Do any banks actually offer good service?

InsideInsurance

Currently have both business and personal account with Barclays. Had nothing but trouble from them, 3 FOS complaints now open and after being told out and out lies by the Head Office complaints team its time to move elsewhere.....

RBS Group - not interested in going back there after previous bad experiences

Santendar Group - not interested at all

Also not interested in paying for my banking anymore, despite the grand names like RBS Private or Barclays Premier you get no better service.

Thought HSBC was worth a try but went in branch last week, was told someone would phone me for an appointment and no calls. Called yesterday to chase it up and was told an email would be sent and someone would call me back..... evidently they're not interested and even if they were now I dont think their customer service standards live up to mine.

Who does this leave? Is there anyone who offers both free personal and business banking (the business is very simple with all transactions done electronically) but actually give good customer service?

If I had a choice right now, I would start keeping my money under my matress but unfortunately my business is not cash based

alanq

I heard of Handelsbanken (I think on Radio 5 Live's Wake Up To Money) for the first time the other day. Power is devolved to the branch so no call centres and one deals with the same few people over time. They have just opened their 100th branch in the UK. Odd that so much has been in the news of MetroBank's few branches yet I had seen nothing about this bank that has been growing fast in the UK.

Possible downsides:
Not covered by FSCS but by Swedish €100,000 guarantee.

As decisions are made locally it seems that the services offered and any charges due are negotiated when opening an account.

http://www.handelsbanken.co.uk

InsideInsurance

Looking into them they are probably not much hype because of the minimium income required to qualify (£100,000) but they appear sensible in terms of if you have both a small business and personal account they will look at the profitability of the business and not just what you withdraw as an income.

alanq

Where did you find the £100,000 figure? I was looking for something of the sort.

InsideInsurance

I phoned the branch closest to where I work

£20 a month but it can be waived if you also have a business account with them. Awaiting a call back from the business RM who's was at lunch when I phoned to find their fees and requirements.

DrSyn

Either "First Direct" or the "Co-op Bank" for your personal account.

No experiance of their business banking side. but I would expect it to be up to the same high standard as the personal account side

InsideInsurance

First Direct unfortunately dont do business banking and whilst HSBC, their parent company, do a product that suites my business it seems they are unable/ willing to setup a meeting having requested it 3 times since Friday and not had one call back since.

notis7

LTSB....simple as....quite straightforward - bit slow to start of with but reliable and dependable.

alanq

I have seen that Co-Op gets good ratings but my limited dealings with it when I took out a fixed rate bond did not leave a good impression.

InsideInsurance

OK, so each Hadelsbanken branch sets its own limits but the London ones only do business banking for turnover greater than £2m

smartiedriver_2

InsideInsurance wrote: »

First Direct unfortunately dont do business banking and whilst HSBC, their parent company, do a product that suites my business it seems they are unable/ willing to setup a meeting having requested it 3 times since Friday and not had one call back since.

Three times in two working days? Give them a chance!