Financial Ombudsman Service Reviews

Cons

The job is busy, and you won't find time to spare as there is always something to do. The admin is fairly heavy as should be expected, but once you are used to the general approach with cases you can get through the admin quite quickly. There is a focus on performance and getting outcomes to consumers and businesses quickly and efficiently is part of the job. With any performance based role such as this you are monitored on your results, and there are various KPI's which should be met.

Cons

There aren’t any cons. It’s a really good company to work for

Cons

Abysmal Managers and Mentors who do not listen to the employees and have attitudes such as "I've earned my right to be late to any meeting I want" & "I don't care" to feedback given to them - Worst company I have worked in over 40 years - I really regret joining this toxic culture and environment - Only join if you're desperate......

Cons

Lack of vision from CEO and Exec team. No idea of what the purpose of the organisation is or why people choose to work there. Take staff for granted and have instituted changes with no thought of the consequences and no replacement processes for career progression; staff retention; motivation; and have destroyed trust in themselves and this has impacted less senior management as well.

Cons

Probably one of the most non diverse places to have worked. Plenty of diversity at the most lowest level of the organisation but at the very top at executive level? Or even senior management? Don’t expect to see any diversity at all. They used to publish an annual equality report but scrapped that after they realised just how bad it makes them look as a non diverse company. Serious improvements need to be made and fast. They also told all staff that they won’t receive 10% of their bonus if staff satisfaction rates are not at the required level. Basically bullying staff to give them positive feedback or holding back part of their bonus. Really sad to see these tactics being resorted to.

Cons

The issues within FOS are wide-ranging and systemic and have been made significantly worse by a new Executive who have no experience of running such a organisation. Moreover, anything that could have been seen as a positive at FOS (eg culture) has been completely eroded by this new Executive who have prioritised productivity and headcount reduction at the cost of all other measures. Case progression, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, technical capability, service complaints - all of these (publicly available) metrics have nose dived in the last 12 months. IT costs have exploded, key projects have not been delivered and the Executive have provided a lot of consultancy jobs for their ‘mates’ whilst those with significant corporate knowledge and experience have been let go. But the Board seems to have lost its teeth (if they ever had them) and are not holding this Executive to account. And as to why the FCA or Treasury Select Committee are not appropriately monitoring the FOS is anyone’s guess…. So my recommendation to anyone thinking of joining this organisation - is to think again!

Cons

So much gaslighting To much division between contractors and perm staff Some perm staff have a very poor attitude towards the contractors. Management likes to spend money on making changes everyone knows won’t work, only to go full circle again. Ruthless QA person using the space to force feed her own views with no policing of it. Managers don’t have your back when it comes to QA. Removal of support and clinics but still expected to get everything right. New hub don’t have a clue about case set ups but the investigators are held accountable for incorrect case set ups. One pay rise in four years. Hybrid working is pointless for contractors and should be optional. Wait times for final decisions is a joke on some work streams

Cons

Targets aren’t in your control to achieve and have been ever-changing over the past year. The new executive are constantly bringing in changes that bring little benefits and the communication around these changes are poor. They removed our bonus scheme, only to reinstate it recently with unachievable metrics. More pressure is put on us constantly, with many people signing off work due to stress.

Cons

Terrible communication at all levels - especially with the big announcements (e.g. redundancy). Exec never take on board feedback. They've all come in shaking the tree, making life hell for those left. They don't treat staff like humans, just bums on seats demanding higher targets for less benefits to make them look better on paper - just a numbers game to them. Lack of support to staff for wellbeing or career progression. Depending on how empathetic your manager is, will depend on how you're treated when unwell. Considerable lack of training for managers, especially those with no skill or experience who were internally promoted - which in turn means they're making up as they go along - to the detriment of their staff. Lack of consistency. Terrible pay/bonuses. God rid of all the people with specialist skills, leaving everyone to figure things out on their own, despite being given higher targets with shorter SLAs.

Cons

Top dogs don't fully understand the roles and the involvement which is evident in the recent decisions they've made structurally. Very pressurised environment due to making all support roles redundant which in turn is going to lead to even higher attrition rates. Real shame as was a great place to be.