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MSE News: First Direct's top for service again — what's the secret?
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As when you login. HSBC may ask for the 'second from last' character of your password whereas First Direct will ask for the 'penultimate' character instead.bengal-stripe wrote: »Due to the higher threshold who gets accepted (or rejected) as customer, FD has a clientèle which is financially far more literate and sophisticated then the people who get attracted by the 'all comers taken' approach of the ordinary high street bank......under construction.... COVID is a [discontinued] scam0 -
i spent some time as an employee for first direct. I underwent their training, its all about the sales, the rapport is simply to build trust, then go in for the sales.
its a bank, its a business, the calls are not timed as such but there are targets to be met.
I didnt enjoy my time as an employee as i found them to be totally unsympathetic to my family needs ie care of sick child, ie if it happens again your out.
I've worked for first direct for 18 years. During that time i've gone through the premature birth of my daughter, a marriage breakdown and time off sick for emergency surgery. I've never had anything but 100% support from them.0 -
.. they can be equally nasty. Beware of their smarmy attitude - a perfect example of which is demonstrated in their responses to the questions.
When they called me and asked my opinion of them which I told them, our "relationship" deteriorated from there, can't take criticism. I'm in credit so they don't make money out me and they simply want rid of me, I am still seriously thinking of reporting them for malpractice, I witnessed them backpeddling very fast - a great experience in itself but they were way out of line. As I say, beware - if something sounds too good to be true - it's because it usually is.0 -
.. As I say, beware - if something sounds too good to be true - it's because it usually is.
....sorry but they just are good. Well in my 18 months of experience they are. Faultless set up of new mortgage, faultless transfer of direct debits, standing orders etc from an old account to the new one. Excellent 8% regular saver for 2 years now.
I agree with others comments abut thier phone service. I wish all other companies were like this.
My only moan is that there are some aspects of thier online banking that need improving.0 -
I've been with First Direct for just over 16 years.
They have just been brilliant throughout that period.
Ringing up and just getting through without automated menus quickly every time (not sure I have ever waited more than a minute and almost always it is within seconds) is the starting point as to why they are so good. And then they are able to do whatever you require in a straightforward and human way (which is probably down to the lack of scripts).
Since I've joined, my mum has joined FD and my sister eventually has joined FD and are converted supporters also. It was a running joke that my sister was with Santander especially when she experienced the inevitable problems with them.I came, I saw, I melted0 -
Martinslovechild wrote: »Internet Banking Access
1. Internet Banking loads in a separate, small pop-up window. This is very old-fashioned. Personally, I would prefer the 'Internet Banking' link to redirect me to the Internet Banking logon screen in the main webpage window.
I've saved this link in my browser bookmarks so always get a full window in FD's internet bankind
http://www2.firstdirect.com/1/2/pib-service
FD via twitter told me a few weeks ago they plan to overhaul their internet banking sometime in 2013 and they'll get rid of restrictions such as not being able to delete old payees.0 -
I've been with Santander a little more than 12 months now & the above is what is happening more & more with Santander i'm finding.Santander: called to add a new payee. Transferred £1 to test it and logged out. After verifying that the money had arrived at the destination I set up a payment to the new payee to go out the next day. Later I tried to log in and found the account blocked. Called, staff member checked with security who could see no reason for the block removed it. End of call. Logged in, tried to do a transaction. Couldn't. Call again, OK, we'll remove that block as well, the money will be sent, no need to send it again. Next day, money not sent, call again, first line person said the transaction was unblocked, should have gone as planned, checked with security then came back saying it had been canceled, not unblocked, I should do the transaction again. The people are polite enough, shame they can't get it right first time and actually deliver. There's potential here if they can fix that.
It never used to, but it's certainly happening a lot lately. I'm talking more specifically about the blocking of the account. It seems any "large" amount blocks the account. If i transfer £1000 then the account gets blocked. I'm sorry, but i wouldn't class £1000 as a "large" transfer. Yes it's a nice amount of money, but i wouldn't call it a large transfer. If that's large, is £10,000 classified as humongous? As that is what i transferred OUT of my Halifax account ......... WITHOUT ISSUE. So why can't Santander handle £1000 transfers?
And what happens with the block? .... Yes, >I< have to call them, which isn't a free call. Essentially i'm having to pay to transfer my money.
That said, First Direct aren't as good as people make out. Folk make out that they're God-like. They just do their job, simple. They don't do anything above & beyond what you should expect from a bank.0 -
First direct customer services is the best customer services skills
The best one I have is their call centre in leeds and scotland who called me my first name because they are very friendly
they past the subject access request0 -
I would tend to agree, the only time I've spoken to someone at Santander nearly as good as FD was when I was speaking to the CEOs office.First direct customer services is the best customer services skills
The best one I have is their call centre in leeds and scotland who called me my first name because they are very friendly
they past the subject access request0 -
How do First Direct flog stuff? Do they wait for people to ask for mortgages etc?0
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