MSE News: Santander worst for bank service and First Direct best — again

innovate

kitface wrote: »

How many customers of each bank were polled?

What a good Q. Looks like the source is an MSE survey, in which 6,261 votes were cast but I can't see how many relate to which bank.

rb10

kitface wrote: »

How many customers of each bank were polled?

A very good point. The full results are here.

It is noticeable that First Direct and Santander both have a disproportional number of votes - it seems as though the pro-FD and anti-Santander brigades have been rather vocal.

To be able to take the results seriously, each bank should have a number of votes roughly in proportion to its market share of current accounts.

Pugwash69

Not really in my opinion. If I was getting "OK" service I wouldn't even go to an online forum to say so. I only came on here to rant about shocking treatment and then fantastic treatment.

sweethoney

I've lost money on my ISA due to a mistake done by 1 Santander staff. I asked her to transfer £500 from my current a/c to my ISA, she did the reverse, this has affected the total amount of money I could contribute to the ISA, i also lost interested. I contacted the branch several times, they told me they will correct it, but nothing was done. They also messed up when I asked them to transfer money to my fixed ISA at the end of the financial year, I've lost two months of interest. I am seriously considering to go back to Halifax. They are very unprofessional, keep away is my advice.

cottager

rb10 wrote: »

A very good point. The full results are here.

It is noticeable that First Direct and Santander both have a disproportional number of votes - it seems as though the pro-FD and anti-Santander brigades have been rather vocal.

To be able to take the results seriously, each bank should have a number of votes roughly in proportion to its market share of current accounts.

I'd find it hard to vote in a poll with these questions, because to answer I'd feel I'd have needed some 'active interaction' with them to judge them on, and I don't really. We do on a business a/c, but for the personal accounts they just roll along -- the money goes in, the DDs go out, and I mostly do anything else required online, so there's really nothing to measure in terms of being able to say whether it's 'great' or simply 'OK'.

I could answer a more specific question such as perhaps what I thought of their online service or something like that, because it's something I use all the time, but not on these broad terms which apply to the bank's service overall.

To do that I'd need some specific positive or negative experiences which had tested the service in some way (specifically in the last 6 months, since that's part of the question), and they simply haven't arisen either way -- I haven't had to ring them about anything or talk to anyone in branch etc. So does that make it a 'great' service or is it only 'OK'? To me it's more 'can't comment because nothing happened'. The a/c just worked the way it should (and in that respect I'm more than satisfied).

davethorp

Perhaps they should do this poll again. Highly doubt Santander will come worst for service now

heloid

I agree with your sentiment.

Customers of First Direct and Santander contact their banks more often, for example:
Santander, because they have problems that need to be resolved.
First Direct, because it's so easy to call, some people (such as my self) find it easier than logging on to internet banking to transfer money or make a payment etc.

Obviously these create more memorable customer service experiences than say logging on to internet banking (a faceless/emotionless experience, except with Natwest right now ) whether the matter was trivial/complex/problematic or not.

First Direct might have good service (I think they do), but they certainly get more credit for it than others because of the type of interaction they use.

cottager wrote: »

I'd find it hard to vote in a poll with these questions, because to answer I'd feel I'd have needed some 'active interaction' with them to judge them on, and I don't really. We do on a business a/c, but for the personal accounts they just roll along -- the money goes in, the DDs go out, and I mostly do anything else required online, so there's really nothing to measure in terms of being able to say whether it's 'great' or simply 'OK'.

I could answer a more specific question such as perhaps what I thought of their online service or something like that, because it's something I use all the time, but not on these broad terms which apply to the bank's service overall.

To do that I'd need some specific positive or negative experiences which had tested the service in some way (specifically in the last 6 months, since that's part of the question), and they simply haven't arisen either way -- I haven't had to ring them about anything or talk to anyone in branch etc. So does that make it a 'great' service or is it only 'OK'? To me it's more 'can't comment because nothing happened'. The a/c just worked the way it should (and in that respect I'm more than satisfied).