Worst bank ever - Alliance & Leicester Premier Direct

danjwalker

This all started when I opened an account with them. This was around September 2009. The original deal was to open the account and get £100 cash back after a few months but only if they did all the direct debit arranging. It was an online only account which is perfect for me as I never have time to go to a bank.

So the application was completed and I was given my new account and customer number. They sent me a letter which stated my direct debits to move over but the move date was the 30th of September. I stated to them that I did not want places informed that they should change where the money is to be taken from the day before it comes out. They said that it will be fine and assured me that it would be ok. Well, surprise, it was not. I had about 6 direct debits bounce in my old account. This included the council tax, my mortgage, British Gas twice, the CSA and a loan which put an interest amount back on my repayment which was a few hundred pounds. The CSA threatened court action if I did not pay in 7 days. Anyway, I got hassle of every place. A&L did not apologise about the issue and said they can prove that they sent the details electronically. It took over a month to sort out which was very stressful.

All was ok for a few weeks, then I received another customer number. You are only supposed to have 1 customer number. I phoned up using my existing customer number to advise the issue and got through (btw, I use my normal cust number for online banking all the time) but when I spoke to the person, my customer number did not exist. I gave them the new one and it was not tied to any account. I told them the whole issue and was promised it would be resolved. 5 people later, still same problem receiving letters for 2 customer numbers and my real one did not tie to an account on their system and the rubbish number did not tie to an account either. The 6th person I called said that the people that dealt with the issue before were only standard customer services and he was an online person. He did not sort it either. I phoned back and asked for a manager. One was not available. I got a call back the next day and he said he will put £5 in and the second customer number is an error and will be resolved. The £5 never turned up but the customer number issue did get sorted.

All again was ok until last year in November, me and my partner had a new baby and she was on maternity leave with not much money coming in. She is the main wage earner. I got a letter saying they 'forgot' to pay my standing order to her account and will do it as soon as they can. This is normally arranged for the first of each month and caused a massive issue for us.

This was the last straw. I phoned them to close the account and they cut me off before I got to say anything. So I sent a message on their website through my account. They replied back that I have to go in before they can close it. The whole reason for the online only account is to deal with all aspects online.

Anyway I had to transfer to another account as this was causing me high stress and I could not handle it anymore. They phoned me up on Friday from an automated system telling me that I am £160 in the red and I needed to pay it, so I waited to speak to someone for 15 minutes and it cut me off! I called back and the same happened again. On Saturday the same happened where they called and it cut off so I called back and it cut off.

Anyway, I went to my online account and they charged me £5 because I was not paying money in. Then all other charges are because of this £5.

Do I have a case to fight them with?

firesidemaid

i have had problems with a+l too.

i always go and use the phone in a branch when the problems have been really bad, that way it's their phone/cost and if i am getting nowhere i get one of the branch staff to assist.

write a letter of complaint documenting EVERYTHING that has happened and what compensation you expect. Again, get a branch to copy it, validate it and send it for you to the correct department.

really feel for you with all that crap happening - hope you can get it sorted.

diable

Open an account with Santander and then you will realise how great A+L are.

If you want to deal with them then do everything in writing not via the web or phone banking.

Jojo1daffy

Write in to their complaints department - detail everything, dates, any names of staff who have dealt with you. Tell them what happened and the impact this has had you - whether it be the stress, financial hardship etc. You will probably get an acknowledgement letter and a leaflet advising you about FOS (Financial Ombudsman), they will promise to deal with your complaint within 28 days. When they do respond if you feel that the complaint hasn't been responded to correctly, and they are fobbing you off - complain again. If again you feel fobbed off contact FOS and they will tell you if you have a case to proceed with them. Any lender that has a case dealt with by FOS has to pay (pay FOS that is).
Having said that, they may answer your complaint on the first response.
I had a similar situation with my bank about a year ago and when I complained I was compensated £300 and given £200 to cover all charges incurred.
Good luck.

CaptainSlow_2

I have got problems with Santander at the mo. I opened an e saver account with them, they sent me an e mail giving me my new account details and I deposited a sizeable amount in it. I was away working and deposited another smaller amount a couple of days later.

