In an open letter Jayne Anne Gadhia, managing director of the Virgin One account, wrote:
Dear Angela
I'm disappointed that we are having this conversation via the press and cannot
see how this is in the best interests of any of our customers. I am surprised
you find our single press release a 'ferocious' response!
However, just a few facts:
- you have used the number of customers you have as a sign of success.
However, for us, ongoing customer satisfaction and great service through a great quality product is more important than the number of customers we have and the size of our book;
- we have no intention of imitating the IF product, which we believe is
inferior to the One account. The Virgin One account automatically optimises a customer's finances AND enables them to view these finances as they want -
the IF products are a range of commodities that do none of this;
- Virgin One has NEVER said it would not enter the IFA market place. It has
always been in our plans. It was Virgin Direct that took the anti-IFA stance;
- our ‘committed customer facilities’ are higher than the figure you quote,
but we cannot disclose the new figure as we are in our closed period. If you
used the value of your offset accounts they would be dramatically less than
the figure you use, which seems to be mainly discounted mortgages. We
understand that only 56 per cent of IF customers use the offset facility. Where is the customer benefit in that? All our customers are benefiting from full offset facilities;
- I look forward to seeing how Intelligent Finance can sustain their
financing. The fact you've had to reduce your discount period by half so soon
after launch tells its own story. At Virgin One we aim to grow our company
based on consistent, sustainable principles that always put the customer first.
That's why we won the Unisys service award last year.
We are disappointed that Intelligent Finance should adopt such an unprofessional marketing approach which is not only against good practice but which also flaunts Consumer Credit Act advertising regulations. This cannot be in the best interests of the customer. We continue to put the customer first - today and always.
I hope we can draw a line under this matter and get back to promoting the
benefits of all-in-one accounts to those customers who need it the most.
Yours sincerely
Jayne Anne Gadhia
Managing Director
Virgin One account
IF has as yet not issued a response.
