Bank call centres

matt2222

lowflyer wrote: »

Just tried to close an esaver account with Santander which can only be done by phone, and the call goes to India.
Took three tries to the stated phone number before the woman would do the closure. The other times I was told to phone another number which turned out to be on-line technlcal support.
I've had enough of Santander, but am I likely to get the same customer support in other banks - Lloyds, and Barclays. Will it be a foreign call centre.

I bet you didn't have the same problems opening the account
Funny when you want to buy banking products,Insurance,Sky TV its made so easy to order via the internet etc but not if you want to cancel.You nearly always have to telephone if you can get through and then they will try to sell you something else.

It shouldn't be this way!!

Isn't our time valuable!!

wosters

I opened an Esaver account in Feb. Our main bank account is with Santander as it was transferred when they took over Alliance and Leicester. I received all the info , account no and passwords etc within days and started transferring money from our current account and an old Alliance and Leicester saving account that wasn't paying much interest. Today I receive a letter from Santander 6 weeks after opening the account telling me I had to provide identity info and until I did my esaver was blocked! No warning about this whatsoever. Not sure what I did wrong so I rang the number advised and got the standard treatment - procedure etc. I am disgusted as we have had the same bank account for over 30 years - first with the good old Girobank which then became Alliance and Leicester and now Santander. I tried to close the E-Saver account and asked for the money to be transferred back to our linked current account as I really didn't like the attitude of Santander who showed little regard for a long term customer. Guess what ? I can't close the account until I produce ID :rotfl:I am going into branch tomorrow and closing all our accounts and shopping around for a other accounts.

Annisele

Adding to the praise for First Direct's call centre; I think they're fantastic. Staffed by people who know what they're talking about, and if they do have scripts I can't tell.

The only thing I ever want a branch for is paying in money (which I do maybe twice a year), and I can do that at an HSBC branch.

[Deleted User]

Santander i call them go through to UK every time (way helpful compared to shoddy indian one)

Nationwide - Swindon Based
Co-Operative - Manchester, Stockport and Skelmersdale (The Pyramid)
Norwich and Peterborough - clues in the name
Metro Bank - Holborn
Lloyds TSB - UK
Natwest and RBS - UK
HSBC - varies UK and Offshore
Halifax / BoS - UK
Barclays - OFFSHORE!

sjameson6969

dtsazza wrote: »

Seconding (or fourth-ing ) the First Direct recommendations. The first time I rang them up to sort out account opening things, I didn't even notice that I'd got into the habit of putting the call on speakerphone and not paying attention to it until after the first few "your call is important to us" messages. When the phone was answered within a few rings I was so confused it took me a few seconds to even remember what I was meant to do!

Since then it's been consistently high. I even called them at 10:30pm on a Sunday night a few weeks ago, and as always got through to a real, UK-based person after two or three rings.

Simply miles ahead of everyone else.

Best bank in the UK by far I'd say

coolesticeking

First Direct would be good to try if they ever let you become a customer

lowflyer

Foreign call centres do make a difference as they seem to follow a strict support template, and if you have an issue outside that you're in trouble - no support.
When I've really needed Santander I have been let down as they couldn't handle the problems.
The criteria I was using to choose a new bank didn't include where customer support was based, now it does.
Thanks for the input, very much appreciated.

lincolnscofield111

Getting quick response from customer care is not a guarantee. Sometime you need to wait for few minutes to get connect because of server overload or busy working hours. But there are some call center which having a huge staff to assist you.

[Deleted User]

lowflyer wrote: »

Foreign call centres do make a difference as they seem to follow a strict support template, and if you have an issue outside that you're in trouble - no support.
When I've really needed Santander I have been let down as they couldn't handle the problems.
The criteria I was using to choose a new bank didn't include where customer support was based, now it does.
Thanks for the input, very much appreciated.

is the UK Santander Call Centre any more helpful than offshore?

vaporate

natwest is 1st class with English staff who can speak the lingo, with no minimum £1500 ransom per month to get it. cough 1st direct.