RBC you ain't messing with me

Competence should be the least of anyone's expectations when seeing a professional in any field.  I want my hairstylist to have it.  The chef at a restaurant.  The server.  The staff at a local fast food eatery.  My doctor.  And so on.   So why is it so hard to find?

Tia and I have been trying, largely in vain it seems, to find someone to help us investing our money.  We were with Ameriprise, but some thin skin and general weirdness turned that sideways quickly.  We then met with a fellow recommended from a patient, and he was nice, professional, and flexible, but we, for whatever reason, just lacked faith in his ability to advise us (his background did not mesh with the financial field, not even tangentally and his fees were also on the high side).  We then took a recommendation from Tia's sister, which found us is one of the fancy high rises downtown.  They were very professional, very formal, and seemed to have a good grasp on the market.   We thought about it and, though we were a bit uneasy about their investment strategy (diversification was more or less related to how they parsed the money between large and mega cap stocks, not through sprinkling money in ETFs, mutual funds, bonds, and stocks), we thought we would give it a go.  Well, their usual assistant was evidently out the week we submitted paperwork and the replacement made a few erros.  We emailed about them and they told us to just 'scratch them out and write the correct numbers.'  We felt uncomfortable with that and requested, when their regular assistant returned, new corrected paperwork.  This is the email chain that followed (edited to only pertain to the issue at hand):

1. sent to RBC on 9/29

Hi John,

I was signing the paperwork and had a few questions for you.

1) The fee you listed in the email was 1.25%, but the paperwork says 1.5%.  Which is correct?  It also says that it is the % or $500, whichever is greater.  Is the $55 minimum per account?  It looks like i have 5 accounts and Bryan has 2, so that could add up quickly if it is $500 per account.

Tia

2. Response on 9/30 from RBC

Tia,

I did not look at the paperwork before it was sent out...the correct annual fee is 1.25%; we can either send new paperwork, or you can scratch out the 1.5% and replace with 1.25% on the form.

James is back in today, so we'll work with him to get things finalized. My apologies for the goof-up.

Thank you both for your patience.

John

3.  To RBC on 9/30 

John,

I'm sure you can understand, based on our previous experience, that we're not thrilled that there is already an error right out of the gate.  Do you not have review processes in place?  Are there steps in place to make sure errors don't happen when it comes to actually dealing with our funds?

Thanks,
Tia

4. From RBC on 9/30

Tia,

Excuses are lame, but this happened during a long-scheduled week off by James Galloway, Tom's and my client associate. The woman who stood in for James does an excellent job, yet the advisors she usually supports have fee schedules that don't track with our team's. If anyone's to be blamed here, it has to be me.

While I cannot guarantee that there will never be another oversight, I hope you understand both our diligence to getting errors remedied, as well as our commitment to avoiding them in the first place.

Don't hesitate to call Tom or me should you wish to discuss this further. Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience.

John

5. To RBC 10/1

Hello,

In thoroughly reading through the paperwork we were sent to sign, there are several errors.  We don't want to judge your team on the work of someone you don't usually work with.  Can we have James complete the paperwork for us to sign and have him re-mail it?  You can leave Bryan as the beneficiary for all of the accounts, but we need them filled out so he can approve trades as well.

Thank you,
Tia

6. To RBC 10/8 after receiving no response nor any paperwork

John, James, et al,

I was writing about the paperwork that was, I thought, going to be sent out again.  We have yet to receive anything, nor any further correspondence regarding the matter.  Is the paperwork on its way to us? 

If the paperwork has not been sent out, I think we will look elsewhere for assistance with our investments.  Unfortunately, due to our previous history with Ameriprise, we are not inclined to move forward with this many missteps at the outset.

Regards,

Bryan and Tia Kauffman

7. From RBC on 10/8

Tia,

Responding to your email, below, with the exception of the fee mis-statement, our sense is that we've performed as promised. Here's a brief timeline of what's gone on from our perspective:

9-20-13 James called Brian, who confirmed he received the email with the client worksheets and would get the information back to James when he had a chance.

9-24-13 The account forms were completed, in James' absence, buy a backup client associate in our office based on Brian's information and mailed to your address of record.

10-1-13 The forms included an erroneous fee, of which you informed us; I told you the fee would be corrected.  James sent forms giving the spouse Trading Authority for all accounts and left a voice message for you telling her the forms were mailed and if you had any questions to please call James. the next we heard from you was your email of yesterday.

The paperwork sent to you - again with the exception of the fee amount (which was changed immediately when you brought it to our attention) - is exactly as Brian originally filled out in longhand and returned to us. Yet, you say in your email of October 1, below, that "there are several errors".

Frankly, we're a bit perplexed at what is your obvious frustration. As far as I can see, "this many mis-steps" is limited to an immediately-corrected fee error in the original documents returned to you and Brian for signature. None of us have been able to identify the other, "several errors" you mention in your e-mail of October 1.

Tom, James, and I take client service very seriously and endeavor to provide all clients a level of service and response that will, at the very least, meet their expectations; in practice, we think that most feel we exceed those expectations. We regret that you, quite clearly, don't feel the same way. Any of us are available to discuss this further and would be pleased to call you if you'll let us know a convenient time.

Obviously, it's your call on where to go from here.

sincerely,

John

8.  My response 10/9

John,

On October the 1st, Tia emailed a request to you and to James requesting all the original paperwork be re-sent to us with corrected fee information.  My inquiry was largely related to whether or not this has been addressed and new paperwork sent out.  If this has not occurred, we can conclude our business and move on.  If it has been sent out, as we had requested, we can move forward once it arrives.  We have received the other paperwork James sent out on the 1st, but not the paperwork we requested. 

Regards,

Bryan Kauffman

9. Response (evasion) from RBC 10/9

Brian,

I've left a message on your cell for you to call...suffice it to say, we're confused.

John

10. Tia re-forwards the original email detailing our request.

11. Response from RBC 10/9

Tia,

I would really  appreciate either you giving me a call, or letting me know a convenient time I could call you to discuss what's going on here in person.

thank you,

John

12.  At this point, we give up and let them know we won't be working with them. 

So, in summation, this is all about a packet of paperwork they sent us that had the wrong charge information.  They offered to "either send new paperwork, or you can scratch out the 1.5% and replace with 1.25% on the form."  We requested new paperwork and, evidently, this proved mystifying.

Also, don't let the backdoor hit ya on the way out.  We don't knowingly invest with fools.