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Halifax - Avoid if you value customer service
markmas
Posts: 46 Forumite
I would really recommend avoiding Halifax. They have terrible customer service.
This is probably too long for most to read. Summary is Halifax messed up when opening an account, and couldn't/wouldn't fix the problems and blamed me for the mess. I would be £100 down if I had not checked the statements.
Scores out of 10 for their customer service:
In branch: 5/10 - Dealt with 2, one ok, other deceitful
On phone: 2/10 - Dealt with more than 7, mixture of unable and unwilling to help, all failed to deliver even reasonable service.
In writing: 0/10 - Had 3 letters, curt and blamed me for their faults, mostly addressed to the wrong name.
Details are....
I opened a Regular Savings account with Halifax for my son, with me as trustee.
The Halifax person who opened the account made two mistakes with the names on the account and also advised incorrect dates for the standing order deposits.
Ok sure mistakes can happen, but it has taken 5 phone calls and a trip to the branch to resolve the issues. I do have all my money back now, but I also have a good-will gesture cheque for £20 made out to the wrong name.
When I went into the branch and initially the customer services person tried to persuade me to take out a different saving product. One that would pay them a commission, rather than the savings account with the attractive rate i wanted to open. I persisted and so they agreed to let me open the account i wanted. But also insisted that i needed to open another account to receive the money when the savings account matured.
There were no staff in branch available to deal with opening an account so I was asked to take a seat and call their customer services team to open the account. This took some time to proccess. The person I spoke to was the initiator of most of the problems which later folllowed.
They spelt my childs middle name incorrectly
They put a completely incorrect middle name for myself.
They advised me the date for the first standing order to be made, more on this later.
One positive thing was that the said I did not need to open a second account (contradicting the customer services in branch).
I needed to show my ID to the staff in branch after the telephone conversation. Luckily they spotted my childs name was spelt incorrectly and corrected this.
When I received the first statement I noticed not only was my middle name incorrect but that the first standing order payment to the account had not been credited.
On 13th June I called help centre about missing standing order. I was waiting on the queue for 30 minutes, I explained the problem, Was put 'on hold' but instead the phone call was cut off.
On 14th June I called back help centre, this time got through quickly. They located the money in a suspense account. But said that it would need to be dealt with the next day, and I would recieve a call back the next day. I did not receive a call.
On 16th June I called again. No notes were on my account about the either of the previous conversations. Explained the whole situation again. Again the customer adviser said that she could see the money. But she could not do anything about it since it was after 5pm. I would need to call a different department during business hours the next day.
On 17th June I call again, explain the situation to three different people and eventually, after about 20 minutes on hold they explain the only thing they can do is send me a cheque for the missing £100. I explained that my name on the account was incorrect, she said that this would not be a problem, the cheque would be made to my first and last name only. It turns out that the timing of the first standing order was too quick after the initial deposit (you can pay £100 max per month). The irony is that it was the Halifax advisor told me when to make the date of the first standing order. At the time thought this sounded incorrect, and I had double checked with her if that was correct, and explained that it would be within one month of the first deposit, but she insisted that this would be fine.
Each time I had telephoned I explained that my middle name was incorrect on the account. I was instructed each time that the only way this could be changed was me to go to a branch with ID.
On 18th June I thought I better go into the branch to make sure my name on the account is corrected. So I went to branch as advised with ID, only to find that the account name has been updated already. So the one thing the call centre has done correctly, but it has not saved me any inconvinence, since they did not tell me they had/could change it.
On to 28th June. Recieved a cheque. Made out to the wrong name and only for £20 pounds instead of £100. Cover letter just says 'in relation to your call' here is a cheque for 20 pounds.
On 29th June. Rang again. Was informed the £20 was a goodwill gesture for my time and inconvenience. But since it did not state that in the letter it has now cost me more time and inconvenience to ring up to find that out. He is going to have a another cheque for £20 pounds sent to me with the correct name on it. He also says that apparently the cheque for £100 will be on its way soon (it takes 10 days for them to 'process' it).
On 8th July I finally received a cheque for the £100 I was owed. However the cover letter was curt and blamed me for overpaying money into the account.
So it is now 21st July and still have not received the £20 'goodwill' replacement cheque they were going to send me from the call on 29th June.
This is probably too long for most to read. Summary is Halifax messed up when opening an account, and couldn't/wouldn't fix the problems and blamed me for the mess. I would be £100 down if I had not checked the statements.
