Abbey student account....help!

kelloggs36

My daughter had an Abbey 16-18 account until she applied to change this to a student account last year when she went to university. They informed her that they had done this, and she thought all was fine. She got a PIN number but no new card, but she was still able to use her old one.

Her student loan was paid in etc, etc. In December they wrote and told her that her student account was being transferred to a graduate account (even though she was still in year 1). She went to the bank and was assured that the account was a student account with the £1k overdraft.

She has had a bit of difficulty financiall (not loads, but going just over her limit by about £100) and was asked to go into the branch to discuss her options. She duly did and they told her there was nothing she could do, and she would get an increase in her overdraft soon anyway.

She paid some money into her account from her grandmother, and got a statement yesterday showing a debit - they had applied some charges on the account which pushed her over her limit. She went into the branch to query when her extended overdraft would kick in, to be told that she had a graduate account and not a student one, so there was no additional overdraft to be had!! The woman passed on the details and the account has now been changed to a student account but with only the first year limit of £1k on it and no sign of the upgrade to the second year limit.

She asked for the fees to be waived on the grounds that had the account been correct, then the new overdraft limit would have meant that she would not have gone over her limit but they refused saying she had to make a formal complaint and hope to get the money back that way.

When should the second year overdraft limit kick in?

PBA

2nd year OD should kick in at the start of September. Abbey's student service should be getting a lot better this year as well, depending on which uni she's at there's several student branches opening next month.

kelloggs36

Abbey told me that it would kick in a year after she opened the account - well considering that she tried to switch it in June last year and they mucked it up, there is no proof of this and they then switched it (incorrectly) in December, we don't hold out much hope!! A bit of a nightmare really.

ldn-100

I have experienced the student accounts service at Abbey, NatWest, Halifax and I am currently switching to RBS. Abbey were the absolute worst of the lot, the service was just terrible and they completely ignored my needs as a student and generally wasted my time in exactly the way you have described.

Transfer the account to any of the others, check out who offers the best overdraft facilities in the following article.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/Student-bank-account

clach540

I dont have a student account with the Abbey Just a normal basic account.
And I can tell you dont trust a word they tell you. IMO the staff are not trained to deal with any problem they just say what they think you might want to hear and go and do the opposite. They are liars and cheats.

kelloggs36

She went back in today as she didn't get the phonecall which was faithfully promised by the woman we saw the other day, to be told that her request for the second year overdraft has been rejected again, but that it could be because it was put on as a first year student! She was promised yet another call by the person who was conveniently unavailable when she went in, and was the same person who the woman absolutely promised would call the other day.