I started using Ally bank recently because they offered higher interest rates on CDs than ING did. Now my experience in the past was that you log in to the account, click on the cd and click close or transfer and you are done in less than a minute.
Well at least that was the ING way. Not so much with Ally. I poked around a bit but could not find any way to close the account. I got on to the live chat only to be told that the system was down but should be back up in a couple of hours. I then asked the rep what I needed to do to close the CD and was told that I had to go through customer service in order for them to close the CD for me.
Now why couldn’t they just make it easy and let me click close on my own. Why do I have to go through them….and most likely be hassled to keep it open….just to transfer my own money that has been locked in a CD for months.
That is one of the things that I loved about ING….it was easy to get in and do your own thing and you never really need to go to customer service unless there is some major issue.
Thank you for sharing your story, looks like Ally is not that user friendly, eh? Is ING better?
Yes ING is much more user friendly and intuitive.
Sounds like a real hassle for sure. My only guess is that they probably claim it to be a security feature.
-Jean
I really don’t see why….if I can log in and see my accounts then I should be able to close my CD that has already matured.
I agree LuLu, if you are already logged in, then it should just ask for a confirmation password to double check, and you should be allowed to close it. Its just an extra hassle that really is not needed for sure.
-Jean
If Ally bank is been able to pay better interest rate must they keep costs down. It’s the same thing when you choosing a cheap webhosting for your webpage. You get what you pay for.
How is keeping a live person on hand to close accounts keeping their costs down? It is a simple matter to program the close function along with the other account management features currently available. Making me have to call a rep or do a live chat means they have to pay that person to perform that task.
Maybe dealing with a user friendly system is worth more than a system which doesn’t offer much except higher interest rates…