Omega Owners Forum

Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: Andy B on 13 December 2007, 12:16:56

Title: Banks
Post by: Andy B on 13 December 2007, 12:16:56
Does anyone have any positive comments about their bank? I'm with Abbey, not particularly by choice, but due to take over after take over that's who I'm now with.
After one f*** up too many I think I want a bank/building society that is UK based. I'm f***ed off with repeating myself time after time to someone in India, I said .......  ;)
Any suggestions please!
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: platty on 13 December 2007, 12:21:09
I'm with:

LloydsTSB - shite - always looking to put a charge on for something, took them to court to reclaim past 6 years charges- and won!
Natwest - shite - bad communication
Halifax - Very good from my experience! No Indian call centres, very good service at the counter and cheques always seem to clear quicker.

Just my 2p worth

platty
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: theolodian on 13 December 2007, 12:24:41
They're all useless.  Halfiax hasn't been so bad, Barclays is completely pathetic.
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: Golfbuddy on 13 December 2007, 12:25:14
For the very short term, I'm with HSBC. I have been with them for 20 years, if you remember they were Midland until a few years ago.

They have UK call centres so their staff are rude as well as being unhelpful. The bank incorrectly took £25 out of my account 4 months ago and as of yet they have not refunded it. Whenever I call I just get told that they have written a letter, which I never receive.

I am definately going to change in the new year, after salaries are in and mortgage has gone out. I'm considering changing to Alliance and Leicester as they have good rates of interest and have a fixed maximum rate for overdraft.

If anyone has any feedback on A & L I would be interested.  :y
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: Elite Pete on 13 December 2007, 12:34:17
Im with the Co-Operative and they have been good :y
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: Auto Addict on 13 December 2007, 12:36:19
I'm with  :) the internet bank, joined when they first started, wonderful.
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: ians on 13 December 2007, 12:48:15
I have always found Barclays to be pretty good, incl Barclaycard.
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: Markie on 13 December 2007, 12:49:38
Quote
For the very short term, I'm with HSBC. I have been with them for 20 years, if you remember they were Midland until a few years ago.

They have UK call centres so their staff are rude as well as being unhelpful. The bank incorrectly took £25 out of my account 4 months ago and as of yet they have not refunded it. Whenever I call I just get told that they have written a letter, which I never receive.

I am definately going to change in the new year, after salaries are in and mortgage has gone out. I'm considering changing to Alliance and Leicester as they have good rates of interest and have a fixed maximum rate for overdraft.

If anyone has any feedback on A & L I would be interested.  :y
[/highlight]

top notch, one of my main bankers, dont know where the contact centres are, never needed to call them as its generally internet based, access via high street bank and savings account attached with 6.odd% int...
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: Elite Pete on 13 December 2007, 12:52:40
Quote
I'm with  :) the internet bank, joined when they first started, wonderful.
Smile :) :y
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: Danny on 13 December 2007, 13:02:55
i'm with natwest, wouldnt call them the greatest bank but not a bad thing to say either, it meets my needs, at the moment

i keep having to ask them to remove this overdraft thing, or reduce it quite a bit, i've never needed it, and they keep asking if i want a loan.....

apart from that, all good
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: Jay w on 13 December 2007, 13:29:35
I'm with LloydsTSB for both my business and personal accounts.....

They are not bad, because i have my business account with them my account manager also looks after my personal account, if there isn't enough money in my personal acc to pay for something i will generally get some form of comms (FOC) telling me to sort it out.....in a nice way.

Is there a bank i can recommend.......no, they all have shortcoming, just some are worse than others
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: shyboy on 13 December 2007, 13:35:36
I do my business banking with Abbey Online, so no contact with branch staff, and normally works great.
Also free because of the way I operate it.
But, in October, my card stopped working in the ATM and I ordered a replacement online. The PIN letter arrived shortly after, but no card arrived, so I had to go through the whole procedure again, cancelling the new card, of course. Believe it or not, the 'lost' card arrived yesterday, letter dated 10/07. Don't know whether to blame the Abbey or Will Floyd.
I also use Lloyds TSB for personal banking. Again free and no problems.
Bill.
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: Andy B on 13 December 2007, 15:45:03
Quote
.....
But, in October, my card stopped working in the ATM and I ordered a replacement online. The PIN letter arrived shortly after, but no card arrived, so I had to go through the whole procedure again, cancelling the new card, of course. Believe it or not, the 'lost' card arrived ......

I had to go through all that with my MBNA credit card when the old card expired.

Thanks for your replies.
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: bob.dent on 13 December 2007, 16:09:03
I've been with Nationwide for about 17 years and they've always been good :y
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: STMO123 on 13 December 2007, 16:51:39
I'm pretty sick of hearing people moan about banks. Stay in the black and they will look after your money, pay all your bills on time and pay you for the privilege.

Start using their money instead of your own and they wont like it, especially if you dont ask first.

Tell them Chopsdad.
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: Andy B on 13 December 2007, 17:24:02
Quote
I'm pretty sick of hearing people moan about banks. Stay in the black and they will look after your money, pay all your bills on time and pay you for the privilege.
 ......