Scores out of 10 for their customer service:
In branch: 5/10 - Dealt with 2, one ok, other deceitful
On phone: 2/10 - Dealt with more than 7, mixture of unable and unwilling to help, all failed to deliver even reasonable service.
In writing: 0/10 - Had 3 letters, curt and blamed me for their faults, mostly addressed to the wrong name.
Details are....
I opened a Regular Savings account with Halifax for my son, with me as trustee.
The Halifax person who opened the account made two mistakes with the names on the account and also advised incorrect dates for the standing order deposits.
Ok sure mistakes can happen, but it has taken 5 phone calls and a trip to the branch to resolve the issues. I do have all my money back now, but I also have a good-will gesture cheque for £20 made out to the wrong name.
When I went into the branch and initially the customer services person tried to persuade me to take out a different saving product. One that would pay them a commission, rather than the savings account with the attractive rate i wanted to open. I persisted and so they agreed to let me open the account i wanted. But also insisted that i needed to open another account to receive the money when the savings account matured.
There were no staff in branch available to deal with opening an account so I was asked to take a seat and call their customer services team to open the account. This took some time to proccess. The person I spoke to was the initiator of most of the problems which later folllowed.
They spelt my childs middle name incorrectly
They put a completely incorrect middle name for myself.
They advised me the date for the first standing order to be made, more on this later.
One positive thing was that the said I did not need to open a second account (contradicting the customer services in branch).
I needed to show my ID to the staff in branch after the telephone conversation. Luckily they spotted my childs name was spelt incorrectly and corrected this.
When I received the first statement I noticed not only was my middle name incorrect but that the first standing order payment to the account had not been credited.
On 13th June I called help centre about missing standing order. I was waiting on the queue for 30 minutes, I explained the problem, Was put 'on hold' but instead the phone call was cut off.
On 14th June I called back help centre, this time got through quickly. They located the money in a suspense account. But said that it would need to be dealt with the next day, and I would recieve a call back the next day. I did not receive a call.
On 16th June I called again. No notes were on my account about the either of the previous conversations. Explained the whole situation again. Again the customer adviser said that she could see the money. But she could not do anything about it since it was after 5pm. I would need to call a different department during business hours the next day.
On 17th June I call again, explain the situation to three different people and eventually, after about 20 minutes on hold they explain the only thing they can do is send me a cheque for the missing £100. I explained that my name on the account was incorrect, she said that this would not be a problem, the cheque would be made to my first and last name only. It turns out that the timing of the first standing order was too quick after the initial deposit (you can pay £100 max per month). The irony is that it was the Halifax advisor told me when to make the date of the first standing order. At the time thought this sounded incorrect, and I had double checked with her if that was correct, and explained that it would be within one month of the first deposit, but she insisted that this would be fine.
Each time I had telephoned I explained that my middle name was incorrect on the account. I was instructed each time that the only way this could be changed was me to go to a branch with ID.
On 18th June I thought I better go into the branch to make sure my name on the account is corrected. So I went to branch as advised with ID, only to find that the account name has been updated already. So the one thing the call centre has done correctly, but it has not saved me any inconvinence, since they did not tell me they had/could change it.
On to 28th June. Recieved a cheque. Made out to the wrong name and only for £20 pounds instead of £100. Cover letter just says 'in relation to your call' here is a cheque for 20 pounds.
On 29th June. Rang again. Was informed the £20 was a goodwill gesture for my time and inconvenience. But since it did not state that in the letter it has now cost me more time and inconvenience to ring up to find that out. He is going to have a another cheque for £20 pounds sent to me with the correct name on it. He also says that apparently the cheque for £100 will be on its way soon (it takes 10 days for them to 'process' it).
On 8th July I finally received a cheque for the £100 I was owed. However the cover letter was curt and blamed me for overpaying money into the account.
So it is now 21st July and still have not received the £20 'goodwill' replacement cheque they were going to send me from the call on 29th June.
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Comments
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None of your experiences surprised me. When I made the mistake of opening an account with Halifax I was just thankful to successfully recover my money.
Halifax pay £5 a month if you fund your current account with £1000 every month (even if you immediately take it out). I've now realised that a bank which has to pay people to use it can't be any good.0 -
I had an issue with Halifax, though it was their credit card, not an account.
Cutting a long story short, I did a balance transfer and was advised there would be no fee (I know - that is unusual, but this is what I was advised, so I wasn't going to argue :rotfl:).
