HSBC and First Direct are the same !!!!!!!s.

meer53

Mikhail wrote: »

Why the best? Because of the customer service? I think the more time you need to contact the customer service the worst the services are …something to do with efficiency and modernisation.

American PayPal for example accepts cheque deposits via a mobile app and most banks even show the pending transactions for more clear and transparent banking.

So if they offer you an account you'll be declining their offer ? How can you comment on FD's customer service if you aren't a customer ?

Mikhail

Turtle wrote: »

You are hardly in a postition to comment on their customer service when you're not a customer. The standard overdraft is £500 I think and they only do one type of current account, so I don't know what you're referring to when you say you're not applying for the account for the super rich, or whatever you called it.

I think you'll find a lot of people on here who will defend first direct, simply because they are streets ahead of everyone else. Obviously they're not perfect all the time, but they come out ahead of the others in polls and awards time and time and time again.

meer53 wrote: »

So if they offer you an account you'll be declining their offer ? How can you comment on FD's customer service if you aren't a customer ?

Most people contact customer services if they have problems that they cannot solve by themselves, e.g., forgotten PIN, changing contact details, ordering a cheque book, etc.

I didn’t say that FD costumer service is bad! I said the more time you need to contact the customer service the worst the services are, meaning in order to get a new PIN instead of revealing it via Internet banking one has to call CS and wait till it arrives via post; instead of ordering a cheque book via the internet or automated phone service one has to contact CS again, etc.

My definition of the best banking is banking when you don’t need to contact anyone to get things done!

I know why FD is good for me, I'm interested why it is best for the others (maybe you have different reasons, that I don't know yet)

baby_frogmella

Turtle wrote: »

I think you'll find a lot of people on here who will defend first direct, simply because they are streets ahead of everyone else..

Actually there is one bank/building society whose customer service is as good as First Direct's (if not better): Norwich & Peterborough;) And i say this as a previous customer of First Direct. I only closed my account with them back in 2005 due to a small fortune i was paying them in debit card usage fees overseas. Obviously no such fees on my N&P Gold current account:p

Turtle

baby_frogmella wrote: »

Actually there is one bank/building society whose customer service is as good as First Direct's (if not better): Norwich & Peterborough;) And i say this as a previous customer of First Direct. I only closed my account with them back in 2005 due to a small fortune i was paying them in debit card usage fees overseas. Obviously no such fees on my N&P Gold current account:p

I will bear that in mind if I get fed up with them . I suppose the thing is no one bank will be best for everybody. But lots of people find that fd is best for them. I don't know how many customers N&P have, not sure if it's enough to really come up on polls /comparison tables (don't mean that to sound patronising, really have no idea about N&P!)

ETA Is there a fee for the account you have at N&P? Just asking because fd do first directory which is £12 a month (and is often half price, or first 3 months free or something) and you get all sorts of benefits, one of which is free cash withdrawals abroad.

baby_frogmella

Turtle wrote: »

I will bear that in mind if I get fed up with them . I suppose the thing is no one bank will be best for everybody. But lots of people find that fd is best for them. I don't know how many customers N&P have, not sure if it's enough to really come up on polls /comparison tables (don't mean that to sound patronising, really have no idea about N&P!)

ETA Is there a fee for the account you have at N&P? Just asking because fd do first directory which is £12 a month (and is often half price, or first 3 months free or something) and you get all sorts of benefits, one of which is free cash withdrawals abroad.

If you credit your N&P Gold current account with a min of £500 per month, then there's no fee otherwise they charge £5 per month...i suppose its fair to stop the free loaders using the account just for when they travel overseas. They also give free sentinel gold card/lost keys protection insurance...great for peace of mind. However just like any other bank/BS N&P aren't perfect:

1) Their overdraft rates stink...they charge around 18% interest and a £5 per month charge on top of this. Not an issue for me personally ( i actually think of these charges as a good deterrent) but could work out quite expensive for those who occasionally use their overdraft.

