First Direct Fees: How to Avoid 'Em or Ditch 'Em Discussion Area

Patr100

gt94sss2 wrote:

As I don't think its been mentioned here before:

First Direct have placed a podcast on their their website entitled "charging update - interview with Chris Pilling" which is described as "After a week of intensive media attention we caught up with Chris Pilling to find out how customers reacted to our charging announcement"

Regards
Sunil

yeah I listened to most of it be gave up when I realised it was becoming an advert - talk about an easy ride !- hardly a Watchdog type interrogation - "How difficult is it to stay innovative etc when you are described as the Rolls Royce of Banks?" What a waste of my Bandwidth downloading that one - but I can see the Bankers down the City salivating to that mp3 on their Ipods...
And I am someone who can stay with FD as unaffected (with my Fd credit card) so far by the charges.

No1catfan

irenemac wrote:

As a customer of some 12 years with FD i have been 'assured' by their Customer Services department that I will not be penalised under this new rule as I have a savings account with FD too. I do not earn anywhere near £1500 a month and have very little saving power.

Apparently they are trying to 'encourage' those clients with 'dormant accounts' to close them (see £50 incentive for opening a FD account - silly billies)!!

Why should I subsidise non-users in interest rates?


seems fair to me - use it or lose it

I have 40 transactions a month going through and £1000 which was the minimum deposit required when I opened my account 5 years ago. Hardly makes my account dormant but I'll still have to pay. I dont earn £1500 a month. It's discrimination against lower earners.

18 months ago I moved my HSBC(part of First Direct) business account as my monthly charges were going to increase from £8 to nearly£40 when I complained I was told that they didnt want me to deal in cash/cheques but to use a card payment machines. When I explained that I worked mobile and most clients didnt use cards they just wernt interested. They wanted me to have a mobile card reader for £30 a month. I just dont get it-a bank who doesnt deal in money. The manager told me it cost his branch to count my cash earnings so I took my takings to a bank that does appreciate them-The Abbey-granted the customer services arent brilliant but at least they are in UK. I'm now waiting for the charges to go on my HSBC current account where I keep a minimal amount of cash for day to day use rather than risk my FD card being cloned and losing my measly unappreciated £1000 month hard worked earnings

marksparc

Milarky wrote:

The article mentions Alliance and Leicester - I have to say that apart from the bribes (£50, 12 months interest-free overdraft) I really don't rate them. They had no one point of contact - and their website looks nice but does next to nothing that you need. First Direct's site is a dream by comparison. Thus if it was a toss up between A&L+freebies and FD+£1 in savings (for now) I would/will stick to the latter. I fully intend to close my A&L current account once the Regular Saver pays out. IF I can keep the FD account without incurring the fee then I shall. (One thing I don't like FD for, however, are their incessant mailshots - I have never known anyone to send so much junk mail - does it actually work?)

I was told by First Direct that I wouldn't be charged under the new arrangements(despite my salary not matching their "requirements")as I have a loan with them,even though I have been a customer with First Direct since 1994 I have closed my account with F.D on principle.Those people that have opened up savings accounts etc to avoid paying the charge are deluding themselves as F.D will no doubt start imposing minimum balances etc into these accounts.

Everyone keeps on and on about F.D customer service(Chris Pilling himself describes it as the Rolls Royce of the banking world!)so what if they answer the phones quickly or are open 24 hours a day....who on Earth wants to do their banking at 3am anyway? If people want to stay with F.D for that reason alone then that is their choice,but at the end of the day their product(s)are a rip off,just wait until the new overdraft rates kick in too(no one seems to have mentioned that either!).

Despite the(mostly)negative comments surrounding Alliance and Leicester I have to say my own move to them has gone like a dream,my Premier Direct account was approved within 10 minutes of sending the on-line application,within 10 days I had received the welcome pack,cheque book,cards and stationary,not only that they matched my overdraft facility that I had with F.D.(£3000!!!)

For those people that are too scared to move because they have an on-going overdraft with F.D or think it will be too difficult to switch....stop worrying about it.....just DO it!!Once your new account is open and your new overdraft is in place just move the lot over to Alliance and Leicester!I have found their on-line banking JUST as easy to use as F.D plus you get 6.10% interest on credit balances(most savings accounts can't beat that!),a zero % overdraft for the first 12 months(reverting to 5.9% thereafter)......First Direct can't touch em on rates,plus of course no fees!

