MONEY GROUSE:Junk mail by telephone, at the customer's expense

Geoffrey Naylor does not appreciate someone trying to sell him card protection insurance on the telephone - especially if he is paying for the phone call.

But that is what happened this week when he rang Alliance & Leicester with a request concerning a Visa card he holds with the building society.

Mr Naylor, from Chandler's Ford, near Southampton, said: "I had not even finished my own business before the young man on the other end of the phone started talking to me about his card protection plan. I get enough junk mail as it is without having it added to on the telephone from my bank."

Mr Naylor had called to ask for a transfer of £400 from his Visa card account into his Giro account with the society.

"I was most suprised to find the young gentleman saying that Alliance & Leicester was now offering a range of new services. At that stage he had not even taken my current account number. I had to remind him that I was the one paying for the call and asked him to pass on to his manager my disquiet at what was happening. I suspect he had too much on his plate.

"I'm sure there must be plenty of people like me who find this sort of thing wrong. It is not as if there is no room for improvement in the bank's primary services anyway."

An Alliance spokesman said: "Our staff do offer customers our services but only if they are appropriate and reflect the specific transaction taking place. For instance someone transferring money abroad might be offered our bank draft transfer facility. The service offered in this case appears to match our policy. All calls to us can be made at the local rate. Should a customer indicate that they do not wish to be given details of any service, a note is placed on their file to that effect." This has beendone in Mr Naylor's case.

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