2) Their current accounts don't accept incoming CHAPS payments directly. Instead the sender has to route the payment to Barclays with your name and N&P account number mentioned as a reference.

3) They haven't implemented Faster Payments yet but they will from 1st jan 2012.

4) No nationwide branches though you can use Cooperative Bank to deposit cheques/cash. Even after their planned merger with Yorkshire Building Society in Nov 2011, there's no guarantee you'll be able to use YBS for day to day transactions.

Grade_A_Reject

Mikhail wrote: »

Most people contact customer services if they have problems that they cannot solve by themselves, e.g., forgotten PIN, changing contact details, ordering a cheque book, etc.

Most, if not all, of the above can be sorted on First Direct's website. On the few occasions when I've had to phone First Direct the phone has been answered by a "real" person within 2 (sometimes 1) rings.

Last time I found a need to call was when my son was moving house and received a letter from his solicitor on the Friday saying they needed the deposit in their account by Monday morning to complete. He had the money in his Alliance & Leicester account but A&L have a ridiculous £250 per day faster payments limit so no way he's meet the Monday morning deadline.

I phoned First Direct Sunday teatime and explained that I'd like to extend my overdraft to 10k so that I could transfer from my account to the solicitors' and my son was going to pay me back.

Within 5 minutes they had extended my overdraft temporarily for a month to 10k and also did the transfer to the solicitor's account for me to save me having to do it online later.

It's service like this that puts FD streets ahead of the other banks and why people who bank with them are so full of praise for them.

Procrastinator333

6 months with FD and there is no way I will be going anywhere (so long as they keep up the good work). I like them because if you phone up, you talk straight away to someone that is nice, keen to help and perhaps most importantly, they actually know what they are talking about. Until the day their CS goes down hill I won't be leaving them.

Oh, and they gave me £100 for switching and both my wife and I have the regular savings account paying 8%. Thus far we have paid them £0 for anything. Bargain.

WelshPaul

If First Direct were that good there should be no need to ever call customer services?

Unless of course you are reporting a card or cheque lost/stolen?

I have banked with Halifax for the past seven years and in all that time i have never ever needed to contact anyone ever!

Pretty much everything other than a mortgage can be done online.

Procrastinator333

WelshPaul wrote: »

If First Direct were that good there should be no need to ever call customer services?

Possibly yes, you can go a long time with never calling your bank. But one day you might need to and it makes a big difference having that level of CS compared to the morons at most banks.

I have 3 bank accounts (2 basically dormant). I was due to receive a large amount of $USD. I wanted to know what FX rate would be used to convert the $USD if they came in to my GBP account. The 2 non FD CS teams didn't have a clue, noether the answer or who to ask. After about 20 mins of going from person to person I gave up. Called up FD, the chap didn't know, put me on hold, 60 seconds later explained the process and current day rates.

As it is all a free service anyway, it isn't even like there is a trade off. Before I was with Barclays who had shocking CS, paid me nothing and gave me rubbish savings rates. FD gave me £100 to switch 8% on regular savings for my wife and I and if I need to call they seems to always get it right. Can't see any reason for not switching personally.

meer53

WelshPaul wrote: »

If First Direct were that good there should be no need to ever call customer services?

Unless of course you are reporting a card or cheque lost/stolen?

I have banked with Halifax for the past seven years and in all that time i have never ever needed to contact anyone ever!

Pretty much everything other than a mortgage can be done online.

Thats good that you've never had to call but if you had an emergency then thats where customer service is really important. FD offer a service that goes way above other banks.

I know someone who banks with them, they lost their wallet containing their cards and needed to buy a train ticket to get home. They called FD to stop their cards, explained their situation, the operator suggested that they transfer some money into their account (the operators) the guy at FD then withdrew this, drove to the train station and gave the customer the cash !
Fair enough this was only possible because the customer was in Leeds Station and not somewhere else, but how many call centre staff do you know who would even think to offer this ?

There will be customers who have cause to complain about FD but i think they will be in the minority. I'm very happy with them and won't be moving banks.