First Direct - Opinions?

brookerbabyisababy

I can't believe ShelfStacker it - I thought ShelfStacker was only HSBC exclusive? Anyway your right about the cheque book holder - they do supply one free of charge if requested and also a statement folder or card wallet. I always thought HSBC Plus supplied this as standard to their customers also?

Anyway from my experience of using first direct - I think they are probably some of the most pleasant and nice people to deal with espically when you have a problem and they go all out of their way to help. No wonder they have won UK bank and best call centre a billion times.

ShelfStacker_3

brookerbabyisababy wrote: »

I can't believe ShelfStacker it - I thought ShelfStacker was only HSBC exclusive?

I wanted a seperate spending account, and HSBC are VERY funny about staff having more than one account, so needed to go elsewhere. Got RBS as a backup plan...

Anyway your right about the cheque book holder - they do supply one free of charge if requested and also a statement folder or card wallet. I always thought HSBC Plus supplied this as standard to their customers also?

No. We don't give out cheque book holders, card wallets or anything like that to anyone. We literally have none in the branch whatsoever.

username

Also heard, through the MSE grapevine, that they'll send you a free real leather cheque book holder and whatnot if you ask them. I've not tested that. Ask at your own risk.

I can vouch for that one, they do give them out, but on request. I messaged them after I opened my account, and they appeared a few days later.

A question I have about First Direct - re. the statement machine in branch - is there any way to get the FD credit card linked up to it so you can see the credit card statement on it like HSBC customers can??

Miss_Behaving

I've been with first direct since 1991 and have found them to be brilliant. A couple of years ago I accidently went overdrawn and they telephoned me to ask if there was a problem. When I explained that I'd been a bit slow transferring funds from my savings account they told me they would refund the unauthorised overdraft fee. Also their call centre is based in the UK which is a big bonus.

jlosomerset

Totally agree, we have been with First Direct for 3 years now and there customer service is fantastic, nothing is ever too much trouble and the staff are always so friendly. Big thumbs up from us!!

sarahs999

I've been with them since 96, They used to be astonishingly good - back then no one else did mobile banking, or 24/7. But I agree about the high charges and interest rates. Not great. The customer service is second to none although everything did shift a bit a few years ago when HSBC took over more (they've always been affiliated, can't remember what happened exactly but I did notice the difference). They suddenly started plaguing me with phonecalls and spam adn junk mail about insurance and mortgages and stuff.

Nenen

Another thumbs up from me too! Cannot fault the customer service... which is brilliant and based in UK (something I feel passionately about).

Their security is excellent and they really go out of their way to protect you from fraud too. When we were on holiday a couple of years ago we got a phone call from them (our ds at home relayed the message asking us to call them) to let us know they had put a temporary stop on our cards (until they could speak to us) due to our cards being used in a particular area of Italy which, when we called and spoke to them, turned out was notorious for being used by fraudsters at that time. They then told us that if we let them know when/where we are travelling abroad they can overide their system so our cards wouldn't get stopped unnecessarily. I think that is very sensible and useful!

Inactive

ShelfStacker wrote: »

I wanted a seperate spending account, and HSBC are VERY funny about staff having more than one account, so needed to go elsewhere. Got RBS as a backup plan...

I still have a Midland Bank Statement Folder to take A5 size statements, strange how the bank that wants us all to go green somehow managed to double the size of it's statements.:rotfl:

[Deleted User]

Inactive wrote: »

I still have a Midland Bank Statement Folder to take A5 size statements, strange how the bank that wants us all to go green somehow managed to double the size of it's statements.:rotfl:

but surely an a4 statement will hold double the info of an a5 one (more if you count having to print the logo and your account details only once per sheet) and so youll use half the number of pages?

Inactive

Actually, if you look at a HSBC Statement, only 50% of one side of it actually has any activity info on it.