Which Bank Are You With and Are You Happy With Them?

[i-Set]

Hey guys sorry I have posted this on the wrong section, but recent experiences with my current bank Natwest has led me to want to try a different bank. Basically I was more or less bullied into accepting an "advantage gold" account which gives good deals for home, phone, car insurance for a monthly charge of 12 pounds. The problem is these good deals are of no use to me as all I wanted was a free account but no the lady insisted that I take this. Got back home and rang up Customer Services straightaway to downgrade. Ok thats finished. The other problem was after recieving my first ever credit card, a week later they sent me a another card from nowhere with the name spelt wrong.

These problems may not seem an issue but for me it wasnt very pleasant. I now want to try another bank such as Barclays, Lloyds, Nationwide etc. But first of all I want to hear from you guys of what your bank is and how is the customer service like?

[WHISTLED]

Im surprised you didnt write to the PM after such shoddy servce!?

Lloyds have just lost nearly £6k of my money and your commplianing because you got a card with a spelling mistake.

Your life must be blooming amazing if those things worry you are are 'unpleasant'

[Raistlin]

Moved to 'Lifestyle', not really 'Current Affairs'.

[bonzoe]

Have a look here http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/22/33638038-best-current-account.html

[ikthius]

Don't touch LloydsTSB, your info is in india with them, only indians deal with you in the first 5 calls, then if you dont deal with them, you get england.......
The indians for LloydsTSB are agressive, and impolite (in my experience), and internally Lloyds are the worst bank cause they do not update their records.

I hate LloydsTSB, they bullied me the same way as you, you need this loan, you need this credit card, you need this account, you cant say no, they wont let you leave unless you sign.

I went to clydesdale, althouhg only been with them a year, they are extrememly helpful, their staff (which I have contacted) are from scotland, which is a lot closer than india, they resolve issues very quickly, in the first 5-10 mins. your call is answered quickly within 3 mins from dialing to talking to a human being from your actual country.

Clydesdale all the way for me

[WHISTLED]

only indians deal with you in the first 5 I have been on the phone with them for days, not had one off shore agent.

[Maggy]

I think all banks are pretty much the same...useless and money grabbing..Whoever you pick will probably pull a fast one on you at some stage. :(

[Taf]

I'm just wondering what the new name will be after LloydsTSB take over HBOS?

Lloydstrusteessavingsbankhalifaxbankofscotland does not trip off the tongue...

Hmm

L T S B H B O S.. must be an anagram in there somewhere...

I was with Giro, that was bought by A+L... pretty painless 25 years so far...

[Tezcatlipoca]

Which Bank Are You With

NatWest.



and Are You Happy With Them?

Nope.

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

Nationwide and happy

[Chris]

I went to clydesdale, althouhg only been with them a year, they are extrememly helpful, their staff (which I have contacted) are from scotland, which is a lot closer than india, they resolve issues very quickly, in the first 5-10 mins. your call is answered quickly within 3 mins from dialing to talking to a human being from your actual country.

Clydesdale all the way for me

Well, I know one of the training managers at their call centre, so I'll pass on your compliments to her and her team if you like. ;)

I'm with RBS myself, ironically they own NatWest but our experience couldn't be more different. They are friendly and helpful, all our dealings are with staff in our own branch - for which we have a direct phone number.

I was with Barclays before, and frankly they couldn't care less who you were. Funny, as I remember their big ad campaign back in the late 80s was a dystopian future with some bloke shouting "I just want to talk to somebody!" Yeah, right, some chance of that with Barclays.

i-set, I'd say you were victim to one useless member of staff who was pushy above and beyond any upselling training she may have had, and couldn't even complete your details on the system correctly, hence your mis-spelled card.

I'd stick with NatWest if I were you; they do use UK-only call staff and in the longer term that's more likely to be useful to you than any catharsis you might get out of ditching them for another bank who thinks good customer service means forcing you to speak to someone who's reading their second language off a script.

[alferret]

Halifax & Barclays :tu:

[Graham M]

Lloyds for personal Alliance&Leicester for business, pretty happy with both. I also have a Credit Card with Egg and they seem pretty good!

[cimt]

I'm with Abbey. I've only had 1 problem with them since I started using them in 2006. The problem wasn't only with me though, there were many people in the bank that day with the same problem. My online banking wasn't working, and my password was wrong at the ATMs. They sorted it out straight away though. I'm happy with them!

[MadGamer]

HSBC - Happy with them, Customer Service is always polite and friendly. I dont mind them being off shore in India to be honest. :)

[Hom3r]

Midland, sorry HSBC & Abbey

[joglynne]

I'm with the NatWest and have had no complaints at all with my current branch. I have always found their internet banking easy to use and their helpline very efficient.

I was originally with a different branch and had several toe to toe arguments with the pompous old coot who managed it. IMO it can be down to individual branches whether you find a bank the works for you. I was convinced by a member of staff that I met socially to give her branch a chance before going to the trouble of switching two accounts and all the accumulated DDs and SOs etc. to another Bank.

[cybernetic_tiger]

I'm with the Nationwide for my current account, eSavings account, ISA, Mortgage and Credit card. I find them really good. The only issue is that their Credit card service is not very good (think it's a bolt on and not a true Nationwide product).

[Hugh]

Halifax for banking, mortgage, and savings (ISAs).

Happy with them, and staying with them.