Anyway, the next statement arrives and I've been charged a £99 balance transfer fee. Phoned them up and they said it is unusual not to have a fee, so I asked them to listen to the recorded call, and if I was telling the truth to refund my £99.
Phoned back a day later - £99 had been refunded, plus when I pointed out that I had been charged interest on that erroneous fee and had had to make phone calls to sort it out - another £20 credit as a gesture of goodwill to cover these.
So the Halifax can do things to amend for their mistakes after all
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To balance things out; I've banked with the Halifax for 15 years now. I currently have a rewards current account, An instant Savings Account with Rewards Bonus interest, A Rewards Clarity Account and ISA with Rewards bonus interest.
Whilst I find their branch service a bit lame, I generally think they are no worse than any other bank I've dealt with and leagues ahead of Santander.
Whilst it's always prudent to shop around for the best deals, I find Halifax at the moment have some good products. In my town they also have a branch that opens till 8am on weekdays and most branches open Saturdays.
They have cocked up on two occasions, however resolved my issues promptly, offered written apologies on both occasions and a gesture of goodwill on the second.
Whilst there is room for improvement in there customer service, on whole I am satisfied with their service and the convenience they offer. This in my eyes their convenience makes up for their distinctly average customer service.
Mistakes happen at all banks.My farts hospitalize small children
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dreamypuma wrote: »Mistakes happen at all banks.
This is true, but I must say that I have banked with First Direct virtually since they first started up, around 20 years ago. They have NEVER made any mistakes on my various accounts and products and I have CONSISTENTLY received nothing but superb customer service whenever I've contacted them, though this is becoming more and more infrequent as I now do most things on line. Perhaps I am just lucky?
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dreamypuma wrote: »Mistakes happen at all banks.
Yes that is certain, and my main point is not that the mistakes happened but how much time and effort it took to sort it out.
I mainly bank with HSBC and on the few occasions I have had problems they have been resolved by a single phone call or visit to the branch.
In this case Halifax phone staff either could not or would not help resolve the problems, not just on one occasion, but for 5 phone calls. Not once did they manage resolve all the problems.0 -
I also opened a yearly regular saver ( 6 % ) for my son, and you do need to nominate a halifax account for the money to go too at the end of the year. I set up a monthly direct debit with the numbers they gave me. The money never went anywhere because the account wasn,t openend properly. took 3 visits to the branch to sort out!0
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I mainly bank with HSBC and on the few occasions I have had problems they have been resolved by a single phone call or visit to the branch.
Feel like a pendant here, but we switched our Mortgage to HSBC and they were shocking. Querying any details over the phone was unbelievably difficult, and obstructive. By far the worst service I have received from any bank.
A far cry from their sister company First Direct.
At one point, I actually told the customer service advisor that regardless of how good a deal they were offering, nothing was worth the pain of dealing with their off shore call centre.
I went on the remortgage with HSBC, now receive a call once a month asking for feedback on the service I received during our application. :wall:My farts hospitalize small children0 -
I don't bank with Halifax because their service sucks! Even going in branch, the staff are stuck up and unhelpful. I like Barclays
No you're not a vegetarian if you eat any animal or fish, so do not insult genuine veggies by calling yourself one! :mad:
Thanks to everyone who posts competitions. You are the stars of the board :T:j:T0 -
Their staff are terrible. I went to change my name on my account when I got married. The woman took away my marriage certificate and details to make the changes, I get home and find out all she did was add "Mrs" to my name instead of changing my last name.
I went back the next day and clueless girl no. 2 took all the details. I get home and log in to on-line banking and now I have the right surname but I'm back to being a "Miss".
I then asked them to close the account. Funny thing was, a few months later, I got a call from their customer service asking me to answer some questions on my experience with Halifax. He didn't seem aware that I had closed my account!MFW 2019 #61: £13,936.60/£20,0000 -
Also posted on the savings board...
I thought my Halifax troubles with opening a simple child's saving account were over, but no...they can even mess up an account months after it was opened.
A quick summary:
During their IT transfer Halifax 'lost' the fact that the ID had been checked and so locked the account.
They did not tell me they had locked the account.
They rejected an automatic payment into the account, they did not tell me they had done this.
They changed the telephone banking rules, so that as a trustee I can no longer deal on the phone with them. They did not tell me about this in advance.
They were rude and condescending on the phone, suggesting that my bank tell me why Halifax have rejected payments.
In branch they spent 45 minutes working out why my account was blocked.
They asked me to return with ID (for the 3rd time), they said they only needed my child's birth cert - that was wrong, they needed my passport too.0
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