Barclays Bank *****!

[Kumquat]

Co-operative are the best bank for me. I've been with Halifax, Nat West and Santander and Co-op are miles better. Their customer service and e-banking are brilliant. I'm pretty sure they are consistently voted the best bank too.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

That's why I left Santander (previously A&L). They cocked up my on-line banking a few days before I was moving house and every time I rang them, it was always "it'll be 7-10 days" for us to send a new password!!! Took them almost 3 months to sort out and god knows how many phone calls, by which time I'd transferred to the Halifax, who were excellent.
Eventually got £80 out of Santander but oh! the hassle.
Stay a mile away from them!

Santander ( and it's predecessor Shabby National ) is by far and away the worst bank in the world !!!!!! They managed to wreck my credit rating by putting on it I owed them my old mortgage and had defaulted for six months. In reality I'd moved house and taken a new mortgage and they failed to close the old mortgage down properly. It took six months to sort out and I never received an apology ( although I did charge them £500 for my time to deal with THEIR mistake ). I accept mistakes happen but when they do I expect them corrected quickly, apologies to be given and where necessary good will gestures to be sent.

Lloyds TSB on the other hand I've always been very happy with. On the odd occasion a mistake has been made it has been corrected very quickly and apologies given.

 

[NMH]

Co-operative are the best bank for me. I've been with Halifax, Nat West and Santander and Co-op are miles better. Their customer service and e-banking are brilliant. I'm pretty sure they are consistently voted the best bank too.

It's interesting to see NSC working as a network for and against businesses according to their customer relations and professionalism.
I may well look at changing over from Barclays, I have to say they have not been great for me either.
They recently rejected an auto payment because they were confused about my "address details for sending monthly account details" - when I don't even have them sent, I do all my banking online. Still, they will not reimburse me for the fine I got from the company I auto-pay, spewing out excuses and explaining it is all normal procedure and not a fault.
Wankers.
Sounds like time to move from them.

 

[Ex-Staffs Gull]

The banks in the UK offer a poor service, but there are upsides. Here in Australia, they charge for EVERYTHING. $2.50 to use any cash point but your banks (no link network). Monthly admin fees are mandatory (well for all but the most basic account).

Even had a colleague have a mortgage withdrawn the day before completion (out here the put him in the hole for about $25000) due to a technicality they screwed up. Eventually got it sorted, but ended up living in a caravan for 2 months.

It is much more efficient over here though.

 

[NMH]

Santander ( and it's predecessor Shabby National ) is by far and away the worst bank in the world !!!!!! They managed to wreck my credit rating by putting on it I owed them my old mortgage and had defaulted for six months. In reality I'd house and taken a new mortgage and they failed to close the old mortgage down properly. It took six months to sort out and I never received an apology ( although I did charge them £500 for my time to deal with THEIR mistake ). I accept mistakes happen but when they do I expect them corrected quickly, apologies to be given and where necessary good will gestures to be sent.

Lloyds TSB on the other hand I've always been very happy with. On the odd occasion a mistake has been made it has been corrected very quickly and apologies given.

I have had Lloyds in the past, but coming back to the UK from abroad they had a lot of security stuff in place to slow me when I tried to open a UK account - so I went to Barclays because they were easier at the time.
Time to head back to Lloyds, and get it done now I think.

 

[Mints]

HSBC offer a great service. Been with them 6 years and they have linked my accounts as I have moved. Their Relationship Managers are always available and sometimes just call up to make sure everything is ok. At some branches they even have drop-in areas where you can stop off for a coffee.

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

I opened my first account with Westminster Bank in 1967, beore the merger. Family loyalty, my bro worked for them.

Have occasionally regretted it, but it's a bit like a football club, you tend to stay loyal. Or people DID until about 10 years ago when the internet revolution encouraged online banking.

i just need them to hold my money to pay my bills , i'm not one of these plastics fantastic bods

 

[Razi]

First Direct.

The best bank you will ever use.

This. Unfortunately, I use Barclays for my main banking account and have done for the last 15 years or so - but I can't stand them. When I bought a new house, I took a mortgage up with First Direct. Excellent service every single time that I've had to contact them. As soon as I'm financially in a position to close down my Barclays account, I'll be doing it in a flash and transferring things across to FD.

 

[Walkers Cajun Squirrel]

I had my barclay card blocked and had a call from fraud protection that other day. Why? Because I tried to buy a pizza.
I like fraad protection, helps if your card does actually get nicked and it shows they are trying to care, but thats a bit extreme.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Got two accounts, with Barclays and First Direct. First Direct have always been excellent, though I've had very few reasons to contact them.

And I can't really complain about Barclays, apart from the fact that my local branch (Burgess Hill) closes at 4pm on weekdays and doesn't open at all on Saturdays. And I did once get a letter from them about something to do with my account, which to my great surprise was from and signed by my Dad.

Surprised because he did work for Barclays for many years, but had left the company at least a decade before I received the letter

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

Co-operative are the best bank for me. I've been with Halifax, Nat West and Santander and Co-op are miles better. Their customer service and e-banking are brilliant. I'm pretty sure they are consistently voted the best bank too.

Agree. They are also very good if you are working overseas.

I had an account with the old Woolwich Building Soceity and never had any problems - as soon as it was taken over by Barclays it was just one big clusterf***

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Strange that First Direct is owned by HSBC and HSBC doesn't have a good reputation for overall customer service. As for Barclays Bank , rhyming slang which sums them up perfectly.

 

[gjh1971]

Co-operative are the best bank for me. I've been with Halifax, Nat West and Santander and Co-op are miles better. Their customer service and e-banking are brilliant. I'm pretty sure they are consistently voted the best bank too.

Totally agree. Ordered some foreign currency on line Friday morning, were couriered to me 4.00pm Friday afternoon - great service

 

[bhaexpress]

but they are , i've had no problems in 20 years with them

Lucky you.