[Mal]

Well, I know one of the training managers at their call centre, so I'll pass on your compliments to her and her team if you like. ;)

I'm with RBS myself, ironically they own NatWest but our experience couldn't be more different. They are friendly and helpful, all our dealings are with staff in our own branch - for which we have a direct phone number.I suppose it all depends on the branch.

I am with RBS and I experienced much the same as the o/p. They tried to bully me to swap to the fee-based Royalties account, from my free current account by saying that they were getting rid of the free accounts. Yeah, right...

I do like the services, like the telephone banking, but thankfully I do not have to use the branch much.

[Chris]

I am with RBS and I experienced much the same as the o/p. They tried to bully me to swap to the fee-based Royalties account, from my free current account by saying that they were getting rid of the free accounts. Yeah, right.

I guess it's not worth their while to use strongarm tactics in a small village branch like ours though. They still want people to be friends with them if they see them in the pub in the evening. :D

[Zee]

Im with Nationwide, NatWest & Halifax.

Im very happy with Nationwide, in my experience they are the best. They are always sympathetic and always willing to help in any situation you may have with your account.

Im with NatWest and happy with them too, but they do try and force me to take a credit card even though i keep telling them NO!

Halifax are good too, but for some reason they refused me with opening a current account and only gave me a basic account and wouldn't explain to me the reason why i was refused.

Overall i would highly recommend Nationwide.

[moaningmags]

Im with Nationwide, NatWest & Halifax.

Halifax are good too, but for some reason they refused me with opening a current account and only gave me a basic account and wouldn't explain to me the reason why i was refused.



This happened to me too just after I moved home. The voter's roll hadn't been updated yet so I wasn't on it and this is why they only offered basic account.
Got a letter from the valuation board stating I was registered and this sorted the issue for me.

[Mick Fisher]

Barclays :tu:

[LondonRoad]

Have a look here http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/22/33638038-best-current-account.html

I decided to stay with Smile but decided to downgrade my account to an ordinary current account rather than the £12 per month smilemore account.

Quite happy with it but of the others I considered I thought Nationwide looked best.

[i-Set]

Lloyds have just lost nearly £6k of my money and your commplianing because you got a card with a spelling mistake.


Don't touch LloydsTSB, your info is in india with them, only indians deal with you

i-set, I'd say you were victim to one useless member of staff who was pushy above and beyond any upselling training she may have had, and couldn't even complete your details on the system correctly, hence your mis-spelled card.

I'd stick with NatWest if I were you; they do use UK-only call staff and in the longer term that's more likely to be useful to you than any catharsis you might get out of ditching them for another bank who thinks good customer service means forcing you to speak to someone who's reading their second language off a script.

whistled how did you lose 6000 pounds?

also chris ive had a rethink and yh after thinking natwest does have uk based call centres which does really help when there is a problem...you can even get thorugh to your local branch which is good. the customer service people are always helpful and smiley lol.

but even though ive been with natwest since i was 13 (18 now) ive never tried a different bank before. i just want to try a different bank and compare with natwest, just for the sake of it. i know this may seem silly to some of you. but how can i compare if i dont try it. im thinking lloyds tsb and may try barclays and see how they all do. as you can see i have got a bit of spare time on my hands lol. start uni in january thats why.

any other input from other cable forum users...:p:

[WHISTLED]

whistled how did you lose 6000 pounds? I havent lost anything they have, I was transferring as ISA to anthoer provider, they closed my account confirmed nil balance but the money has not arrived. Now they say stupid things like, 'im sorry i cant help that account is closed now'

[Bex]

i'm currently with natwest - opened an account when i was at uni - they had a stall in the freshers fair. I was with lloyds originally, when i was a student I tried to change my account to a student account but they wouldn't do it - the gave me a £500 over draft and charged me for it, before finally agreeing to change my account to a student account. But they were completely awful, their customer service was not good. So when I left uni paid off my over draft with them and closed the account and moved everything to natwest - that was about 6 years ago and have not had any problems.Have always had a flipping good service from them - when i call them they are always polite and helpful

[i-Set]

i'm currently with natwest - opened an account...have not had any problems.Have always had a flipping good service from them - when i call them they are always polite and helpful

couldnt agree more...ive had a rethink and value natwest more than i did before...uk call centres, branches open saturday, direct line to branch, friendly and helpful customer service people. so cant really complain...i even remember them refunding three lots of overdraft charges around a year ago...thats around 100 quid they saved me. :)

chris was right, i cant put natwest down due one bad experience...ive had more good experiences than bad ones...but im still going to open a barclays account for personal use like wages and extra money, however keep my existing natwest account for student loans, grants and bursarys. This way i dont get mixed up...not very good at maths you see lol :erm:

p.s i wouldnt recommend lloyds tsb, the other day i was depositing 1000 pounds into my cousins bank account and after giving it to the customer rep, she asked me how much was there, i said AROUND 1000, she then gave it back to me and told me to count it. after counting it, i gave it back to her, then she started counting it too, I dont why she couldnt do it herself in the first place. then i had to ASK for a receipt, you would think in this day and age of technology, it would be quick for her to give me a receipt...but no she had to write it all down including the sort code, account number, amount etc. Not good in my opinion but my cousin loves lloyds tsb...i suppose it all depends on which banks branch your a member of, some branches may give bad service some may be better...:D

[LSainsbury]

Don't touch LloydsTSB, your info is in india with them, only indians deal with you in the first 5 calls, then if you dont deal with them, you get england......

Errr - wrong Ik, all the Lloyds TSB Call Centres are now UK based.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2007/mar/02/business.india