up-to-date, and deadlines have already been missed. The premier service is a little better as you have a direct contact number, but the service is still slow.”
BoS admitted its service had suffered as a result of increased business. A spokesperson said: “Due to unprecedented demand we are experiencing dramatically increased numbers of calls to our business development managers and phone teams. Customers who wish to enquire about their mortgage case should contact their team using the e-mail addresses at www.bankofscotlandintermediary.co.uk/contact/. We would like to apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused.”
