Worst Telephone System

Red_Ant

Companies seem to be getting worse and worse with their telephony systems, and what you are required to do before getting through to a real person. The Nationwide seem to have taken things to another level by now asking you to type in your account number and sort code on your keypad before getting through. When I queried this I was told they have three sortcodes so need to know which one you have.

There are workarounds to avoid typing in a lot of this stuff, but it's doubly frustrating if you enter it all only to find you then have to go through similar information during the security questions.

Are other Banks / BS worse than this ?

earlgrey_3

A few others do the same. To be honest, I don't mind and in some ways prefer it to having to tell the agent and then having to repeat it three times to get it right.

So long as I get speak to someone before listening to the entire works of Vivaldi from end to end I'm content.

Milarky

Are you being sure to use 0800 30 20 10 for all calls to them at least?

Organic12

Yes, yes and definitely yes, I think that the systems are getting worse too!

I recently opened a N/wide flexwhatitdoobury and on a number of ocassions had to phone them. I got so fed up with them that I've only put in a few quid into my account rather than bothering to put a significant sum with them as was my original plan. I'll take my money where I don't have jump through a lengthy phone system and wait forever. Why is it sort code and account number for this account and sort code only for that account anyway?

One bank where you don't faff around is First Direct, you go through to a person without the irritating phone options. Yes, sometimes you queue but no press this for that and going through different phone menus.

Other banks I've dealt with are just as bad as N/wide. C&G mortgage "helpline" can keep you waiting about fifteen minutes. A&L, about the same for payments (trfs b/w my savings and current clear the same day if I phone but the day after if I do it online myself).

Also, what's with some of the truely awful hold music they pick? A&L's I find particularly bad.

rb10

Organic12 wrote: »

Why is it sort code and account number for this account and sort code only for that account anyway?

I'm not sure what you mean here. A sort code will never identify an individual account, but just the bank. So they'd always need both the sort code AND account number to identify your account.

Organic12

rb10 wrote: »

I'm not sure what you mean here. A sort code will never identify an individual account, but just the bank. So they'd always need both the sort code AND account number to identify your account.

From what I recall, the NW phone system asks for both sort code and account number for one type of account (eg. current) and account number only for another type of account (eg. savings).

pem2

Milarky wrote: »

Are you being sure to use 0800 30 20 10 for all calls to them at least?

I don't think many have the freephone 0800 nos, most have the revenue sharing 0845 including the FSCS or the even more expensive 0870/1 which the DVLA use.

evenasus

pem2 wrote: »

I don't think many have the freephone 0800 nos, most have the revenue sharing 0845 including the FSCS or the even more expensive 0870/1 which the DVLA use.

But you can, from http://saynoto0870.co.uk/ get a landline number. Then if you register with www.18185.co.uk you will pay no more than 5p for the call.

Biggles

earlgrey wrote: »

A few others do the same. To be honest, I don't mind and in some ways prefer it to having to tell the agent and then having to repeat it three times to get it right.

If that was how it worked, I wouldn't mind too much. But, in practice, I couldn't remember a single occasion where the 'agent' didn't subsequently ask me for the a/c number I'd taken the trouble to key in.

I therefore made a resolution some while ago never to input a number in future (if necessary by acting as though I wasn't using a touchtone phone).

DocMartin

Agree with OP, Nationwide are really cumbersome. Halifax / Bos has had a really efficient automated systemfor quite a while now, in my opinion, but I suppose, like me, some people are worried about having accounts with them?

Farway

I found the Abbey frustrating, so much so that when I needed to change my standing orders I always wrote a letter & stuck it through the door of my local branch

Always worked and as I was in town much less hassle than the phone system