First Direct 12 March 2004 at 5:17PM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Praise, Vent & Warnings 21 replies 2K views

PurpleGreen_2

I have to give a thumbs up to First Direct who, for no particular reason apart from me asking (in a jovial way), reduced my Gold card interest rate from 13.9 to 0.00 for 6 months, for purchases and transfers. Not at all bad.

allypally_2

been with them for 10years and call centre staff are invariably pleasant , they have been known to flirt!(the men that is!)
in december we accidentally went over our overdraft limit and were charged £25..............a swift phonecall later and a very nice lady refunded the charge!

PurpleGreen_2

Yes they are a bit flirty at times, especially over Christmas, but I think that makes them feel very human. I wouldnt bank with anyone else now.

System

I really rate First Direct. Although maybe not always the cheapest option they offer a great service.
You never have to wait in a queue to speak to anyone.
Lovely Jubbly

Alison

System

The only problem with First Direct is when you have to deal with anybody else. After getting used to FD answering the phone within a couple of rings by a human being, dealing with the usual "press 1 if you want" and "please hold your call is important to us" is a hard bump back to earth.

If FD are top of the league, I nominate for relegation Citibank, who have been known to take over an hour to answer. Mind you they wrote to me recently to let me know that they were moving their call centre from Barcelona to India "to improve customer service"

System

I also agree with you - have been with them since 1990 and have never been unfairly treated, they are always pleasant, and although they don't always do the cheapest deals, the service is so outstanding that it's worth a few extra pence.

I recently remortgaged with them to their smartmortgage (not the cheapest deal, but as they linked my 2 current accounts, 2 visa accounts, flexible loan account and 4 savings accounts all together and at the great rate of 5.25% so that all my money works against my mortgage) and they made it so easy compared to 2 years previously when I went from Halifax to Britannic Money. I had to sign one form, they had all my details and then the mortgage was paid off – the only sticking point was BritannicMoney (now Mortgage Trust) who were so S**T that I couldn’t wait to leave them.

My husband has just set up his own business and within a month of taking out the mortage they are letting me pay only the interest on my repayment mortgage for the time being until the cash flow gets a little stable (how great is that?).

I love them! They text me through my balance every Monday morning, and text me if I go over £100 overdrawn – warning me so that I have time to correct any mistakes before the end of the day when I would be charged. They pay all my bills for me. In fact I truly regret that they do not do business accounts as we would have chosen them like a shot.

Convinced? I would be…

Andy_ArT_Trigg

I've been with First Direct since they first appeared. I've always been highly satisfied.

I remember several years ago, when telephone banking was very new, I went into a shop to buy a nice new Amiga A500 computer. I gave them my First Direct credit card and unfortunately it was declined as it would have taken me over my credit limit.

"Hang on", I said. "I'll be back" and I nipped outside to the phone box. I telephoned First Direct, explained the problem, and they raise my limit.

"Try it now" I said with a grin on me face. I remember the sceptical look on the assistants face but it went through and I got my Amiga. Games were great in those days. They are all the same now.

timarr

Can only agree with the comments on this board - too many examples of great service to quote them all but one stands out when I accidentally transferred money the wrong way between accounts, triggering an overdraft payment. Despite being out of the country they managed to dig my mobile number out (I'd signed up for their texting service), called me to ask if I really meant what I'd asked for, reversed the transfer and waived the fee.

I was also told recently that the great telephone service is provided in spite of the fact that the operators have to pull data from multiple screens and applications and are working their wotsits off while calmly handling your query.

FD are the only financial service provider that gets my business because of the quality of service rather than cost.

thespacecowboy

Yep, echo al the comments on here. Have been with them about 10 years (they've only been around that long on their own).

I think the main difference is their staff are empowered to make decisions, and they must have excellent training.

well done!

nellystew

I rang First Direct on Saturday and the lady said "Happy Anniversary". Seems it was 13 years to the day since I opened my account.

It's the little things like that, the friendliness and helpfulness of the staff that I like.
I'm sure that there are better value accounts around, but I'm going to stick with what I've got.

creditman

I applied for a personal loan using the web site on Friday. This was instantly approved and the paperwork arrived Saturday Morning. I signed the loan agreement and posted it. Monday afternoon the funds were credited to my First Direct current account. Excellent service as usual.