Abbey National Farce

Angry_of_Eastry

I cannot believe how utterly incompetent Abbey National are, I would be interested to hear if any of you lot have experienced the same kind of thing.
In October last year ('08) I went into my local branch of Abbey in Dover, Kent. I notified them of a change of address, duly filling out the correct form then and there and handed it in. Job done, or so I thought, as it turned out I couldn't have been more wrong. So after a few months of living/working life etc etc, I began to wonder why I hadn't received any statements, I was under the impression I should be receiving statements monthly, if not tri-monthly. So I called the telephone customer banking number, and after numerous conversations with Bombay and Mumbai it transpired that they didnt have my new address on the system. I asked where my bank statements were being sent and was horrified to discover that they were being sent to my previous address, then mortifyingly, I was informed that my new card and PIN number were also being sent out to my old address also! I was furious and demanded that a stop be put on the account immediately. "We can't do that I'm afraid" came the nasal reply. "You will have to go into branch and resubmit the form" I pointed out that this was a clear breach of security, my identity was now at serious risk and I was still expected to run around and mop up the mess that Abbey had created. I won't bore you with the details but therein followed a lengthy complaint email sent to the chief executive of Santander Group. Yes people you CAN get the direct emails of all the head honchos, the interweb is a wonderful place. I pointed out the glaring mismanagement and poor training of the staff in Dover branch, along with the ridiculous and lengthy complaints procedure, as well as the inabilitity of anyone from Abbey being able to take responsibility for this mistake. I also pointed out that I bet Louis Hamilton didn't have this kind of problem. Hey ho within 2 weeks I was compensated to the tune of £200. Now then people, don't be fooled into thinking this was the end of it. I mean I would be be shocked and stunned if Dover branch suddenly won banking branch of the year but God help me they've done it again. This Monday (3 days ago) I casually checked my balance at an ATM and nearly had an apopoleptic fit when I discovered I was over drawn by almost £300.00!!!!!! Do I have an overdraught? NO........do I have any direct debits?......NO.......almost beside self with rage at this point I return home and phone up the customer banking number again. A very nice but altogether unintelligable gentleman in India informed me that Abbey had charged me several times over for an unpaind direct debit I had cancelled In January when I was made redundant. He said he could see the problem and would refund me the charges, however the system was very slow that day and would I mind calling back in 3 hours for confirmation. I called the next day, I mean let's face it, Abbey systems slow?......Yesterday was told by another person that they couldn't refund any charges, well maybe 1 as a gesture of goodwill. Practically speechless with the ridiculousness of this I asked for the complaints number, I was told they would put me straight through, which they did. TO A PRE-RECORDED LONG AND PROTRACTED WAFFLE OF APPROXIMATELY 15 MINUTES IN LENGTH REGARDING THE CURRENT LEGAL STANCE ON BANK CHARGES. GRRRRRRRR :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
Having felt the need to imbibe several glasses of Chardonnay to ease the pain and lower ones blood pressure I googled HSBC bank, phoned them, spoke to a very nice english chap called Jamie who set me up with a new account, debit card, £500 overdraught in 10 minutes flat. I was telephoned today to sign the paperwork in branch, completing the whole process.
Feeling slightly empowered by my liberation to a real bank I again called Abbeys complaints number to (a) complain and insist the charges be refunded and (b) to close my account. Now then people just have a wild stab in the dark as to what happened next.......it went something like this:
Me: yada yada yada (previous phone calls explaining situation)
Abbey robot: Well I can see whats happened here I'll just put you through to TROY in our Sheffield team who can refund the charges.
Me: yada yada yada (explain everything again)
Abbey Robot No.2: I can only refund one of the charges, but you can lodge a complaint with the complaints team.........
Me: But this DD was cancelled in January........
Abbey Robot No.2: Unfortunately (THEY USE THAT WORD A LOT) you have to follow procedure and proceed in writing
Me: I'm proceeding right now......close my account!
Abbey Robot No.2: Unfortunately the account must be a zero balance to close the account..........
Me: Well it was until you incompetent idiots charged me for something I cancelled in January like SEVEN times......
Abbey Robot No.2: Unfortunately it's our procedure and I can't close your account...........
Me: I'm not paying, I have no intention to pay charges on something I cancelled in the Abbey National Kindergarten branch in January, I am taking my custom elsewhere........
Abbey Robot No.2: Well you can complain..........
Me: Complain?......COMPLAIN?????? WHAT THE BLOODYHELL DO YOU THINK I'VE BEEN DOING ALL WEEK YOU GREY MATTER CHALLENGED IDIOT?......
At this point I hung up, I had to really as the Tourettes was about to spiral out of control.
One word of advice people.....STAY AWAY FROM THEM...THEY ARE VERY BAD PEOPLE!

Takoda

You've only been on here for a few minutes and are already referring to MSE-ers as "You lot" .I'm not surprised you have had problems!

You obviously aren't the most polite of people!

Angry_of_Eastry

Maybe I should have said "you guys"......no offence intended.....

Valli

it's spelled overdraft BTW;)

it has nothing to do with draught (which is a game or wind blowing in)

I'd be well hacked off actually...

Angry_of_Eastry

I shall be sure to use spell checker next time....and I am, hacked off that is.......unbelievable!

[Deleted User]

I believe every word. Hope you feel better for telling us all about your unfortunate experience.

BYALPHAINDIA

I bet the staff in the Dover branch were 'Too busy talking to each other' and sitting there looking nice - And not 'Concentrating' ojn the actual job!!

Seen that many times over!!

jd87

Abbey who?

mighty_hammers

I totally agree with you. In 2005 I got married having banked with Abbey for 20 yrs having your cards changed into your married name didn't seem too hard a task. 3 attempts later, many phone calls gave up and opened an account at nationwide ,best move I made.
Unfortunately I had to deal with them, Abbey Monday week as my ISA in B&B had matured and they have gone onto Abbey systems. Spent 40 minutes waiting while giggling staff attempted to get my account closed to be told by Abbey trainer that I couldn't have my money. Not once did she say sorry, When I said I needed the cheque now because I had sent off my new account paperwork and I would be overdrawn and be charged, she said that was MY FAULT for not waiting.when I asked for a phone number to complain she made me sit and wait and ignored me for 10 minutes. Came home and spent the next 2 hours ( free phone) going backwards and forwards from B&B to Abbey who both blamed each other, got absolutely nowhere. did finally get a cheque later that day but took them 4 days to work out how to get account closed.

Tigsteroonie

Many many years ago, back when I lived in a city, I had a credit card with National Provincial. They subsequently merged with Abbey National - not a problem.

I moved to the Scottish countryside where there were no NP or Abbey branches, but this still wasn't a problem, they noted my change of address and carried on posting out bills.

Then my card came due for renewal. Abbey sent it out to my (now 3 years) old address, luckily it got returned. So they wrote to my newer address, and asked me to pop into my branch to collect it. My branch? 500 miles away, back in the city. No, they couldn't post it out, as it had already been sent once. Could I just pop to my nearest branch? Try 80 miles and a 5 hour round trip. They didn't quite understand the problem ....

I think Abbey actually kept the account open for another couple of years (without any activity) before eventually closing it .....

Rebeccamills_2

Grrr that makes me so cross. What ever happened to decent customer service. Does anyone else feel like they are dealing with this kind of nonsence almost on a daily basis? At least 3 times a week I get the rage from having to sit with the phone waiting to speak to some company who have messed up a direct debit or overcharged or misinformed me, who has the time to be passed from pillar to post. Urgh, it does you good to have a good rant about it online