Which? Award 2008 Best Current Account

Neillgb

Satscene wrote: »

I can`t comment on Cahoot, but as SMILE has been mentioned i must say they have been excellent for me. I frequently deposit cash when i`m out and about at any PO and it`s instantly credited to my account.... i don`t mean in a day or two it really is instantly. Foreign Transfers are handled efficiently and i noticed a bounced cheque i had didn`t entail any charge at all.
Only gripe i could make is their shabby interest rates, but then again that`s what i use Icesave and Kaupthing for....

SMILE can do it so why can't Cahoot? Reasonable question?

To clarify, if I go into my post office on Monday and withdraw cash using the card machine provided at the counter the amount is debited on Monday and I either pay or don't get interest from that date. If I pay cash in the credit is made between 2 and 5 working days, maybe Wednesday but could be the following Monday. This benefits Cahoot unfairly. Therefore I have an axe to grind with Cahoot and rightly so.

I recommend people avoid Cahoot, try SMILE as they credit your account promptly with cash. A great plus when tied in with the convenience of paying in at a Post Office. If their rates are not so hot then shuffle your money about after it has arrived at SMILE.

System

I don't understand your argument - if you are going to need to pay in cash I would recommend you avoid Cahoot, or, for that matter, almost any online bank. It doesn't make the bank 'bad' in any way, it just isn't suited for cash credits if you want access to the money immediately. Trouble is, if you need access to the money immediately, just don't pay all of it in and you have immediate, real-time access to a portion of it!

You mention smile. I closed my account with them because they made a mistake with the DD which fed my smile credit card. I got some negatives on my credit reference and they refused to remove the offending data. They were very unhelpful and in reality have no ethical policy where it affects their customers. They made several mistakes and yet have a holier than thou attitude.

Anyway, horses for courses, as they say.

central

I've been with Cahoot for years, and been more than satisfied, they always respond to emails promptly, and for me the best thing is just popping cheques in a prepaid envelope.
I never need to pay cash in though, and they should catch up with faster payments.

System

There is no technical reason why Cahoot (& LloydsTSB) can't credit money instantly via the Post Office counter, as with Co-op, Smile, A&L and Clydesdale.It's processed via a connection to the Link network; almost like a reverse ATM withdrawal.

I've never used Cahoot (so can't comment) but Abbey are appalling.

bigbloke45

I have been with cahoot for many years and don't have many gripes apart from the fact that their customer service is "relaxed" in that there isn't 24/7 coverage.

I transferred from LloydsTSB to cahoot when on-line banking was relatively new. If you want to moan, I can spend hours just on Lloyds.

Cahhot is an "on-line" bank, it's not a high street bank. If people want high street services, e.g. cash deposits, paying in cheques on a regular basis, then why moan about a bank that was never set up to do the same?.

I was getting 1/10th of 1% interest on my Lloyds current account and getting an arrogant and patronising service, so I'm still VERY happy with my switch. BUT, I take the point about Abbey; Santander fired about 1/3 of all staff and seemed to keep the dross, If the "Abbey Curse" spreads to cahoot, I'll be off like a shot! The same will apply to Alliance and Leicester as well.

stressedebtmom

Cahoot, Abbey and MBNA are all linked and are totally rubbish. I have had absolute nightmares getting my cards closed as they keep finding charges to add on and then when I offer to pay the latest silly little charge there and then on the phone they say they can't do that and can only accept a payment over the phone if you are over your limit.

I would never ever ever bank or take out a credit card with any of them ever again.

System

Thought I'd update this thread to give an example of Cahoot's excellent customer service.

On Friday evening I noticed an unexpected direct debit on my account (it was genuine, but one of these six-monthly subscriptions I hadn't bargained for this month). Unfortunately, with another debit looming it would cause me to go over my arranged overdraft.

I sent Cahoot a message asking if they could transfer £20 to my current account from my credit card. They emailed back within the hour to say they couldn't transfer funds from a credit card to a current account but could increase my overdraft limit temporarily to tide me over.

All I needed to do was send them an email to tell them how much I needed and it was available on my account within a short period of time.

No prolonged phone calls to an 0870 number, no visiting a branch. So straightforward.

How refreshing is this!

System

stressedebtmom wrote: »

Cahoot, Abbey and MBNA are all linked and are totally rubbish. I have had absolute nightmares getting my cards closed as they keep finding charges to add on and then when I offer to pay the latest silly little charge there and then on the phone they say they can't do that and can only accept a payment over the phone if you are over your limit.

I would never ever ever bank or take out a credit card with any of them ever again.

What exactly is this link? As far as I am aware, Abbey's credit cards are issued by MBNA. I agree with you, I wouldn't touch MBNA with a barge pole. Cahoot is owned by Abbey, but my Cahoot credit card is not issued by MBNA - the interest rate is 12.9% APR, better than any MBNA card I have seen. There appears to be no link at all between Cahoot and MBNA. Cahoot no longer issues its own credit card, though, although it is still renewing existing cards upon expiry.

I am not a fan of Abbey and wouldn't choose to have an account with them. Cahoot may be owned by Abbey, but it is a very different beast.

It will be interesting to see what happens to Cahoot - since the Banco Santander take-over Cahoot has had a low profile, but I am hoping the brand will develop in an interesting way. Maybe the Which? award will remind the parent company that Cahoot still exists! There is certainly plenty of room in a large company for different brands offering distinctly different services. I notice that Cahoot is now pushing the 'simple' nature of what it offers. Plenty of people like that.