500 or bust?
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Amen, brother.... take alll the frustrations your clients are feeling because of the market and the guvment..and multiply by..whatever-pick a number. Thats how AGE clients feel right now. They cant get correct statements, checks on time, online access, a real person on the phone at the help dsk, fees went up, money market went down, name change twice in a year......etc. Yet some c***sucker has the audacity to say we're just waiting around for a free check....f-you, mfer...you dont have a clue how hard it is every f-ing day to stay possitive. Only issue you've had is a small market decline--that aint sh*t.you AGE really did gets Fukced.
you got this MF market and then all the WS/WFC crap.
Plus, the sad irony of it all is that the non-bank brokers are now looking very smart and AGE would be rocking.
Is Bagley the guy who was CEO and Ok’ed merger? Is he still with company?
If your AGE you really have to bolt if you can I guess. It would take a great deal to put up with WFC and not have taste of shti in ur mouth. How many FA’s were there at AGE? How many have left?
These are really nasty times. I heard of one large team that went to freakin Stanford and DIDNT get up front check before place was shut down. brutal
As a legacy AGE guy I want to say a couple of things:
At a regional seminar, months before the merger announcement, I will never forget our leaders, BB and GD telling the assembled brokers the AGE would remain independent, period. They lied to us, period. They are liars. They were likely in discussions with WB at that very time.
Second, when the AGE/WB merger was announced, a seasoned banker in my city who had worked with the WB and First Union people gave me some great advice about Ludeman. Of Wachovia, he said: "Listen to what they say, but watch what they do."
Great advice that has proven to be prescient since DL and others have made empty statements promising so much but failing so miserably with his actions. What a terrible firm.
Think of all of the good AGE people who have left-it says so much.
Anybody else getting bombarded by clients calling with statements that are at zero?
I cannot believe they did not see the need to put both statements into the same envelope with a cover letter explaining what’s happening. Or, better yet, just issue one statement…the logistics would not have been that difficult. Whatever happened to putting the client first?
[quote=stocksandblondes][quote=skbroker]here’s what happened today.
I had $4,045.41 in my cash account in my wachovia account and wrote a check for that amount against it and I guess there was a penny that was journaled to my other account after the check was written which left $4,045.40. So today I look at my b of online checking account and the check i wrote was rejected by wachovia because insufficient fund by one freakin cent and wachovia charges me a $20 insufficient fee. No notification, no action item, no call indicating that the check will bounce due to insufficent funds so I called our smartstation help desk to find out what was going on and request a refund and they give me a freakin email address the issue. so I get email back 4 hours later saying they will not issue a refund because insufficent fund but if I want the $20 refund branch would have to cover it. I would never thought that a company would jeopardize 600k in production for 20 bucks. this is getting scary.[/quote] yepp--this is gonna be a problem. had a 1mm client write a 5m check last week to deposit in her local bank. Acct had 4,900 in it. her other checking acct had 50m in cash. No call, no wire, no action--check bounced. Client calls me raisin HELL...never happened before, AGE margin would always call. I call command acct dept, they tell me "thats the way wachovia does it"...BUT we'll be glad to refund $20 nsf and charge the branch, and send the client a letter letting her know we refunded...oh, she can run the check through agin and we'll pay this time!!! Same thing happened to 2 other brokers in branch. Tell them not to worry--client prolly gonna move acct anyway...statements late, sent to wrong address do to some conversion BS, 1/2% moneymarket rates etc etc.... just gets better n better.[/quote] Your branches dropped the ball in both cases. This would have never happened in a legacy WS branch, because your branch ops person would have told you first thing that morning that Credit needed an answer by mid day about whether or not to pay the check. Clearly your local branch people aren't fulfilling all their duties like they should. Your assistants should have also caught it by reviewing action items. I also don't know why you wouldn't at least have a position or two held in margin to act as defacto overdraft protection, but that's beside the point. Blame Wachovia. How the heck did Wachovia send your client's statements to the wrong address? ? ? I don't have a clue how that would be possible.seriously, for my own personal account I generated about $150,000 in commission in 08. does wach really have to bounce a f***ing check for a penny. Is there a person in home office sitting in front of his computer looking at a check coming though for $3,304.41 and see that the broker has $3,304.40 in the account and say to himself I gonna bounce this f***ers check because he’s missing a f***ing penny so that wachovia can makes $20 for insufficent fees? If there was a action item was I supposed to go home, get a check a write wachovia check for a penny to cover that check? I had to run around call my bank and stop all the bill pay waste 2 hours in the morning all for a f***ing penny… Give me a f***ing break.
