Halifax and extending the student account once graduated, having problems with this!

Lady_K

How incompetant the staff seem trying to get this sorted. My daughter graduated this year and wanted to continue her student account for the next year so she can have some time to pay off her £2750 overdraft. She has already got a job due to start in September so she will even be having a salary paid into the account too.

She made an appointment at our local branch to arrange this as from many experiences the phonelines cannot help. Her appointment was set for 12 noon today, at 10am the banking advisor rang her and left a voice message saying please contact her as she may be able to clear this up on the phone to save her going in (we only live 100 yards away)

My daughter rang and the advisor told her there was no student account and in october when she has her review she will be sent a letter saying that her student account would now be an ordinary account and she would now be paying interest on the entire £2750 overdraft. My daughter said isnt this supposed to continue for another year to give time for repaying the overdraft as how can a student automatically be able to clear off the entire overdraft or pay the interest on such a big overdraft?. The advisor said no it doesnt we dont have a graduate account or the equivilant of one you will have to phone the banking line.

I'm furious as isnt it the advisors job to sort this kind of thing out, who is she supposed to see about this if she cant get it done with an advisor or at the branch itself?

My daughter is now left ringing up various different numbers being sent from pillar to post from one person to another who say they cant help or don't know or put her onto another person who in the end cant help. Its really bad service and from what she was saying quite a lot of her friends had the same problem when trying to extend their student accounts and told the branch if they couldnt arrange the year extension they would close the account and did do because it never happened. But if this is supposed to be a product available it should be easier to arrange. How can she get this in place?

Mark7799

I'm puzzled - this is taken from
http://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/studentcurrentaccount.asp

Our largest interest-free overdraft continues past your graduation
With our student bank account, you can keep your interest-free overdraft for the length of your course - that's up to five years - plus an extra year after you graduate.

Unless it's possible that this wasn't an offer when your daughter opened her account (just trying to think of any reason why Halifax may have acted in the way they have)

Lady_K

Mark7799 wrote: »

I'm puzzled - this is taken from
http://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/studentcurrentaccount.asp

Our largest interest-free overdraft continues past your graduation
With our student bank account, you can keep your interest-free overdraft for the length of your course - that's up to five years - plus an extra year after you graduate.

Unless it's possible that this wasn't an offer when your daughter opened her account (just trying to think of any reason why Halifax may have acted in the way they have)

Thankyou looks like they have recently increased their overdraft and info on the site. Its clear there that is what they are offering. I knew they were supposed to offer it because martin has it on his banking info page but getting them to put it in place isnt so easy. It was the same last year when she had to go in to prove she was still on her course for the final year, they even started to charge her interest and she had to have 3 appointments at the bank which she struggled to do because of her full time nursing course.

She has now phoned the branch in the next town 4 miles away and spoke to their banking advisor who was much more helpfull, she phoned someone to enquire about this for her and assured her they will put this in place for her and she will have the extra year after graduation on the interest free overdraft. She said they could do it today but as her reveiw is on 3rd October it would be better for her if she phoned at the end of September as the extra year will start from the day they put it on. She told her that she wouldnt have to make an appointment, all she has to do is phone to get it put in place.

The banking advisor at the branch 100 yards from our house should have done the same thing and phoned to get the information but I just think she couldnt be bothered. Clearly she wasn't doing her job right instead of cancelling my daughters appointment and telling her to phone the banking number herself who didn't help. This kind of attitude can make someone move accounts and not come back. It certainly doesnt do them any favours putting off new graduates who have a lifetime of work and income ahead of them, they will lose valuable custom before it has really begun.

TrickyDicky

Im surprised you need to arrange a graduate account. I had a natwest and HSBC one and they both switched to graduate accounts automatically, with decreasing overdraft limits over 3 years. I didnt have to do anything with them and only recently (3 years after graduating) finally closed them

moneymass

I didn't have to do anything to get my year after graduation feature - just a phone call to up my overdraft to 3,000 for the final year.