GIC maturity instruction | Motive Financial | Discussion forum

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I just went through this with them, as well.

Unlike the other online FIs I deal with, Motive's website is quite Antiquated, and won't let you set up maturity instructions yourself. Given the other issues with their website, it's long past due for a Major overhaul. Unfortunately ... to date, there's no indication that will Ever be done.

And yes ... except for answering simple/basic questions, they will do Nothing for you via email. But that's to be expected, and quite common with other FIs
as well.

Beware when you decide to call them on the phone. Wait times can be Horrid ... sometimes well over an hour. And it seems that with most (if not all) of their CSRs, English isn't their first language and their accents are quite strong, and hard to understand. I constantly have to ask them to repeat what they said.

If it wasn't for their rates and the good standing of CWB, I probably wouldn't
deal with them any more.

Dean

Ugh...Motive. My feelings are pretty well-documented 🙂

The gist of the use case for Motive seems to be that it's OK if the following apply:

- You rarely, if ever, need to contact them. Like if you're just parking $ there when you can't get something better elsewhere.

- If/when you need to contact them, you're willing to spend at least 30 minutes -- but often more.

I see that some people on this site are fine with #2 -- I recall someone saying that they 'only' had to wait 20 or 30 minutes to speak with someone.

To me, waiting 20 or 30 minutes (but often longer) to speak with someone who has my money is ludicrous. I get that once in a while this can happen. But at Motive it's the norm, and has been for ages. It's amazing to me that they get away with this. They are like a hockey team that only has 10 players on the bench.

HermanH said

Itellyouwutt said
To me, waiting 20 or 30 minutes (but often longer) to speak with someone who has my money is ludicrous. I get that once in a while this can happen. But at Motive it's the norm, and has been for ages. It's amazing to me that they get away with this.

Worse still is to be assaulted and insulted by a continuous loop of advertisements while forced to sit on hold.  

I see your worse and raise you: every couple of minutes you are invited to leave a voicemail, and told that you will get a call back as soon as possible.

As I mentioned elsewhere, I left them a voicemail on November 13 and they called me back on December 8.

This is not a one-off. If you read Google reviews many others have experienced this. Leaving a voicemail is pointless. You just have to hang around. Even if it's on speakerphone it's still tedious, because you have to POUNCE the instant they pick up or they will hang up and you are back where you started.

Again, I am just mystified that Motive has been able to create this new (ab)normal on the banking landscape. There is good customer service. And there is bad customer service. But Motive has created a third category: NO customer service.

It's not seasonal, it's not temporary, it's not due to Covid, it's not due to a promotion...it's just how Motive does things.

Rail Baron said

Motive parent Canadian Western Bank beat its earnings estimates last week. When the CEO explained this to the media he stated:

"“Our outlook is supported by an increase in our operational efficiency from the reorganization initiatives we executed late this quarter, which will result in the redeployment of resources to priority activities consistent with our differentiated strategy.”

Those reorganization initiatives and operational efficiency are cornerstones of the Motive no service strategy. And they are working well for CWB!  

I'm so tired of when customers bring up legitimate concerns such as these there are always people responding with:

"of course they're like that, they're a business and their only responsibility is to make money and serve shareholders"

or

"they're just increasing efficiencies to stay competitive."

Of course it's always about money, but the balance is too far out of whack. The level of poor service and disregard is too high for my liking, but the market seems to bear it. Just look at Hubert, they used to be a beacon of how to give support over the phone, now they can't even deliver the same basic level of service and there's no shortage of people who still stick up for them. How many of these people sticking up for them work for the parent company, are AI driven bots or simply people being agitative? That's a new reality that I feel most people have no idea about. I still remember recently on this form people thinking I was absurd to state banks use AI to dictate policy.

Rail Baron said

I have no relationship with CWB, and I am not endorsing their no service strategy. In fact, I considered opening an account with Motive, and firmly rejected it based on their no service strategy.

But having said that, I thought it would be valuable to share the words of the CEO at CWB, along with the evidence that they are increasing profit and raising their dividend based on their "out of whack" service strategy.

Whether I like it or not, their strategy is what it is. I think it is worth seeing it in the clear light of day, and not expecting a correction under the current executive team.

I feel the same about Access Credit Union, by the way, and am actively removing my deposits from them as my remaining term deposits mature.

As for being agitative, whatever that means, I'll point out that we live in agitated times. Anyone who expects a return to "the good old days" of top tier service - whether that's getting chocolates at Christmas from Oaken, or quick and efficient service from Hubert, may need to adjust their expectations going forward!  

You've completely misinterpreted my response. I wasn't directing anything negative at you. If you reread understanding that you may have had a different response. If I'm directing criticism at someone I state it, I don't believe in passive aggressive.

I also am very aware and constantly telling people times have changed, move on, but that doesn't negate the validity of pointing out the naysayers that better isn't possible it's just not a course people choose to take these days.

In fact, the second someone uses normal in any context, I pretty much discount anything said after. IMO, Normal is a belief held by the those fortunate enough to be shielded from reality.

Agitative means just that, like people who want to stir the pot for no reason other than to get reactions. None of that was directed at you or your comment, I just felt that the next response was going to be the typical person saying of course things are like that...

At the moment I for some reason have the energy to explain myself, but I tire of having to constantly do that on the internet and that's why I usually just benefit from reading posts in this form by people like yourself. Thank you.

Rail Baron, I understand what you're saying, but I'm voting with Phrank on this.

Truly, I'm not expecting good customer service from Motive -- because I do not expect good customer service from any online-only bank.

However, in my experience with Motive that spans several years and numerous interactions, they have taken things -- or dropped things might be the better way to say it -- to a whole new level.

It's not that they are hiring unqualified and untrained people. It's that they aren't hiring nearly enough people, period. The fact that CWB is making money is all the more reason to throw Motive a bone.

Like I said, I've never experienced anything like this before -- it's not bad service, but it's no service.

They aren't breaking any law or regulation. This is free enterprise. And I've voted with my wallet by canceling my account. Not out of anger (I don't make financial decisions that way). But because it is literally not worth it for me. Others obviously have a different view, and more power to them.

All I'm doing here is sharing my experiences so that prospective Motive clients can add it to their background, if they wish.

canuckles said
I spoke with a Motive representative last week to provide GIC maturity instructions. She confirmed it currently has to be done over phone but added that we’ll have the capability to do it online on our own next year.

GIC management must be one of their top call drivers. Someone is going to notice.

canuckles said

I spoke with a Motive representative last week to provide GIC maturity instructions. She confirmed it currently has to be done over phone but added that we’ll have the capability to do it online on our own next year.

. . . 

Hope ⬆⬆⬆

That can't happen too soon ... shoulda been done years ago ❗

With any luck, they'll fix some of their other Warts too.

Dean

Yup. I have no issues leaving Hubert. And it’s somewhat time consuming to do so.

Alexandre said
Good news everyone: Motive one year GIC is down to 5.75%

As of this moment it is the same as Oaken one year GIC, and you don't need to call Oaken to specify maturity instructions. There is no more incentive to deal with Motive call center if all you want is one year GIC.  

Thanks for the update. People's Trust/Bank has a 1-year at 5.8%. Even though PT is relatively small, I've always found it easy to contact them -- especially at 8 or 9am EST (they open their phone lines at 5am Pacific, when all of the Canucks fans are in their little beds having 2011 nightmares )

I know some people swore off PT when they had their breach a number of years ago, though.