I got home a couple of days later and checked my account, only the second smaller amount was in the account! I checked everything I had done and realised that the smaller amount was on my internet banking, but in a different account to the one I had initially been advised was my new account!

Somehow Satander! had either opened 2 e saver accounts for me!, or given me someone elses account details in the first place:eek: I spoke to them yesterday. Unbefreakinglievable. They wouldnt tell me where the first deposit was, they want me to go to a branch tommorrow with a copy of the initial e mail - they sent me - to prove they are in the wrong!

Unbefreakinglievable is in the Oxford English Dictionary by the way!

LittleVoice

diable wrote: »

Open an account with Santander and then you will realise how great A+L are.

If you want to deal with them then do everything in writing not via the web or phone banking.

A joke?
A&L are Santander now.

diable

LittleVoice wrote: »

A joke?
A&L are Santander now.

Abbey National and now Alliance and Leicester, I'll be !!!!!!ed (not by choice)

jen245

A&L have been part of Santander for about 2 years now. All the branches are now rebranded as Santander, and the customer service has now become as shocking as the rest of Santander. I closed my A&L accounts 6 months ago, and haven't looked back!

surfsister

danjwalker wrote: »

This all started when I opened an account with them. This was around September 2009. The original deal was to open the account and get £100 cash back after a few months but only if they did all the direct debit arranging. It was an online only account which is perfect for me as I never have time to go to a bank.

So the application was completed and I was given my new account and customer number. They sent me a letter which stated my direct debits to move over but the move date was the 30th of September. I stated to them that I did not want places informed that they should change where the money is to be taken from the day before it comes out. They said that it will be fine and assured me that it would be ok. Well, surprise, it was not. I had about 6 direct debits bounce in my old account. This included the council tax, my mortgage, British Gas twice, the CSA and a loan which put an interest amount back on my repayment which was a few hundred pounds. The CSA threatened court action if I did not pay in 7 days. Anyway, I got hassle of every place. A&L did not apologise about the issue and said they can prove that they sent the details electronically. It took over a month to sort out which was very stressful.

All was ok for a few weeks, then I received another customer number. You are only supposed to have 1 customer number. I phoned up using my existing customer number to advise the issue and got through (btw, I use my normal cust number for online banking all the time) but when I spoke to the person, my customer number did not exist. I gave them the new one and it was not tied to any account. I told them the whole issue and was promised it would be resolved. 5 people later, still same problem receiving letters for 2 customer numbers and my real one did not tie to an account on their system and the rubbish number did not tie to an account either. The 6th person I called said that the people that dealt with the issue before were only standard customer services and he was an online person. He did not sort it either. I phoned back and asked for a manager. One was not available. I got a call back the next day and he said he will put £5 in and the second customer number is an error and will be resolved. The £5 never turned up but the customer number issue did get sorted.

All again was ok until last year in November, me and my partner had a new baby and she was on maternity leave with not much money coming in. She is the main wage earner. I got a letter saying they 'forgot' to pay my standing order to her account and will do it as soon as they can. This is normally arranged for the first of each month and caused a massive issue for us.

This was the last straw. I phoned them to close the account and they cut me off before I got to say anything. So I sent a message on their website through my account. They replied back that I have to go in before they can close it. The whole reason for the online only account is to deal with all aspects online.

Anyway I had to transfer to another account as this was causing me high stress and I could not handle it anymore. They phoned me up on Friday from an automated system telling me that I am £160 in the red and I needed to pay it, so I waited to speak to someone for 15 minutes and it cut me off! I called back and the same happened again. On Saturday the same happened where they called and it cut off so I called back and it cut off.

Anyway, I went to my online account and they charged me £5 because I was not paying money in. Then all other charges are because of this £5.

Do I have a case to fight them with?

I had exactly the same trouble write and email using their submit a complaint email to say you want compensation (I got £65 and then £35) as their mistakes are causing you stress and yur solicitor say he will sue them if not. I got the payments straight awoay but after 9 months my account is still not closed. They are USELESS!!!

good luck!

Cmdr_Bond

I have clawed £400 from the joke that is santander, and my brother £300 (see sig).