Why, oh why, then, do you have premium rate 0870 and 0845 numbers? Is it only for the reason that your firm pockets around 80 per cent of the call charges to swell its bulging coffers?
I have say that, as a matter of principle, we do not use Intelligent Finance, Woolwich or the Abbey because of their high-handed 0870 tactics. All together, they lose about £40 million per annum from us, despite coming top in the selection system our advice firm utilises. Doubtless this is just chicken feed to them, but allegedly still insufficient to fund a margin to permit 0800 numbers for brokers.
We are your customers, my sweet deluded dears, and we make a point of justifying in our Recommendation Report letters to clients why we do not use your products. We simply state that hidden charges are made by Intelligent Finance, Abbey and Woolwich in their dealings with intermediaries, and on this basis we cannot recommend clients to have a long-term relationship with these firms, as it is reasonable to assume they will use similar tactics with them on an on-going basis in the future.
I call that ‘Treating Customers Fairly’. So why don't you treat your brokers – who are your customers, fairly?
Geoffrey Furlong
Mortgage broker
