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Post by henders on Dec 10, 2014 14:05:35 GMT
I am generally well disposed towards AC and invest (what to me is) a significant sum.
However, I am becoming increasingly irritated and worried by their lack of professionalism in terms of customer service and communications.
The website release has been more than troublesome and, speaking as someone who has spent over 30 years in software, I would say amateur.
You do not test software in a production environment with your customers as system testers.
I accept the release is major in terms of new functionality but what would we (and AC) be saying about a bank if they released new software with so much apparently untested functionality.
Then we have IT informing us, on occasions, that the problem is the admin team (or something else). This is a very unprofessional way to present your company to the wider world. We (the customers) don't care whether its IT, the admin team or anyone else! I can just imagine how my clients would have responded to such a comment from me.
Finally (and what triggered this posting) when will AC get their act together on sticking to the dates they give in terms of responses to queries.
Specifically, the N***h L*****n WT was due to be commissioned on the 5th December. I asked a question on the 6th whether this had happened (if so I will probably invest more). It needed a simple yes or no answer.
On the 8th December AC responded by : "Update on all the WT loans is expected by tomorrow (09/12/14)".
Needless to say, towards the end of the 9th there appeared to be no response so I asked: "What happened to the update on all WT deals by the 9th December?"
The response was: "We have been provided with some information but not all that we require. This has been chased today but is yet to be provided.
Given time has now passed 5pm it is unlikely that this will be received today so we will be chasing again tomorrow morning."
As far as I can find this has not happened today yet.
BUT all I want to know about is the N***h L*****n WT; that is the question that I asked!!
I go back to my use of the word professionalism. If I am to continue to invest large sums in a platform then I need to be assured that the company is professional and competent. I am beginning to have some doubts with regard to AC.
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Post by henders on Dec 10, 2014 15:43:44 GMT
AC have just posted that the turbine has been commissioned.
Thank you AC.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Dec 10, 2014 17:26:17 GMT
The response was: "We have been provided with some information but not all that we require. This has been chased today but is yet to be provided. Given time has now passed 5pm it is unlikely that this will be received today so we will be chasing again tomorrow morning." Is it because the introducers/borrower don't respond to their requests for info? Sorry but it looks quite clear to me why there was a short delay on this update. (It was only 1 day later than they said). They can only do so much to get information out of the borrower. AC aren't the CIA!
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mikes1531
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Post by mikes1531 on Dec 10, 2014 18:17:31 GMT
The thing that bothers me about these questions from investors is that they often strike me as reasonably obvious questions that AC should be trying to get answers for long before the investors get tired of waiting and start asking questions. ISTM that AC do not appear to be keeping on top of their loans as closely as I would expect them to. Perhaps that's because they're assuming their existing borrowers will do exactly as they've agreed to do and make all their repayments on time and organise all their necessary refinancings well in advance of the AC loans' maturities, and so AC are concentrating more of their resources on generating new loans. Unfortunately, recent AC history has shown that this optimism isn't justified. Borrower/introducer performance has been less than stellar for many -- most? -- of the AC loans that have matured in the past six months. Hopefully AC will respond to this by increasing their loan monitoring efforts so that problems can be spotted -- and remedies initiated -- sooner in the non-performance cycle, and AC will be able to keep lenders so up-to-date that loans' Q&A pages become rather inactive. Wouldn't that be a nice Christmas present for all concerned?  |
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agent69
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Post by agent69 on Dec 10, 2014 18:53:21 GMT
Specifically, the N***h L*****n WT was due to be commissioned on the 5th December. I asked a question on the 6th whether this had happened (if so I will probably invest more). It needed a simple yes or no answer. On the 8th December AC responded by : "Update on all the WT loans is expected by tomorrow (09/12/14)". Needless to say, towards the end of the 9th there appeared to be no response so I asked: "What happened to the update on all WT deals by the 9th December?" The response was: "We have been provided with some information but not all that we require. This has been chased today but is yet to be provided. Given time has now passed 5pm it is unlikely that this will be received today so we will be chasing again tomorrow morning." As far as I can find this has not happened today yet. BUT all I want to know about is the N***h L*****n WT; that is the question that I asked!!
