They almost drove me to tears

I have had a repayment mortgage with the Halifax for a little over 12 years. Last year (2014) my current 3.99% deal ended and so I called up in February 2015 asking to change to the new 2.19% rate fixed for two years. I had done the maths and this would save me £98 a month or almost £2400 over the two year deal. I started speaking with them at 9:30am yesterday morning and finally got off the phone at 1:40pm. Halifax have refused to move me to the lower rate stating that because my mortgage term ends in 13 years and I am retiring in 11 years they cannot because of 'procedure'. Most of the long phone call was going through 'affordability' questions that I tried to explain were irrelevant because I would be better off under the new deal. If they weren't worried about the affordability of my mortgage at 3.99% why are they so concerned if I were to be on a 2.19% deal?
What is worth adding is that they were happy to lend me the money 12 years ago and were happy to advance me a further £30,000 a year later for home improvements then happy to add another £14,000 in 2010 for the purchase of a car. I have over £250,000 of equity in my present home and I have never had a CCJ, have no loans or credit cards and have never missed a mortgage payment in my life.
The Halifax send me junk mail every week asking me to consider taking on a credit card or offering me a personal loan yet they have never contacted me once to inform me that I could save £98 a month by moving my mortgage to a better deal. There is definitely an agenda here to prevent as many customers as possible moving to better rates. If you are considering a Halifax mortgage I wouldn't bother, their products are not portable and there is so much beaurocracy and procrastination on their part that by the time you've spent half a day on the phone to them you could have sorted out another deal with a better lender. They have no loyalty whatsoever to their present customers and are completely inflexible. I have reported my issues to the Financial Ombudsman and the FCA.