A little tip for anyone wishing to switch from First Direct but the thought of moving all those Direct debits is too much to bare,you can either get your new bank to do the whole switching process for you OR you can do it yourself(much quicker!)Log into your First Direct account and click on your direct debits section,then all you have to do is cancel every one!First Direct then send out automated letters on your behalf to all the comapanies concerned and then hey presto within a short space of time the very same companies start sending you automated letters telling you that they have been notfied by F.D that your direct debit has been cancelled and then giving you a new mandate to complete your new bank details and to send back(usually in a pre-paid envelope)......I sorted out all my direct debits in this way it couldn't have been simpler!!

While I hear what a lot of people are saying re First Direct's "un-rivalled" customer service....surely if all you are doing is operating a bank account on-line or having your salary paid in and then writing out a few cheques or the usual direct debits each month why on Earth would you NEED to speak to an advisor or need this so called "Rolls Royce"level of service??

If you want to be bribed into taking our First Direct's un-competetive products,keep a mimimum balance of £1500 in your current A/C or pay £120 a year for the 'privelidge' of banking with First Direct.....then so be it !!

By the way so much for First Direct's WONDERFUL service:I sent them a message asking them to close down my 2 savings accounts 17 days ago,to date this has not been actioned or even aknowledged(probably too busy closing down accounts I shouldn't wonder!!!)

Lazy_Runner

I am a customer of FD and I have been told that I will not be charged due to the products I hold. I will make final decision on whether I stay after I find out more about how overdraft charges affect me.

I have listened to the podcast and based on the fact that FD listens to its customers, I have made the following suggestions in writing:

FD offer a VISA debit card with chargeback; having seen what some Farepak customers went through, and those that didn't, I think this is a good idea;
More cashiers to pay in cheques at HSBC. At my local branch, there are only two cashiers for all manner of payments. At lunchtime the queue can be long. I have made the suggestion that they have a paying in line for cheques only.

Lets see what they offer their customers next year.

CopperPlate_2

marksparc wrote:

I was told by First Direct that I wouldn't be charged under the new arrangements(despite my salary not matching their "requirements")as I have a loan with them,even though I have been a customer with First Direct since 1994 I have closed my account with F.D on principle.Those people that have opened up savings accounts etc to avoid paying the charge are deluding themselves as F.D will no doubt start imposing minimum balances etc into these accounts.

Everyone keeps on and on about F.D customer service(Chris Pilling himself describes it as the Rolls Royce of the banking world!)so what if they answer the phones quickly or are open 24 hours a day....who on Earth wants to do their banking at 3am anyway? If people want to stay with F.D for that reason alone then that is their choice,but at the end of the day their product(s)are a rip off,just wait until the new overdraft rates kick in too(no one seems to have mentioned that either!).

Despite the(mostly)negative comments surrounding Alliance and Leicester I have to say my own move to them has gone like a dream,my Premier Direct account was approved within 10 minutes of sending the on-line application,within 10 days I had received the welcome pack,cheque book,cards and stationary,not only that they matched my overdraft facility that I had with F.D.(£3000!!!)

For those people that are too scared to move because they have an on-going overdraft with F.D or think it will be too difficult to switch....stop worrying about it.....just DO it!!Once your new account is open and your new overdraft is in place just move the lot over to Alliance and Leicester!I have found their on-line banking JUST as easy to use as F.D plus you get 6.10% interest on credit balances(most savings accounts can't beat that!),a zero % overdraft for the first 12 months(reverting to 5.9% thereafter)......First Direct can't touch em on rates,plus of course no fees!

A little tip for anyone wishing to switch from First Direct but the thought of moving all those Direct debits is too much to bare,you can either get your new bank to do the whole switching process for you OR you can do it yourself(much quicker!)Log into your First Direct account and click on your direct debits section,then all you have to do is cancel every one!First Direct then send out automated letters on your behalf to all the comapanies concerned and then hey presto within a short space of time the very same companies start sending you automated letters telling you that they have been notfied by F.D that your direct debit has been cancelled and then giving you a new mandate to complete your new bank details and to send back(usually in a pre-paid envelope)......I sorted out all my direct debits in this way it couldn't have been simpler!!

