First Direct £10 monthly banking fee (merged)

Milarky

..I hear you say. But hark!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1948879,00.html

It is even attracting leader comment in the Guardian today!

Can't we merge all of these repetitive threads into one now please?

Paul_Herring

Well at least they're knocking down all the repetative reclaiming bank charges threads... :rotfl:

Edinburghlass_2

That will be because the reclaiming bank charges thread are all on their own board now

I merged yesterday's rash of threads into one of its own but as the other had been running for some weeks I left that one.

Best I can do I'm afraid, I've merged another couple into this thread and merged another two threads that discuss "stay or go".

murphydavid

Explain_yourself wrote:

I work at first direct. If anyone has any questions regarding the new propositions i'd like to give any info i can.

Thanks for volunteering
I read a post, cant remeber by whome" said something along the lines of "first direct have said that if you have a saveings account then no fee but the activity in the savings account will be monitored and a fee may be charged if not active enough" no doupt the monitoring is by computer so there must be a fixed rule so
Are you able to say at this point.
1. exactly what degree of saving activity would be required to keep me free of a fee? Please quote the minimum amounts if possible.
2. If I don't get a letter or notification does that mean for the time being I am fee free.
3. If I am fee free at the moment but at some time in the future I do (or probably stop doing) something that means I will have to pay a fee will i get enough warning to do something about it before it happens.
4. You probably have no idea about this one and it's a bit cynical but Any chance your saveing rate will get up above the 5.3% that would make it worthwhile again (you had the best rate for a while but look at it now)

greenstreetprince

matty2767 wrote:

The high street is where it matters. If all goes well every account will be chargeable and I will be stashing my cash under the bed.

matty, could you please tell me if your bed can arrange Direct Debits? Does it come with a cheque book and preferrably a Debit Card?

If so i would be interested in purchasing a similar make, please also let me in on the manufacturer and place of purchase, thanx!!

SparciaM

Those of you who believe FD is as near to the best/perfect bank in the UK, you're very mistaken.

YES, you have the BEST customer services I've ever dealt with. Even though u offered me a CC and then said I declined and then said ok we'll give you one (but at a very lower limit).

BUT

FD Cu Acc: 2%, is nearly as low as the high street banks
FD Sav Acc: 3-4% is awful, compared to most out there.
FD ISA: again only around the 4% mark.
CC 15.9 - 19% : again OVER 15 Cards with lower interest rates out there.
OD: 10.9%, yes ok, but still not the best.

In Conclusion:

FD BEST for customer service in comparison to most banks.
PRODUCTS WISE - nearly EVERY bank has better products than you. I bank at smile and FD both equally, FD for bills and smile for everyday main banking and smile haven't had good cust ser of stuff but I get 1% more on my Cu acc, over 1% more on my ISA. 0.45% more on my sav (and it's instant access).

So to EXPLAIN_YOURSELF, if FD are the BEST bank they would have good cust service AND good products to sell. Instead they feel like getting rid of the poor or forcing people to buy products they don't need.

I enjoy banking with FD and will be staying for the time being. I wont be paying the £10 charge, BUT when all other banks start bringing in charges I'll move away from FD to the BEST bank for me, products and cust serv wise. FD needs to move from the bottom of the best buy list to the middle to believe their the BEST bank. Your recommended bank of the Year for 15 years running for CUSTOMER SERVICE AND NOTHING ELSE - There's a big difference in the banking community, as everyone is now used to crap service and wants products that are good!!

tomstickland

I agree. I received the "10 of the best" promo card from them, but not one of their financial products was any good to me.
I'm closing my account, but don't feel bitter about it.

FD_EMPLOYEE

Would anyone like me to explain anything? There seems to be alot of confusion.

FD_EMPLOYEE

SparciaM wrote:

Those of you who believe FD is as near to the best/perfect bank in the UK, you're very mistaken.

YES, you have the BEST customer services I've ever dealt with. Even though u offered me a CC and then said I declined and then said ok we'll give you one (but at a very lower limit).

Thank you. This means alot to both myself and all other front line first direct staff.

We think everyone should choose products that work for them, We have a policy at first direct where we treat our customers fairly and we would never want you to take a product that was not right for you personally.

SparciaM

FD_Employee, u say that u want customers to pick a product that's right for them, yet you 'in a way' are forcing people to open accounts they don't want or need so they don't have to pay a £10 fee. To me this doesn't seem good.

I have to say I closed my account with FD yesterday, as it took them 8 days to reply to a message I sent online and didn't even answer the message. Plus when I called up, I was being sold a mortgage or loan, which I advised I didn't need either, yet the lady kept trying to give me all the details, saying FD are very competitive. I told her my loan at the moment is 4.5% and if she could beat that then I'd take one up, she said she could offer 10.9% - competitive my !!!!!

Everyone who works at FD must either get a LARGE salary, BONUSES, EXTRAS or something, as everyone who works there likes working there. I've been in call centres for a long time and it's very monotamous and the same thing day in day out with targets etc. It's really strange to see people who actually enjoy their job in a bank call centre, FD MUST be offering something that other banks aren't, but just aren't telling - I wonder what it could be!!!

One quarm about FD though, is that if you want to discuss multiple things you have to be sent through to multiple people - that always striked me as strange. You call up to do something mundane on acc and then ask about insurance or a loan and they have to transfer you to another person to do that. I remember on one call I was transferred 4 times to get answers to questions. I guess when you call you get through to someone right away, as they only deal with the basics and everyone else is sat waiting to deal with other banking.