Any experience with Abbey?

LittleVoice

QUOTE=Kilty;4547479]How about Nationwide?

Current account doesn't pay as high interest as some (4.25% for credits of £1000+ per month) but you can take their E-Savings account alongside it which pays 5.30% with instant transfers between the two.

Free cash withdrawals abroad and excellent customer service (in my experience) [/QUOTE]

I think it may appear on the website as instant from eSavings to Flex but, unless they've changed things recently, not always in the opposite direction. (Or perhaps that's how it happens at weekends.) Best to test it out in advance of any critical transfer.

Also, I think you will find that if you are transferring funds from eSavings to Flex to meet DDs or SOs coming out of your Flex account, the transfer from eSavings has to be done before midnight (or 9 pm on Sunday for Monday) the day before.

diamonds

i found the hopeless while abroad for extended times....

visa debit dispute " you'll have to go into branch for that "

cant you send me the forms for me to return ?

" no, in-branch only "

currently awaiting, waiting, waiting.............for £500 refunds

slow slow slow

fine in the UK though

Kilty_2

Bank of Scotland told me I needed to go to the branch for a Visa debit dispute also, so it's not just NW.

omg_3

Only good things to say about ABBEy. I use e-save as well. They also refuse to give me silly high o/d amounts, which helps keep you solvent. On line banking is also good and no hard sell tactics. Way better then nasty west

rainbow12

Abbey are ok if you dont have any queries past 'what is my current balance' and you dont need to make queries over the phone.
If you do need to make queries over the phone, expect to speak to some really polite and friendly people in India who cant fully nderstand English, cant be fully understood by you and who mess up every single query you have - but are very polite and apologetic about it!
I have endless examples I could give you of me phoning up about something and then recieving clarification in the post about a completely different query eg asking for the start date of a direct debit (which was started years ago) and receiving a letter 3 weeks letter saying "we have now set up this direct debit".
I have had an account with the Abbey since I was 2years old (over 30 years) and am in the process of closing it because I am sick of not being able to sort out any queries and constantly being given the wrong and differing information.
If you want an easy life and ned to use the phone for queries, dont join the Abbey

heppy23

Been with them all my life (well since aged about 5).
Had a current account for 19 years.

Internet banking is good, very useful.
Telephone banking crap, foreign call centres.

I am in the middle of claiming back about £800 of charges - last few were for paying a standing order of £2.50 into my sons savings account.
I complained about that and got a photocopied letter that wasn't even straight on the page.

They have gone downhill since the takeover.

They are obsessed with "financial reviews" - you can't just go in an open an account these days, you have to make an appointment to undergo the hard sell.

Once I get the charges back I'll be waving them goodbye.

jonesMUFCforever

Of course if you want to pay a bill at the counter that's a no no too.
I know that most bills can be paid online but for a big bank like Abbey not to accept even their own credit card payments is a disgrace.

heppy23

ejones999 wrote: »

Of course if you want to pay a bill at the counter that's a no no too.
I know that most bills can be paid online but for a big bank like Abbey not to accept even their own credit card payments is a disgrace.

I don't think abbey have made the jump to being a bank properly.
They were good at being a building society but are pretenders when it comes to being a bank. No real innovation.

Classic example is the monthly saver vs the first home saver.
The monthly saver gives 5.35% for saving at least £20 a month, minimum investment £1.
The first home savers gives 5.00% for saving at least £100 a month, minimum £100.

Who in their right mind is going to go for the first home saver?

Toomuchdebt

ejones999 wrote: »

Of course if you want to pay a bill at the counter that's a no no too.
I know that most bills can be paid online but for a big bank like Abbey not to accept even their own credit card payments is a disgrace.

They do accept their own credit card payments-but only the ones issued by MBNA or Abbey themselves, not eg Virgin which is also issued by MBNA(unless it's changed in the 5 weeks I've been off work).They can accept bill payments too but only if they're set up on the system first which is a bit of a pain to do.I just pay mine at Barclays.

Toomuchdebt

heppy23 wrote: »

They have gone downhill since the takeover.

They are obsessed with "financial reviews" - you can't just go in an open an account these days, you have to make an appointment to undergo the hard sell.

Once I get the charges back I'll be waving them goodbye.

Yep I agree-it's because all the staff have targets that MUST be met every week, and they're taught to ask EVERY customer if they have credit cards, if they need a loan,if they want to change their mortgage etc.You have to make an appointment to open an account because the staff can count that as a referral.