Santander to who?

stvjon41

Hi guys,

Had a few issues since our account was transferred from A&L to Santander, and i have decided that enough is enough.

I am looking for some advice on what banks people recommend.

I was looking at the First Direct account which pays £100 for joining and and extra £100 if you want to leave after 6 months.

Anyone on here recommend First Direct or shall i stay away from them?

Cheers

Steve

Gav8

They're meant to be pretty good. It seems like a lot of people (including myself) are going from A&L to First Direct.

stvjon41

Gav8 wrote: »

They're meant to be pretty good. It seems like a lot of people (including myself) are going from A&L to First Direct.

yeah they seem to have gone downhill since they were taken over. Spoke to the complaints department and he stated that loads of the previous A&L customers have called to make about various things.

blueberrypie

First Direct are renowned for their excellent customer service. The only negative is that they have no branches (although you can use HSBC branches for some services). I wouldn't hesitate to recommend, and if you read the forums here you'll find there are a lot of people who also recommend them.

tgon

I'm mid process on exactly the above. Naturally Satan-der are making it a fair bit harder by not responding but it will be worth the perseverance. Customer support at FD is excellent.

AnonymousForObviousReason

I'm going to FD too. My experience so far is:
1) Week last Wednesday evening I applied for an account online (took about 20 mins - but I do read all the T&C)
2) Friday application arrived, had some things to check and sign. I noticed the wrong sort code as could finally check my online account (A&L changed it but turned out I could use it but didn't know that), so phoned up FD and they answered in 3 rings. Helpful, cheerful person - who didn't call me an idiot for getting it wrong.
3) The application for account did come with a credit card application that I didn't ask for (I may read the T&C but may have missed this snippet)
4) Posted on Monday and as said it would be 7-10 days (can't remember if working or not) for it to be done expecting letter any time soon saying it's all okay :-)

Loughton_Monkey

stvjon41 wrote: »

Anyone on here recommend First Direct or shall i stay away from them?

I have been with them almost since their inception, and still am.

Given the service and support I have had from them over the years, and without a single 'bad' incident that I could name, I thoroughly recommend them with a passion!

Their phone service is so good, they don't need branches.

It would take an earthquake for me to move away from them. I obviously use other banks for a variety of savings/investment products, but as a 'main bank' they are superb.

Go to them with confidence.

knightfox

FD are great. i would rate them as high as having the Premier accounts with HSBC / RBS / Natwest. The call center girls are great and so helpfull.

However one note is that they are still a sales girls at heart. They are monitored to make sure that all your finances are getting the most help. I saw this on a TV programme about them. I never noticed it when I was with them previously, maybe that was me. My account was with a previous partner, shes gone.

So I will be joining again soon.

stvjon41

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

Their phone service is so good, they don't need branches.

It would take an earthquake for me to move away from them. I obviously use other banks for a variety of savings/investment products, but as a 'main bank' they are superb.

Go to them with confidence.

Surely the earthqauke wouldnt matter that much if they dont have branches?

I have applied so just wait and see now. Everything i seemed to have read seems to suggest go with them, and that has been backed up by you guys on here.

Cheers for the info all.

RumPunch_2

We're leaving Santander for First Direct. Santander are holding up the transfer of our DDs but First Direct have been nothing but helpful.

Pari5ian

Am I right in saying that unless you pay in excess of £1,500 a month you then have to pay a £10 monthly charge to bank with them? Please say this isn't so