I had 20 calls today and expect another 20 calls tomorrow all because these incompetent f***s in home office
[quote=QB][quote=stocksandblondes][quote=skbroker]here’s what happened today.
I had $4,045.41 in my cash account in my wachovia account and wrote a check for that amount against it and I guess there was a penny that was journaled to my other account after the check was written which left $4,045.40. So today I look at my b of online checking account and the check i wrote was rejected by wachovia because insufficient fund by one freakin cent and wachovia charges me a $20 insufficient fee. No notification, no action item, no call indicating that the check will bounce due to insufficent funds so I called our smartstation help desk to find out what was going on and request a refund and they give me a freakin email address the issue. so I get email back 4 hours later saying they will not issue a refund because insufficent fund but if I want the $20 refund branch would have to cover it. I would never thought that a company would jeopardize 600k in production for 20 bucks. this is getting scary.[/quote] yepp--this is gonna be a problem. had a 1mm client write a 5m check last week to deposit in her local bank. Acct had 4,900 in it. her other checking acct had 50m in cash. No call, no wire, no action--check bounced. Client calls me raisin HELL...never happened before, AGE margin would always call. I call command acct dept, they tell me "thats the way wachovia does it"...BUT we'll be glad to refund $20 nsf and charge the branch, and send the client a letter letting her know we refunded...oh, she can run the check through agin and we'll pay this time!!! Same thing happened to 2 other brokers in branch. Tell them not to worry--client prolly gonna move acct anyway...statements late, sent to wrong address do to some conversion BS, 1/2% moneymarket rates etc etc.... just gets better n better.[/quote] Your branches dropped the ball in both cases. This would have never happened in a legacy WS branch, because your branch ops person would have told you first thing that morning that Credit needed an answer by mid day about whether or not to pay the check. Clearly your local branch people aren't fulfilling all their duties like they should. Your assistants should have also caught it by reviewing action items. I also don't know why you wouldn't at least have a position or two held in margin to act as defacto overdraft protection, but that's beside the point. Blame Wachovia. How the heck did Wachovia send your client's statements to the wrong address? ? ? I don't have a clue how that would be possible. [/quote] Qb, This is the culture difference a nutshell. All of the things you point to used to be done by AGE margin clerks that were the life blood and the sharpest tools in the shed. If we now have a margin issue the only clerks that get options or heavy margin math are the former AGE clerks. Put someone in our branch that knows the Wach way and we will be fine . It will never happen because we pay so much to these other people that want us to just sell fee based or envision or martgages.I am not being critical , this is just an example of how Danny and Jim and Terry and .....pick some Wachy guy doesnt get it. We ran it different. Doesn't mean better , but recognize the difference........please !I feel your pain Redpen…I am normally a laid back person and not much bothers me, especially in a work environment. I always tried to let work “stay at work” and not bring it home with me. NOT ANY MORE !!! I cant tell you the last night I have slept through the night…I find myself waking up trying to figure out which dropdown I click to find a report I need to run for a client meeting that day. The stress began 8 weeks ago with those “learning classes” we had to take online with a deadline or get fined $200 for not completing them while at the same time do our job in this shtty market. Then the actual conversion itself… Unfortunately a lot of people I know thought that the conversion only affected the computer system, but we have found out the hard way it applies to the policies and procedures as well. Between Friday afternoon and yesterday at 5:00 I answered at least 50 calls from very upset clients wanting to know what we did with all their money…with the market being what it is, Bernie Madoff in the news and banks failing every week my clients were scared and angry by the confusion. The response from St Louis ??? They mailed information to the clients well in advance of the 2 statements so it is their own fault for not reading the statement inserts, etc…try telling that to an 80 yr old man that it is his own fault and see how fast the transfer papers come in !!! Then you have the clients who are trying to sign up for online access so they can save some of the horrendous fees that WB is going to charge them…what a clusterf** that is…another 45 mins on the phone with the help desk conferenced in with the client trying to walk them through that process. As for the comment from QB that the branch ops person dropped the ball…they are too busy trying to help people figure out “stupid station” and field phone calls and help the assistants do their jobs right now. As a legacy WB person you are used to this horrible way of doing business…legacy AGE people are used to good customer service from our back office…not 20 min hold times and sh*tty attitudes from the person on the other end of the phone. We are used to being able to “service” our clients, that is what set us apart from other companies, before we were sold to you. If you are not a legacy AGE person you can not begin to understand the committment we have to our clients, therefore the anger and frustration we feel during this whole “conversion” process. I have wondered myself and so have my clients…“is this going to happen all over again when we convert to Wells Fargo” ??? So while people like QB have been able to go about their day working, we have to sit and listen to Danny tell us how happy he is with the covnersion…what a load of crap…he obviously is oblivious to what is happening in the branches. OK…I feel better now…off to work I go.
