Abbey Ongoing Problems

Technoholic

Hi Guys
I wondered if you might be able to help me. I have been with Abbey for 15-18 years now, however the last few years with them have been nothing short of a nightmare.

I wont bore you with all the stories, but I moved house 1 and a half years ago, I had to fill in 6 change of address forms before my address got changed, nearly a year later. I kept complaining that I hadnt received any statements, but they said 'oh no, you asked us not to send statements to you'. Anyway, statements had been going to my old address all this time, with a number of charges building up on the account (i dont and havent used this account as a current account for sometime therefore was unaware of the charges)

Anyway, 3 weeks ago i went to close the account in branch. They said thats fine, and tried to do it. Ultimately they said they couldnt and took my card away and said theyd do it later and call me. Obviously no phone call so next weekend i go back in and they look it up and find that there are pending charges that i need to pay money in for in order for the account to show a 0 balance. so i do that and they said they would again call me later to confirm its closed once the account has registered as 0.

Once more, no phone call so i go in the next weekend and spek to the same person as before, who now says that the charges have come off and she will definately be able to close the account later that day. It sounded like theyd finally got everything sorted.
Today i receive a statement (now going to the correct address), telling me there is £4 odd in the account, so its obviously not closed.

Im going back in on saturday, and I want to call and ask to speak to the manager before i go, but my question is, they took my card away originally (maybe i was naive for giving it to them), but am i within my rights to ask them to show me the card being destroyed in front of me? And if so, what if they say that they have already done it, do i have anything to come back on? I know its a bank but you never know where a card is going to turn up

Sorry for the long post, thanks for your help

avantra

same here mate, they moved their systems to Santander and a lot of things went wrong during the move.

LittleVoice

dchuraman wrote: »

Im going back in on saturday, and I want to call and ask to speak to the manager before i go, but my question is, they took my card away originally (maybe i was naive for giving it to them), but am i within my rights to ask them to show me the card being destroyed in front of me? And if so, what if they say that they have already done it, do i have anything to come back on? I know its a bank but you never know where a card is going to turn up

Good luck!!!

I doubt that they could find the card now! But they would have to prove you had been involved in any mis-use: if you are really worried, write to them to confirm you have handed the card back.

They are a nightmare of a bank. I managed to close a savings account last month. The cashier then asked me if I wanted him to destroy the passbook for me. When I declined that kind offer (!), he handed me the passbook back and it still shows a balance rather than that it has been closed!

mickymellon

they're the biggest !!!!'s I've ever had the misfortune to deal with.

life is much easier since moving to First Direct who have been faultless

WickedWolfie

I had no end of problems with Abbey and eventually closed (after some grief - sound familiar?) my account and moved to Alliance and Leicester. Funny old thing, just been taken over by Santander and the same problems are starting!!!

....and I am a Santander shareholder twice over!!! Perhaps a question to the board of direcitors????

heppy23

I've been with the abbey all my life. They have made a poor attempt at being a proper bank and only got worse since santander took them over.

Since finding this site I no longer bank with them!

Technoholic

thanks the the replies. Yeah since moving to first direct my banking life has been a million times easier, and yes, i have rung them a 3 in the morning and they are just as helpful!

I didnt get round to ringing abbey today to make an appointment, so im just going to have to go in the morning and see who i can see. they are such a pain in the a**e!

Extant

As for the card, most banks will claim the card is technically their property, so you're probably out of luck there.