Finally done with Tangerine | Tangerine Bank | Discussion forum

Scruge said
I joined ING Direct in 1999. It was a great new concept, online banking. The interest rates were unbelievably high, about 3 times what I earned at a big bank. There were no fees to open, close or transfer accounts & you could get your money out whenever you wanted. They had great phone service & a cool guy in TV commercials encouraging you to "Save your money".
ING, then Tangerine, had my mortgage, a couple of car loans, a savings account, TFSA & RRSP. As expected, when a big bank takes over everything changes. Interest rates were reduced, phone service was reduced and fees were introduced.
A few years ago I began tailoring my RRSP GIC expirations to coincide with the last 5 year GIC I had. In July I finally transferred my RRSP account out, and what a relief. No more hoping I get a fair shake from my bank. I should have done this looooong ago. I hope to never ever hear that annoying on-hold music again. Let alone for 30 minutes at a time.  

I hear you. But there is a tradeoff here. With the bigger online banks (e.g. Tangerine), while they don't treat you like a human, they still tend to have better automated systems, and more reliable systems generally, as compared to the smaller banks. I'm referring to things like linking to external accounts, paying bills, transferring registered accounts, ease of adding additional accounts / products, etc. Dealing with small banks and their archaic 90s retro systems and processes, and all of the technical issues that come with that, can be extremely frustrating. So I use Tangerine as a kind of hub for preauthorized payments, payroll, paying bills, moving funds, etc., and if they happen to have a good savings promotion, then that too. But yeah, they don't seem to have very much loyalty towards their longtime customers, and they've been sneaking in all kinds of fees, and the phone wait times have gone up, and the customer service quality has gone down. But there is no perfect thing.

Canuck said

I hear you. But there is a tradeoff here. With the bigger online banks (e.g. Tangerine), while they don't treat you like a human, they still tend to have better automated systems, and more reliable systems generally, as compared to the smaller banks. I'm referring to things like linking to external accounts, paying bills, transferring registered accounts, ease of adding additional accounts / products, etc.

There's a lot of truth, but more and more things at Tang now need human contact. i.e. the lowered transfer limits demand CSR approval/intervention

Other than the lottery rate I don't always get, it's not all that bad. Tangerine was and is the pioneer in non brick and mortar, truly 7x24. Innovative ... They made me borrowed with their 0% line of credit promo & it was a better learning experience for me. Afterwards, I signed up their overdraft service. I still give it high marks. I think even better if they could add an in-house two-way private message for people not having to call in.

"My Tang account still exists but it would take a lot to get me to use it again."

Maybe close the account and come back as a NEW CLIENT?

Nehpets said

Does not work, based on my experience...once a client, they consider you as a client forever...precluding you to qualify as a "new client"

Stephen  

It does work, but you have to persevere. You have every right to ask for them to permanently close your account and have them NOT consider you a client. You have to jump through some hoops, but my wife and I both did. And then signed up again recently; currently taking advantage of their 3.5 percent HISA until December 31, and their 4.5 percent one year GIC. They use you. So you use them for what you can get out of them.

I once asked Tangerine a few years ago about coming back as a NEW CLIENT. I was told I would have to spend 7 years in the "penalty box" first before they would allow me to come back again as a NEW CLIENT.

RetirEd said
Now that the service is 24-hour wait, seven days a week, I'm long gone.
RetieEd  

Maybe Tang figured they can easily replace you with NEW CLIENTS by offering them sweeter deals.

If I ran a bank my deals would be aimed at the demographic my future profits would benefit most from, might be some "ageism" at play.

Enjoy it, my computer would flag you when you hit 70!

If a bank wants to lend money, they should target young people.

If a bank wants to raise deposits, they should target middle age and older folks.