It will get worse…expect support staff cuts at just about every branch once the system integration is done, unless of course the brokers want to pay even more out of their pockets.
redpen,brokergirl et al
leave or stfu
grab some damn balls and get a check
yes, it is scary
yes, it is hard
either do it or go back to your office and take your GD medicine
if any of you dont have the guts to leave then you have nothing to say
you have the opportunity in our business to state very loudly how you feel about your current firm-leave. It take courage.
I did it. I was a wreck for a month before leaving but I had the nads to go for it and now its the greatest thing I ever did. I have a ton of money th e bank and so happy to be away from the worst firm on the street
If you dont have what it takes to jump then take your AGE blanky to bed at night and stfu. Your a pussy and you deserve what you get
[quote=brokergirl]I feel your pain Redpen…I am normally a laid back person and not much bothers me, especially in a work environment. I always tried to let work “stay at work” and not bring it home with me. NOT ANY MORE !!! I cant tell you the last night I have slept through the night…I find myself waking up trying to figure out which dropdown I click to find a report I need to run for a client meeting that day. The stress began 8 weeks ago with those “learning classes” we had to take online with a deadline or get fined $200 for not completing them while at the same time do our job in this shtty market. Then the actual conversion itself… Unfortunately a lot of people I know thought that the conversion only affected the computer system, but we have found out the hard way it applies to the policies and procedures as well. Between Friday afternoon and yesterday at 5:00 I answered at least 50 calls from very upset clients wanting to know what we did with all their money…with the market being what it is, Bernie Madoff in the news and banks failing every week my clients were scared and angry by the confusion. The response from St Louis ??? They mailed information to the clients well in advance of the 2 statements so it is their own fault for not reading the statement inserts, etc…try telling that to an 80 yr old man that it is his own fault and see how fast the transfer papers come in !!! Then you have the clients who are trying to sign up for online access so they can save some of the horrendous fees that WB is going to charge them…what a clusterf** that is…another 45 mins on the phone with the help desk conferenced in with the client trying to walk them through that process. As for the comment from QB that the branch ops person dropped the ball…they are too busy trying to help people figure out “stupid station” and field phone calls and help the assistants do their jobs right now. As a legacy WB person you are used to this horrible way of doing business…legacy AGE people are used to good customer service from our back office…not 20 min hold times and sh*tty attitudes from the person on the other end of the phone. We are used to being able to “service” our clients, that is what set us apart from other companies, before we were sold to you. If you are not a legacy AGE person you can not begin to understand the committment we have to our clients, therefore the anger and frustration we feel during this whole “conversion” process. I have wondered myself and so have my clients…“is this going to happen all over again when we convert to Wells Fargo” ??? So while people like QB have been able to go about their day working, we have to sit and listen to Danny tell us how happy he is with the covnersion…what a load of crap…he obviously is oblivious to what is happening in the branches. OK…I feel better now…off to work I go. [/quote]
A clue for you…The people you are calling in ST Louis are Legacy AGE people. I use to complain about the Wachovia Sec home office UNTIL i had to deal with the Legacy AGE group. I’m on my 3rd email request to get a duped error charge reversed. Who duped it?..not a legacy WacSec person. Who’s not responding on my emails?..not a legacy Wacsec person. Here why you have 20 Min hold times. Legacy AGE pretty much ignored the VAST training resources they were offered. Now home office is getting obwer 30000 calls a day imnstead of the expected 12000. Legacy WacSec associates spent 3 weeks away from home and family to help answer and guide branches. While there were only a few cases of rude behavior many were pretty much ignored. Know of a case where the WacSec people were completly ignored by a branch manager and some of the branch FA’s.
So you see you pretty much got what you deserved!!
Actually, you are wrong. Anyone who worked at A.G. Edwards home office and was at manager level pretty much got the ax. If they didn’t get the ax, they were demoted and moved to another area (away from an area they had worked in for 10-20 years) that they knew nothing about. Especially in Compliance and Margin. Legacy Wachovia people came in and had so many people walking around, and no one asked them anything, they got scared and fired or moved good Legacy Edwards people because they felt threatened.