The Windkey and the Lamplighter

A colleague of mine won a lunch for up to 15 colleagues from a local restaurant. 6 of us went, and discovered that the free lunch was sponsored by Ameriprise Financial. Juan, our host, told us that we could order anything we like, though alcohol would not be covered “due to liability reasons” and would need to be on a separate tab. No problem. Of the six of us, three ordered sodas, one got a glass of wine, and the other two got water. Since he’d said we could order anything on the menu (after jokingly checking that there wasn’t any filet mignon on the Lebanese restaurant’s lunch menu), we split a $30 appetizer plate and then each ordered an entree. Of our six entrees, prices ranged approximately between $6 and $16.

Once we’d ordered our entrees, but before any food came, Juan gave us his spiel and passed out papers asking for contact information, “financial goals” (checkboxes, like buy a house or save for education), and asking us to choose times for a free 45-minute consultation. Several of my colleagues signed up for appointments—I didn’t, since I am not currently in need of any financial planning—and seemed pretty pleased with the idea of learning more.

Our appetizer arrived as our host left, apparently paying the bill on his way out. The service was a bit slow, so our entrees didn’t arrive until an hour after we’d been seated, but we were still more-or-less pleased with our lunch. After all, it was free (save our time).

Or so we thought.

When our meal was finished, the waitress brought us a bill. We expected it to be about $12—the guy who’d had wine had ordered a second glass when our entrees came. It was actually $60. $12 of wine, $6 of sodas, $30 of appetizer, and $12 for a kabob wrap. We didn’t order any kabob wraps. The waitress explained that the kabob wrap was Juan’s lunch.

We were completely floored. Not only had he mislead us about who was paying for the sodas and the appetizer, his lunch was more expensive than several of ours! Not a very stellar recommendation for Ameriprise. In fact, let’s see how Juan stacks up against Ameriprise’s customer promises, from Ameriprise.com. (The emphasis is mine.)

Our promise to you begins with our commitment to act in your best interests. You can expect:

• Sound financial advice
• Fair, ethical and respectful treatment
• Full and clear information
• Quality service
• Prompt, fair resolution of issues or concerns

I think Juan fails on at least the two bold items, and possibly on the others as well. The six of us agreed that none of us would be attending any appointments with Juan. As one of my colleagues said in email to cancel his appointment, “Not being completely forthright and handling our money just don’t mix.”