abbey national customer service really bad

lucylou

Hi everyone.I opened a current account with Abbey National last month and did the switch from my old bank .I also wanted to apply for their 7% savings account but the lady I spoke to said that I could come back and do it anytime even though I insisted .So I said I would come back and do it.Anyway I went back yesterday spoke to someone else and told them I wanted to open the savings account but they said that offer had finished two weeks ago and I couldn't open it.So I asked her how was it possible for another member of staff to say come in when you want and why did she not apply for the savings account when I asked her for it.The reply was 'we only knew the offer was going to be withdrawn the day before.I can't answer for another member of staff'.I was really angry and told them that their customer service was rubbish.The whole reason for doing the switch from my bank was to get the high savings interest and to get the £40 .Now I have neither.But I can't switch again as everything has already been switched and I would like to wait at least two or three months before I switch again as I don't want to mess up my ddi.
Questions are:
1)I am going to write a letter of complaint to head office.Should I write one to the branch manager as well?
2)Will I be able to open a savings account with Halifax which draws money from my Abbey account?
3)do you know if when you close an account you have any costs (I banked with tsb) as if I do get cost I will certainly get Abbey to reimburse them
4)Is there anyway I can get that £40 free and what about the £50 if they make a mistake?Am I entitled to that?
Thanks to all for your help

davidcampbell

sorry to hear of the hassle you have had lucy. i work for abbey and unfortunately your experience is all to common

re the monthly saver. the branch staff didnt have an awful lot of notice about the withdrawal of the product - we were advised on the 26th jan it would be taken off sale by cob 29th jan.

as to why they didnt let you open it on the day, i dont know.


on the matter of your £40 for switching. you dont mention why you arent getting that?


to take your questions ....

1)
i would suggest you direct your complaint to the branch manager, if he/she cannot then resolve it to your satisfaction, it will be stalemated and passed 'up the line' so to speak. if the letter is sent straight to complaints management they will want to liaise with the branch so it may as well start there.

2)
you can easily set up a standing order from your abbey ac to halifax saver. is that what you meant?

3)
i very much doubt there will be a charge for closing your account with lloyds

4)
still unsure what went wrong with your switcher??


DC

Walletwatch

lucylou wrote:

Questions are:
1)I am going to write a letter of complaint to head office.Should I write one to the branch manager as well?
2)Will I be able to open a savings account with Halifax which draws money from my Abbey account?
3)do you know if when you close an account you have any costs (I banked with tsb) as if I do get cost I will certainly get Abbey to reimburse them
4)Is there anyway I can get that £40 free and what about the £50 if they make a mistake?Am I entitled to that?
Thanks to all for your help

1. Write to the branch manager and copy the letter to someone higher up - say the CEO or Chairman of the Bank. You'll be surprised at the effect it'll have in terms of promptness of response.

2. Yes, you will, but not sure I'd do it for two reasons - (a) You will be at the mercy of the Customer services team of two banks then, as against having both your current and savings account with the same bank and (b) Haven't had very good vibes about Customer services of either Abbey or Halifax.

3. No, no charges

4. You haven't elaborated on what mistake they've made as part of the switch.

lucylou

thanks for all your replies.I could get the £40 only if i opened the savings account from what I understood.is that correct?

davidcampbell

no

the £40 offer was for switching your current account. if you ahve done hat and mandated you salary - before the end of january (which you seem to imply?) - you are entitled to the £40

let us know how you get on

DC

MarkyMarkD

I'm not sure why you opened the current account at all. It wasn't necessary to do that to get the 7% savings account.

lucylou

but to get the £40 yes.I'll let you know how i get on.If only the switch was required then the £40 should be in my account soon.
thanks to all for your reply.Does anyone have a sample of letter of complaint that I could write please?

lipidicman

I had a different problem - I was refused the £40 offer because I didnt want to close my old current account (I have had a debit card stolen and I want a backup from now on). This was wrong. I complained online and they dealt with my complaint pretty well. People in branch do make mistakes (sometimes it isn't their fault - like staff not being told an offer is closing), what is less forgivable is when you tell them they have made a mistake and they ignore you!

You dont need a standard letter, just explain your problem, be firm but polite and make sure you have your facts straight and you will be OK. Explain exactly why you missed out on the 7% deal. It looks like you will get your £40 and I wouldn't think it was impossible for them to make an exception on opening the saver for you. However if you wont pay in more than £250 a month then take your business to halifax. They were brilliant opening my regular saver and the only downside is that you will lose a little interest as the monthly payment will take 4 days to reach halifax by standing order.

Good luck

sah10406

I have a current account at Abbey and have had loads of bad advice from the Abbey helpline and ****-ups by the Abbey in general over the last couple of years. In fact I have just got off the phone yelling at someone in the e-savers department about the latest fiasco. ****-ups include

* they told the wrong fee for cashing non-UK cheques, a mistake which cost me about £50

* they told me I could use ATMs in Japan, but I couldn't

* they agreed to hold my statements while I was abroad for 6 months and sub-letting my house, then sent them anyway and my tenant opened them all

* they gave me directions to my nearest Abbey cash point so I could deposit a cheque into it, and the machine they sent me to had no deposit facility, nor do any machines that are not at a branch

* when I opened an e-saver recently, they forgot to enclose the ID leaflet and pre-paid envelope when they returned my application for signing. I returned the form signed but without any ID, assuming that as an exisiting customer I didn't need it. A week later I rang the helpline to chase the application and ask what to do next. They hit the jackpot by telling me to send an Abbey bank statement (WRONG: you can't use a statement from another Abbey account), to a specific address (WRONG: it never arrived and my statements are now lost); and with a covering note (WRONG: I should have waited until my incomplete application was returned and sent everything together). It's been five weeks and my e-saver is still pending.

Before you ask, I *have* been desparately trying move my current account, and open a different savings account, but have an (I think) electoral roll-related credit problem, so no-one else will have me at the moment.

lipidicman

More ammo for the Abbey bashers! This thread is a sorry sight if you work for or bank with abbey!

monki_man

Dont get me started with Abbey, they still havent changed my address for all my account. Somehow my Isa is my old address and my grad account is my new. To make this worse, they still haven't closed my Abbey grad account after one month! The reason why I wanted to close my Grad account is because they're not offering me a 0% interest free overdraft!

I've done nothing wrong with the account, ive put in £1000 per month, ive got a full time job, the fact that I take out £1000 straight after i put it in doesnt satify them even though their T&C only states they need money coming in. I'm currenly trying to get £50 of Lloyds by transfering accounts.