First Merit Bank of Ashland, Ohio is so eager to sell annuities that it has crossed the line of ethical behavior. Annuities are not an investment (like an IRA, CD, or other interest bearing account). They are a bank product that can yield hight profits for the bank and earn high commissions for the person selling them.
The first occurance happened a few years ago when my then 92-year old aunt went to this bank with a large amount of money that she wanted to put into an account. A woman there talked her into buying (not investing in) an annuity for twenty years. What ethical banker would tie up a 92-year old's money for twenty years when the person certainly did not have twenty years left to live? Well, probably inticed by a huge commission for selling the annuity, this bank employee did. My aunt had no children living in this area so it was a few weeks until another neice found out about what had happened. Fortunately, this neice is in another area of finance and knew exactly what had transpired at the bank. She stormed down the street to First Merit and talked to the person in charge and the annuity was refunded and my aunt was able to invest in accounts more suitable for her needs.
We chalked my aunt's experience up to an over-aggressive "salesperson" and forgot about it. Then my 80-something mother went to First Merit (the same branch) to renew a CD she had there.instead of being taken to her usual banker she was ushered into a room and told to wait, that someone would be in to talk to her. Who came in but Ms. Aggressive saleswoman. This woman kept my mother in the room while she made a hard-sell for annuities. My mother, knowing about what a poor choice annuities are for elderly people, told the woman that she did not want an annuity. The bank employee didn't stop her sales pitch until my mother became very firm and probably very angry and demanded to be let out of the room. Of course, my mother took her CD out of First Merit and put it into another local bank. Now we were beginning to see a pattern at First Merit that did not speak well of their business practices.
Lastly, my brother had lost his job and had nothing to live on but his reitrement money. He went down to First Merit and inquired about the best place to put his money to have it on hand and still be able to earn some interest. He is not experienced in financial matters — that's why he went to the bank thinking that his friendly neighbor-hood banker would help him. He was advised to buy an annuity so he did. Of course, he didn't know that he couldn't touch his money for about ten years without huge penalties being paid to the bank for early withdrawal. He also didn't know that he was BUYING a bank product, not putting his money in a savings-type account. He will soon be out of money after paying almost half of his savings to the bank in penalties. Yes, he did sign on the dotted line. Yes, he should have shopped around for other options. However, it is my firm opinion that instead of the "old fashioned" banker who had the clients' interests in mind, First Merit Bank of Ashland, Ohio has become an institution more interested in selling a high-profit product to people who should not be buying it than in serving their clients in a responsible manner.
Needless to say, I will not do business with First Merit Bank of Ashland, Ohio. They have proven that they are not a place that would consider my best interests. Stay away from this bank unless you are familiar with bank products and know which ones may be of benefit to you and which ones would be unwise for your situation.
0 comments