While I hear what a lot of people are saying re First Direct's "un-rivalled" customer service....surely if all you are doing is operating a bank account on-line or having your salary paid in and then writing out a few cheques or the usual direct debits each month why on Earth would you NEED to speak to an advisor or need this so called "Rolls Royce"level of service??

If you want to be bribed into taking our First Direct's un-competetive products,keep a mimimum balance of £1500 in your current A/C or pay £120 a year for the 'privelidge' of banking with First Direct.....then so be it !!

By the way so much for First Direct's WONDERFUL service:I sent them a message asking them to close down my 2 savings accounts 17 days ago,to date this has not been actioned or even aknowledged(probably too busy closing down accounts I shouldn't wonder!!!)

And which bank do you work for?

Patr100

Lazy_Runner wrote:

More cashiers to pay in cheques at HSBC. At my local branch, there are only two cashiers for all manner of payments. At lunchtime the queue can be long. I have made the suggestion that they have a paying in line for cheques only.

Lets see what they offer their customers next year.

On the odd ocassions when I have a cheque to pay in I never join a long queue . That's what the automated Cheque Pay in machines are for.

-

marksparc

CopperPlate wrote:

And which bank do you work for?

Very funny!! I actually work for HMRC!!

Lazy_Runner

Patr100 wrote:

On the odd ocassions when I have a cheque to pay in I never join a long queue . That's what the automated Cheque Pay in machines are for.

-

Don't trust them! I want to get a receipt that has been initialled by a cashier. Not a receipt from a machine which says your was the upteenth transaction that day.

Lets just say I work in IT and my IT colleagues think that given my attitude I should be keeping money in/under the mattress.:o

Reminds me about the joke about the group of IT project managers at a seminar.
The speaker asked them how many of them would get on a plane where their team had designed the software for all the plane's controls.

Only one project manager put his hand up.

When asked why, he said, his team were so bad, the plane would not leave the stand let alone make it to the runway or taxi down it.:eek: :rotfl:

THE_BANKER_6

Have you ever:
- Waited more than 10 minutes calling through to a bank's call centre?
- Had a representative on the other side of the phone that doesn't seem bothered about you as a customer?
- Spoken to a representative who sounds like they are on the verge of Harry Carry?
- Been promised a call back from any company to never receive it?
- Been fed up of listening to 'You now have 12 options.. You now have 2 options.. You now have 7 options. blah blah blah blah....'?

I have a few accounts with a few banks, and thank god they are only savings account I can forget about and not have to call on a regular basis.

I joined First Direct a number of years ago.. and even had I not had another account with them.. (which by the way, I wouln't call a loophole, its openly stated in their letter they have sent out) I would pay the £10 a month.

And here are the reasons:
1) You can call at 3am in the morning and still get a cheery voice on the phone.
2) You can call at 3am in the morning !!!
3) I have no idea how much it would cost me trying to get through to a remotely interested person at my other banks !!
4) Nor how much it would cost me to speak to someone who sounds like they know what they're doing.. let along actually knowing what they're doing.
5) They are probably the only one of my banks that I can phone and NOT feel compelled to have to ask to speak to a supervisor (even then not knowing if you will get someone who is a supervisor, or even if they will know what you are talking about)
6) Even if their account pays 0.10% credit interest, its an every-day account. THAT'S WHAT SAVINGS ACCOUNTS ARE FOR !!
7) If they tell me they are going to call me back... Wait for it.. THEY ACTUALLY DO !!!!
8) They record all telephone calls (which is a service I have never had to use all the years I have been with them, but knowing it's there gives me peace of mind that if anything ever went wrong, I had back up)

Now if i could be bothered I could suggest a figure on how much I have spent calling other banks and being on hold over the last X amount of years. How much it has cost me to call other banks back when they fail to return my call. The time and hassle I have spent to explain or help the representative figure out who it was I was speaking to the last time I called, and why do they not have a record of my call so they can see the number of mix-up's and errors they have made, that has cost me even more money. Although I can't claim this money back from them because they have no way of proving that they gave me wrong information the last and most previous times I called.

And believe me.. First Direct are worth every single solitary penny of my £120 a year.

basill

Lazy_Runner wrote:

Don't trust them! I want to get a receipt that has been initialled by a cashier. Not a receipt from a machine which says your was the upteenth transaction that day.

Its not that bad, the receipt has little pictures of all the cheques on it.

B