First Direct any good?

DreamerV

penrhyn wrote: »

If you ring First Direct you are answered by a real person straight away, no menus no buttons to press, and that person is polite and competent, and thats 24 hours a day.
Been with them almost from the start when they were a telephone only bank, my only moan is they have stopped doing the nice leather credit card holders. O yes and the Black Debit card is easy to confuse with the Black Credit Card.

The 8% regular saver is nice.

I have to say, I had a fair amount of misadvice on my first call (told I needed to open 3 accounts to maintain a free 1st Account, rather than just the 1st Account and Regular Saver, and also told that I couldn't pay in 1500 a month from another account to qualify me for the £100 bonus - was told it had to be salary). Then when I phoned to set up security I was told I had to wait, although the woman said she could do it, then that she couldn't - she was very unsure. However, today I phoned back, I had a wonderful customer service lady on the phone from the Hamilton office (rather than the Leeds office).

I know everyone says the service is great, but I thought I should point out, they are not always correct, and for me so far have been wrong twice out of 3 times. That said, I think they were friendly throughout, and I like that I can call them any time of day. They do try and help, whereas Santander have often thrown obstacles in my way! They say please and thank you which is nice. I'm willing to give them a bit more of a chance, perhaps for a year, and re-avaluate. Certainly, they have very good customer ratings for service.

Idiophreak

I'm with others who say that there's not much difference bank to bank. That said, there are a few little points that I think set FD apart:
* Smart black cards
* Even smarter black cheque books (not that I've ever used it)
* Good online banking, with nice mobile app and NO STUPID LITTLE BOX to carry around.
* No faffing with telephone menus
* Good regular saver
* Great 0% BT cc

OllyM

DreamerV wrote: »

I have to say, I had a fair amount of misadvice on my first call (told I needed to open 3 accounts to maintain a free 1st Account, rather than just the 1st Account and Regular Saver

No, that advice IS correct.

From here (http://www1.firstdirect.com/1/2/rates-and-charges/charges) see the bold bit.

Banking fee waivers
You will not have to pay the Banking fee:

for the first six months following account opening
for any month in which you:
pay into your account* (other than by internal transfer from another first direct account) a minimum of £1,500 or you maintain an average monthly balance on your account* in excess of £1,500 (month means calendar month and we will work out the average monthly balance by adding together the end of day balances for each day during the month and dividing the sum by the number of days in the month) or
hold a first direct mortgage, credit card, personal loan, savings account (*excludes Regular Saver Account and Fixed Rate Saver), First Directory, or first direct car or home insurance policy;

DreamerV

OllyM - thank you! Because the 1st lady was wrong about the 2nd bit, and the last lady seemed to know what she was on about there, I assumed she was right about the 1st bit also! It seems between them they are right (and wrong) Right, after 5 months, I'll open a 3rd qualifying account to stop being charged (or I'll recycle money to the tune of £1500 for the remainder months until my year is up on the regular saver). Thanks again OllyM.

OllyM

The easiest thing to do is just to open an Everyday eSaver and put £1 in there to avoid the fee if you're not going to pay £1500 a month in.

DreamerV

OllyM wrote: »

The easiest thing to do is just to open an Everyday eSaver and put £1 in there to avoid the fee if you're not going to pay £1500 a month in.

Thanks, will sort that

Gromitt

penrhyn wrote: »

O yes and the Black Debit card is easy to confuse with the Black Credit Card.

For me, they are noticably different. My debit card is black on the front and white on the back plus has the word "Debit" in the top right corner. The credit card card is black both sides and has the word "VISA" at the top right corner.

penrhyn

Mnnnn, I'll have a look, just got a new Debit card.

Well I never, you are quite right, back to being the Mary Poppins of banking!!

newbutold

First direct are fab in my book. Purely because if you have to call them, the phone is answered straight away by a real person that can help. No press 5 different options, typing your acct number into the phone and then when you finally get through to someone you maybe in the wrong department!

I mainly bank via the Internet but at least I know if I need to phone my bank, it will be a painless process. When I was with my previosuly bank, the thought of having to phone them gave me a horrible sinking feeling!

[Deleted User]

Switch to First Direct, and you'll never look back.