With posts like this one I am surprised AC would ever want to correspond with anyone. Your expectations of response times are ludicrously optimistic. AC don't employ the commissioning engineer and have no direct contact with him. Assuming the commissioning goes ok on 5th, the engineer would have to make out his report to sign the site off. He sends the report to his boss, who sends it to the site operator. The operator sends it to the introducer who sends it to AC. They can then posts details on their site. Instead of being patient and waiting for confirmation, you're in AC's face straight away demanding an answer. How on earth do you expect AC to know on Saturday 6th whether the commissioning on Friday 5th was successful? When AC said an update was expected on 9th (expected not guaranteed), you couldn't even wait until close of play on 9th before demanding more information. If the site was commissioned on Friday 5th, I don't think that waiting for 3 working days for confirmation of the result is unreasonable.
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merlin
Minor shareholder in Assetz and many other companies.
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Post by merlin on Dec 10, 2014 18:57:19 GMT
My guess is that AC are currently up to their necks in dealing with loans that are already in what appears from the little information we have, serious trouble. I am the unlucky holder of six of these and the prospects do not look that bright from my perspective. All of these will test the original LTV's to the limit when the brokers men have had done with them. Just how much we will get back is I am afraid anyone guess!
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sqh
Member of DD Central
Before P2P, savers put a guinea in a piggy bank, now they smash the banks to become guinea pigs.
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Post by sqh on Dec 10, 2014 19:43:01 GMT
Specifically, the N***h L*****n WT was due to be commissioned on the 5th December. I asked a question on the 6th whether this had happened (if so I will probably invest more). It needed a simple yes or no answer. On the 8th December AC responded by : "Update on all the WT loans is expected by tomorrow (09/12/14)". Needless to say, towards the end of the 9th there appeared to be no response so I asked: "What happened to the update on all WT deals by the 9th December?" The response was: "We have been provided with some information but not all that we require. This has been chased today but is yet to be provided. Given time has now passed 5pm it is unlikely that this will be received today so we will be chasing again tomorrow morning." As far as I can find this has not happened today yet. BUT all I want to know about is the N***h L*****n WT; that is the question that I asked!! With posts like this one I am surprised AC would ever want to correspond with anyone. Your expectations of response times are ludicrously optimistic. AC don't employ the commissioning engineer and have no direct contact with him. Assuming the commissioning goes ok on 5th, the engineer would have to make out his report to sign the site off. He sends the report to his boss, who sends it to the site operator. The operator sends it to the introducer who sends it to AC. They can then posts details on their site. Instead of being patient and waiting for confirmation, you're in AC's face straight away demanding an answer. How on earth do you expect AC to know on Saturday 6th whether the commissioning on Friday 5th was successful? When AC said an update was expected on 9th (expected not guaranteed), you couldn't even wait until close of play on 9th before demanding more information. If the site was commissioned on Friday 5th, I don't think that waiting for 3 working days for confirmation of the result is unreasonable. I think it is wholly appropriate to pester AC in this case. According to the Valuation Report the 9th Dec was the cut-off day for the pre-accredited FiT. I don't think AC or lenders want another Wind Turbine re-valued.
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mikes1531
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Post by mikes1531 on Dec 10, 2014 20:28:24 GMT
I think it is wholly appropriate to pester AC in this case. According to the Valuation Report the 9th Dec was the cut-off day for the pre-accredited FiT. I don't think AC or lenders want another Wind Turbine re-valued. I agree. It's JMHO, but I feel AC should have been pestering the borrower -- via the introducer, if necessary -- well before the pre-accreditation deadline to ensure the commissioning was going to be completed in time. And perhaps to make it crystal clear what would happen if the deadline was missed. For the commissioning to be scheduled just four days before the deadline strikes me as an indicator of construction problems. I can see how the current weather situation could delay commissioning by a week and, if a project didn't have at least that much slack in the schedule, could be the difference between meeting the deadline and missing it. And, as we've seen with the Falmouth WT, missing the deadline can devalue a project by hundreds of thousands of pounds. But perhaps the borrower is well aware of this and doesn't need AC reminding them.
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sl75
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Post by sl75 on Dec 10, 2014 22:16:40 GMT
Your expectations of response times are ludicrously optimistic... Based on the details posted of the exchanges of comments the expectation of response time was based wholly on the response time that AC themselves stated. This does not seem to me an isolated incident - go to almost any loan Q&A, and we see promises of something happening within a timeframe that AC themselves specified, together with a question from a member when AC's own stated deadline expired without any further update. AC could readily pre-empt this by diarising the times that they themselves have specified for a response, and adding a further update when that time has expired... and perhaps also in being a little less ambitious when stating the expected time frame for a response in the first place! The trouble seems to me that when AC are so lax about keeping to their own stated timeframes with responses, drawdowns, etc. they potentially lose the moral high ground in negotiations with borrowers who similarly let deadlines slip (such as the date on which a repayment was expected...).
