Avoid First Direct - They are gonna charge all customers £10!

MORPH3US

Got the letter about the £10 charge the other day so changed all my DD's over to my Nationwide account easily.

Last night phones FD (on their free number of course) and said I wanted to close my account. The bloke says "oh, but you wouldn't get charged as you have a "high interest" savings account with us (which I never use?!?!).

I say "oh, well thats not what the letter said and I have already changed all my direct debits over to Nationwide now!"

He didn't sound happy after that.....

M

CopperPlate_2

Yes, but there will not be a calendar month where a four-week pay cycle does not pay. A calendar month is just that. The T&C's for various fd accounts have references to calendar months, e.g. E-savings where if any withdrawal is made in a calendar month you lose the interest. By your definition that could be an arbitrary date mid-month which means you could withdraw twice in the same calendar month but on opposite sides of the "date" and end up losing 2 months interest potentially earned - one lot from "before" the date and another for "after" the date (theoretically a "new month").

nbbradshaw

mrcow wrote:

I just electronically cleared my a/c out online to an alternative a/c.

The FD a/c was closed the next day.

But did you remember to ask them to send you a cheque for interest earned but not yet credited to your account?:eek:


I've cleared my accounts and sent a letter to FD which not only instructs them to close the accounts but also I've included an overview of my profile, financial circumstances AND the predicted future revenue streams which they will not see!!!:rotfl:

going2die_rich

MORPH3US wrote:

Got the letter about the £10 charge the other day so changed all my DD's over to my Nationwide account easily.

Last night phones FD (on their free number of course) and said I wanted to close my account. The bloke says "oh, but you wouldn't get charged as you have a "high interest" savings account with us (which I never use?!?!).

I say "oh, well thats not what the letter said and I have already changed all my direct debits over to Nationwide now!"

He didn't sound happy after that.....

M

Probably worried about his job as I am guessing quite a few customers have just switched as soon as they got the letter. FD shouldn't have sent the letter to the customers that weren't going to pay. Talk about a stupid idea. If you recieve a letter saying accounts will be charged £10 a month, you are going to presume that applies to you and not that you actually don't have to pay.

I have no sympathy for FD, it deserves to go under for introducing fees at all.

going2die_rich

scaldyflash wrote:

I am so glad they are having such big problems shutting down peoples accounts because there are so many people doing it. A lesson needs to be given to these idiots that they can suck only so much of our cash away from us. :mad: :mad: :mad:

Isn't it more likely they are using delay tactics in closing accounts as they are going to have some explaining to do to their shareholders about all these customers walking away?

I suggest everyone rings up to confirm the account is actually closed a week or so after they've said they've done it as I wouldn't be surprised if a few are still left open!

The other banks must be laughing at First Direct as it's getting all of it's customers without having to even do anything.

Not only that, but a rival is getting such a bad repuation it might not even ever have to worry about it in future as which idiot is going to want to join First Direct now???

CopperPlate_2

fd still offer useful products. It is likely that this is all part of fd's plan to rid itself of either non-profitable customers or those it sees as holding dormant accounts and ultimately costing them money to service the account, etc. I think it is way over the top to suggest that they will go under. In fact, I am in the process of switching over to them (again) as I'm interested in their offset mortgage, so I'll class myself as an idiot shall I.

The grass isn't always greener on the other side. A&L is a case in point - great rates, rubbish service and a disaster when things go wrong.

going2die_rich

CopperPlate wrote:

fd still offer useful products. It is likely that this is all part of fd's plan to rid itself of either non-profitable customers or those it sees as holding dormant accounts and ultimately costing them money to service the account, etc. I think it is way over the top to suggest that they will go under. In fact, I am in the process of switching over to them (again) as I'm interested in their offset mortgage, so I'll class myself as an idiot shall I.

The grass isn't always greener on the other side. A&L is a case in point - great rates, rubbish service and a disaster when things go wrong.

Any customer that using it's banking and not loans/mortgage will in the banks eyes be a none profitable customer. Unless of course the customer constantly has charges put against them for going overdrawn, and even thats reduced their profits by two thirds in most cases.

How much resource exactly are these dormant accounts taking? A few records in a database, it isn't like they actual take up the resource at the customer service helplines and computers calculate the interest so what exactly is all this extra resource thats justified moving them on or charging them?

It's just an excuse to try and generate more money while at the same time making it's customers think they will get even better service from it, their is no other justifiable reason for it.

Hopefully it'll be a very expensive decision for First Direct.

wendyh

I've banked with First Direct since they first opened. I've never had any problems with them - compared to other banks. I don't agree with Fallen121. I am certainly not wealthy, I'm a part-time worker but I will escape the charges. I have a very small savings account and other bits with them. I spoke with First Direct yesterday and they say that they have loads of dormant accounts and want to get prople to use them or go elsewhere. Fair enough but if I didn't have any other products with them then I would be out on my ear as well.

scaldyflash

CopperPlate wrote:

fd still offer useful products. It is likely that this is all part of fd's plan to rid itself of either non-profitable customers or those it sees as holding dormant accounts and ultimately costing them money to service the account, etc. I think it is way over the top to suggest that they will go under. In fact, I am in the process of switching over to them (again) as I'm interested in their offset mortgage, so I'll class myself as an idiot shall I.

The grass isn't always greener on the other side. A&L is a case in point - great rates, rubbish service and a disaster when things go wrong.

Can I think for a bit before I answer that question ? :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

mrcow

nbbradshaw wrote:

But did you remember to ask them to send you a cheque for interest earned but not yet credited to your account?:eek:

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Massive lol that you posting this today.....

.... I received a letter from FD today with a handwritten cheque stapled to it for £0.01 interest that hadn't been credited when I closed the a/c off.

I'm going to cash it too!