 :-?  :-?
That's what I was trying to do. The account is well in the black, I was paying a bill very much on time but the bank managed to transpose 2 digits as they were attempting to transfer the money. You'd have thought that they would have had the decency to contact me when the money came back the following day, but the first I knew of it was when I got a statement from the new credit card company to ask me where their payment was! >:(
I want a UK call centre where English is the first language - failing that Jockanese will do!  ;)
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: sir moanalot on 13 December 2007, 17:33:11
im with lloydstsb and i must say ive had very little to complain about! abbey was the worst i  got involved with.
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: Revokev on 13 December 2007, 18:29:00
Quote
I'm with LloydsTSB for both my business and personal accounts.....

They are not bad, because i have my business account with them my account manager also looks after my personal account, if there isn't enough money in my personal acc to pay for something i will generally get some form of comms (FOC) telling me to sort it out.....in a nice way.

Is there a bank i can recommend.......no, they all have shortcoming, just some are worse than others

Same here,both personal and business with Lloyds TSB,no problems  :y

Abbey have been on Watchdog again because people keep getting locked out of their accounts,sometimes for months >:(
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: Pitchfork on 13 December 2007, 18:37:35
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I've been with Nationwide for about 17 years and they've always been good :y
I endorse that
IW :y
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: theolodian on 13 December 2007, 22:53:14
Quote
I'm pretty sick of hearing people moan about banks. Stay in the black and they will look after your money, pay all your bills on time and pay you for the privilege.

Start using their money instead of your own and they wont like it, especially if you dont ask first.

Tell them Chopsdad.
We stay in the black and Barclays is still beyond pathetic.  260 quid credit limit on Barclaycard despite 5 years of perfect record with Barclays, including ISA's and all sorts.  They keep refusing to raise it but are happy to charge you 12 quid if you hit the limit.  Oh, and you can't overpay either so that you can buy a plane ticket.  You try to talk to a real person at the bank and they just say that it is a different company.  Well, I'm sorry but it has their name on the card and if they can't help then they don't deserve my money.  You can't do bu&&er all with a 260 quid limit, it's a joke.  >:( >:(  

Halifax gave us a usable limit, and then raised it after a year.  More than we need actually, but at least it will buy more than the plastic it was printed on.  ::)

And that is without any comments on international transfers, since they don't apply to this discussion.

Oh, and why is a learner's license not sufficient to open a bank account when a full license is?  HSBC insisted that I have a full license, when the DVLA checks your passport for the learner license but doesn't ask for it back again for the full license?  Morons.
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: Chopsdad on 13 December 2007, 23:09:31
Quote
I'm pretty sick of hearing people moan about banks. Stay in the black and they will look after your money, pay all your bills on time and pay you for the privilege.

Start using their money instead of your own and they wont like it, especially if you dont ask first.

Tell them Chopsdad.

I can only comment about NatWest and the above sums it up well, thanks Steve.

Branch target is to answer 70% of calls in the branch between 9 and 4.30pm.  Internet available 24hrs for reviewing transactions, making payments, stopping direct debits, checking your balance........I don't know why so many people call  :-X You can even top up your mobile at out ATM's.

The main problem people have with banks are charges - despite getting free banking, as many replacement cards as you need (after scraping your window's clean in the winter), free statements, cheques etc - in many other countries you PAY for this service.  Charges are only levied when you spend the bank's money without asking.  If the bank has made a mistake it will refund 100% without fuss, if you stay calm and give them chance to investigate - target 48 hours.  If you're not happy then we have an independant escallation process accessible by phone, letter or email to ensure you are trated fairly.

So my advice.........choose a bank that suits your needs.  If you're service hungry and need to check your account every day - use the internet.  If you want good return on your savings - use the internet to find the best deal, moneyfacts is a good starter.  If you pay lots of fees - sort yourself out before you move and you'll have no problems.

My door is always open for business.......but I'll always tell you how it is  :y

Title: Re: Banks
Post by: Baron Von Spongebob on 13 December 2007, 23:18:22
I want one of the cards..No not yours, Are these going to be available soon. :y
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: Andy B on 13 December 2007, 23:31:18
Quote
....
Branch target is to answer 70% of calls in the branch between 9 and 4.30pm.  
Mmm? I can't call my own branch! Call centre only!   :-? So they can maintain the TWO staff at the counter.  >:(

Quote
The main problem people have with banks are charges .........  Charges are only levied when you spend the bank's money without asking.  If the bank has made a mistake it will refund 100% without fuss, if you stay calm and give them chance to investigate - target 48 hours.  If you're not happy then we have an independant escallation process accessible by phone, letter or email to ensure you are trated fairly...
They are a neccesary evil, I don't have a problem with bank charges, I just have a problem when I get charged by my credit card company because my bank can't manage to write 16 numbers down in the correct order. Then when the money is returned to them the following day they just sit on it and don't tell me! >:( I then have to jump through hoops to a fax machine to proove I've been charged because of their incompetence.

Quote
....
So my advice.........choose a bank that suits your needs.  If you're service hungry and need to check your account every day - use the internet.  If you want good return on your savings - use the internet to find the best deal, moneyfacts is a good starter.  If you pay lots of fees - sort yourself out before you move and you'll have no problems.
I just want them to do as they're told ..... preferably using English as their first language in the UK

Quote
My door is always open for business.......but I'll always tell you how it is  :y

Are you not a bit far away from Lancs?  ;D  ;D  ;D
Title: Re: Banks
Post by: Markjay on 13 December 2007, 23:35:24
My experience with Natwest so far hasn't been good at all.

HSBC seem much better, but TBH may banking with them is minimal so maybe they just didn't get the chance to mess up yet....