First Direct overrated

Rafter

Please remember that anyone can post here and there are thousands of people who work for competitors of firstdirect who might want to put them down!

Sounds like the original poster has had a few issues due to misunderstanding around terms of the mortgage account and the unusual situation of having a current account with first direct that they don't want to use to pay their first direct mortgage.

Sounds like all these issues have been resolved though.

R.

PS - I don't work for FD! Just been a customer for 20 years and it would take wild horses to drag me elsewhere given the service I have received in that time and the ability to resolve things immediately with a UK based call centre with enough staff to answer the phone within seconds - nobody else comes close in my experience.

Idiophreak

I've been with them about 2 years and have only recently had my first disappointment - my wife and I both have current accounts with them, yet if we opened a joint account with them they still want the £1500 / £10/month thing for it...which seems daft to me. So have opened a joint account at barclays instead

noh

Idiophreak wrote: »

I've been with them about 2 years and have only recently had my first disappointment - my wife and I both have current accounts with them, yet if we opened a joint account with them they still want the £1500 / £10/month thing for it...which seems daft to me. So have opened a joint account at barclays instead

As with a sole account all you have to do, to avoid the fee, is open a savings account, such as the everday e-saver, in the same name(s) and deposit £1.

Idiophreak

noh wrote: »

As with a sole account all you have to do, to avoid the fee, is open a savings account, such as the everday e-saver, in the same name(s) and deposit £1.

Yes, we thought about this...but didn't want to waste any more time than we had to - we only wanted the joint account to pay in one cheque...Just seemed unnecessarily clunky to me...
(ETA: of course, in the event, it would have been so much faster to do the above - took around an hour in branch to open the account at Barclays, whilst they tried to sell us every product under the sun..)

jema_2

been with them since they started, 20 years ago - cant fault them, have several accounts
---if you need to know anything... you just ask -
have queried charges for electronic transfers recently & they agreed to do it for free
dont like their interest rates on savings - just ask.... they do a little shifting round to newer products and you get an extra 1%
... want to know how best to move £ around - just ask,
anything - just ask, they're always polite, very helpful... and more to the point speak full english

SIMHOD

Have been with First Direct since they started but over recent years have been put off by feeling more like a number than a person. Used to love them but now want to move away. They always want to sell you products like insurance, loans etc. My wife has been very ill lately and now needs an automatic car to drive. I applied for a FD loan to buy her a small second hand car and went through this very long winded process where i was offered other products and a bigger loan. I was then told that I would not be able to have the loan and also that they were reducing my credit card facility by £2500! Hey FD why don't you kick someone when they are down? We have several hundred thousand pounds of equity in our home and business property. We also expect £50k in medical insurance within the next month and £75k over the summer - I just wanted a small loan for a few weeks and got turned down despite excellent credit history and borrowing from them before. I was DISGUSTED with what they did about the credit card, which I always pay each month. They have definitely got worse over the years - I used to love this bank but now hate them. I think they are like TESCO - they are very far up their own backside and they seem to believe all their own hype. Will be changing banks and depositing our £125k elsewhere. Over twenty odd years of loyal and correct banking from me and naff all back from them. AVOID THIS OVER-HYPED BANK.

merlot123

The problem is you don't have the 125K yet, and banks don't work on the basis you may get it.

You obviously couldn't afford the loan, and they dropped your credit card limit for a reason.

First Direct are damned if they do and damned if they don't in your situation, what happens if the 125K isn't forthcoming, you would be blaming the bank for irresponsible lending.

You may be asset rich but you are currently cash poor, and FD know this.

You will be hard pushed to find a bank with such good customer service.

meer53

Most banks these days are removing facilities which are unused to limit their exposure. There are lots of posts on the forum about overdrafts being removed and credit cards being closed, it's just how things are now. None of the banks want to be accused of irresponsible lending so they've clamped down big style. Although you have equity in your property and are expecting money into your account, banks will only base decisions on what they can see now, not what will happen in the future.

Redouble

meer53 wrote: »

Don't know which number you're ringing but you need to be using the 08456 100 100 number really. You won't have to wait.

From abroad the number is 113 234 5678.

ah thank you!
I had been calling a different 0113 number! bizarre! especially as it worked before. All sorted now. Thanks again!

Redouble

merlot123 wrote: »

I'm sorry but I don't believe you. First Direct are always contactable by phone 24/7, I have phoned them using both numbers and never had to wait. I have been a customer for almost 8 years.


Something isn't adding up here.:think:

merlot123

How dare you call me a liar! How incredibly rude... I have the phone records to prove it, but thanks to posting on this thread I discovered that I was using a different number. It was given to us by the bank, as DH is overseas at the moment and was answered pretty swiftly the first 3 or 4 times I used it.
Why on Earth would I pretend to not be able to get through to my bank?
!