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Post by henders on Dec 11, 2014 7:32:12 GMT
Your expectations of response times are ludicrously optimistic... Based on the details posted of the exchanges of comments the expectation of response time was based wholly on the response time that AC themselves stated. This does not seem to me an isolated incident - go to almost any loan Q&A, and we see promises of something happening within a timeframe that AC themselves specified, together with a question from a member when AC's own stated deadline expired without any further update. AC could readily pre-empt this by diarising the times that they themselves have specified for a response, and adding a further update when that time has expired... and perhaps also in being a little less ambitious when stating the expected time frame for a response in the first place! The trouble seems to me that when AC are so lax about keeping to their own stated timeframes with responses, drawdowns, etc. they potentially lose the moral high ground in negotiations with borrowers who similarly let deadlines slip (such as the date on which a repayment was expected...). Agent69: as SL kindly points out, so it is ludicrous of me to expect AC to stick to the timeframes that they set for themselves? That is my point exactly! Possibly like many others I no longer expect them to, based on their past performance. That amounts to me, and others, losing confidence in them and their professionalism. I can just imagine what my CEO would have said/done if one of our clients conveyed to him that his company was excellent but that his staff had earned a reputation of not responding to clients in a timely way! AC have got themselves, apparently, in a position where they need to rebuild the confidence of people like me, samford, mikes1531, sqh and SL75 (and others I am sure). As Tonto once said to the lone (or was it loan!) ranger "To understand the man, you must first walk a mile in his moccasin". AC need to reflect on this, I think.
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Post by jackpease on Dec 11, 2014 7:49:21 GMT
My feeling is that we need to be careful about criticising AC simply because we can (in that they are active on this board). New readers of this board might assume that the lack of slagging off of FC on this board is because they communicate well.... old lags will know that the lack of moaning about FC's unresponsiveness is because they are so very unresponsive.
Where I agree with sentiments in this thread is why Assetz create a rod for their own back by setting themselves deadlines which they usually miss. Why not just say 'we'll update when there's something new to say'?
Jack P
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Post by andrewholgate on Dec 11, 2014 9:42:15 GMT
I've read this thread with some annoyance and some recognition of a small problem in not hitting a deadline bang on time but a delay of 24 hours or so. Damned if we do and damned if we don't.
In regards to loans in difficulty. We have two loans in a recognised insolvency process and one entering it. There are some bridge loans that have missed repayment date but I don't feel having seen the information that lenders are at risk of loss. If you lend money, expect problems. As they teach you at Sandhurst, every plan never survives contact with the enemy. All loans are being managed but due to Data Protection rules and also time constraints we can not publish every single action or conversation we have with the borrower.
We will be judged on any losses lenders have.
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Post by henders on Dec 11, 2014 9:53:00 GMT
I agree Jack but with the proviso that if you don't point out deficiencies then they are unlikely to be rectified.
Another quote for you; this time from Bill Gates:
"Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning".
As I stated I am well disposed to AC and , as a result of the info on the N***h L*****N WT commissioning, have invested more in that loan.
But AC need to know that it is frustrating for lenders, and potentially damaging to AC, not to address this communication issue.
Sorry Andrew missed your post before I posted mine; thanks for commenting and for your recognition of a "small" problem.
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merlin
Minor shareholder in Assetz and many other companies.
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Post by merlin on Dec 11, 2014 9:58:29 GMT
I've read this thread with some annoyance and some recognition of a small problem in not hitting a deadline bang on time but a delay of 24 hours or so. Damned if we do and damned if we don't. In regards to loans in difficulty. We have two loans in a recognised insolvency process and one entering it. There are some bridge loans that have missed repayment date but I don't feel having seen the information that lenders are at risk of loss. If you lend money, expect problems. As they teach you at Sandhurst, every plan never survives contact with the enemy. All loans are being managed but due to Data Protection rules and also time constraints we can not publish every single action or conversation we have with the borrower. We will be judged on any losses lenders have. As you are the boss, you must know better than us which loans have a problem but according to my loan report 6 of my loans are currently flagged as being suspended from trading. Now with the best will in the world you don't do that unless you have a material problem with them!
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Post by andrewholgate on Dec 11, 2014 10:16:10 GMT
Concerns yes, problem no. Would you rather we allowed less sophisticated investors to bumble into a loan that may go bad in the future when we know there might be a problem in the future? My own morals don't allow that to happen.
As I say, judge us on losses.
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