Alliance & Leicester- Mickey Mouse bank

valerieshoukry

We opened a Premier Account with Alliance & Leicester a year or so back, attracted by high interest on their current account. Luckily we didn't close our previous account with HSBC- the counter service was appallingly slow, staff chatted happily whilst the queue of customers built up, most staff were unable to answer your questions accurately, the wait on the phone was a (bad) joke. More importantly, bank drafts had to be ordered from Head Office, the daily withdrawal limit is 250 UKP (fine most of the time, but immensely annoying if you DO unexpectedly need the cash). I have to use A&L approximately once a month to pay a cheque in for a friend- nothing has changed. Today, a businessman was in there complaining that his CHAPS transfer from the Halifax for 25,000 UKP last Wednesday had still not been credited to his A&L account. He ended up saying he was moving to a 'proper bank'.... When I once complained about the poor service, the cashier told me "We are not really a bank, you know, we just provide the basic services." I think this says it all- please take your interest and enjoy it, but we would rather be slightly worse off p.a. with the HSBC and receive proper banking services. (Yes, HSBC has always been really helpful and reliable). Have we just been unlucky here, or have other people found themselves silently screaming with frustration at A&L's dire standards?

Quintain_2

Well I've banked with HSBC since 1965. They recently closed down my nearest branch so I must now use another with worse parking facilities. There is no danger of staff talking to each other as most times only one counter position is open. Oftimes the queue reaches the door.
Last time I went there was a new notice on display ...... they will serve HSBC customers only between 12 noon and 2pm. All other customers will be charged £5.

stormCat99

valerieshoukry, I sympathise with you entirely. Moving to A&L last October was the worst mistake I've ever made. The transfer wasn't even complete until a couple of weeks ago, and even then it was only because I finally gave up on the transfer dept and did most of it myself.

I agree the waiting times on the phones are ridiculous - it's always been 35 mins - 60 mins for me. Customer Service is non existent; emails go ignored, promises that the relevant people will call you back are empty.

I'll be switching to someone else very soon as I will not put up with such shoddy treatment.

MarkyMarkD

I've never, ever waited "35-60 mins" to get through to A&L customer services. Maybe a couple of minutes at busy times or 10-15 minutes in extremis, but never more than that.

Bankers' drafts aren't exactly an everyday requirement. Why should a bank train thousands of branch staff in them, when maybe a few customers a week per branch might want one? I've never had one in my entire life. For most purposes, a CHAPS transfer is quicker and easier and you don't even need to go into a branch for one of those.

The online user guide for Premier Plus current account includes details of how to organise a bankers' draft or a CHAPS payment - both by phone. Seems fair enough to me.

Swattie

I had a similar experience and have just closed my a&L account after about 6 months.

Fortunately, I kept my other bank account going and didn't even transfer my DDs across as they made so many errors.

I ended up spending an hour in the branch, after having spent an hout on the phone at home, trying to sort out their error and finally closed the account while I was i the branch.

Didn't even receive an apology.

linz

I also switched my current account the A&L about 15 months ago. Recently got posted to Cyprus and the hassle it was going to be to get correspondence address changed wasnt worth it, so am currently in the process of switching back to Halifax. I just hope things run smoothly as I might end up running up a massive phone bill from here.

Another thing i hate about A&L is that most admin normal banks do in branch, Alliance say we have to ring up the customer service line for which as you say takes anything up to an hour. A real pain in the neck.

robnye

i switched for the interest rate increase.... which is at least £3 a month compared to 2p a month with Natwest

never really had any problems..... mind you i dont phone them that much..... do most of my stuff online..... pay cash in at the post office.

isayoldchap

boots_babe wrote:

valerieshoukry, I sympathise with you entirely. Moving to A&L last October was the worst mistake I've ever made. The transfer wasn't even complete until a couple of weeks ago, and even then it was only because I finally gave up on the transfer dept and did most of it myself.

I agree the waiting times on the phones are ridiculous - it's always been 35 mins - 60 mins for me. Customer Service is non existent; emails go ignored, promises that the relevant people will call you back are empty.

I'll be switching to someone else very soon as I will not put up with such shoddy treatment.

Try the alternative numbers from https://www.saynoto0870.com I also had a local number where I spoke to a very nice lady in the direct debit section of A&L.If there was a problem the next day it had been sorted.On one occassion they gave me £15 because it was their error.I crinch when I see you wait so long to get through.Usually problems can be sorted.I think the fantastic current account rates they offer,especially the 5% plus you get on one of the cheque accounts has kept them very busy.I would stick it out for the interest
and accept that sometimes things do go wrong.That reminds me -I must visit
the dentist to see if they have any teething problems.

raeble

Ooh Alliance and Leicester got on my last nerve, they have twice charged me for overdrafts. And the staff are so snotty on the phone. The time that really got on my nerves, which caused me to move to smile was when they charged me £25 for being overdrawn despite having £7K in my savings account. OK this wasn't my current account but they could see I had the money. They would not budge. They had the cheek to send me a letter saying there seems to be a problem with your overdraft limit, perhaps you'd like to come in and talk about increasing it. I had only ever been overdrawn on a few occasions. Besides it was only £200 limit and I was paid the next day or the same day. Rotters and also this high rate of interest you are supposed to be getting? Never saw it, not even the month that I had almost 8K in my current account. Their branches tend to have very few staff between the hours of 12 and 2 and loads of them before or after.

MarkyMarkD

Obviously branch staff aren't allowed a lunch break in your world, raeble.

If the A&L staff you are talking about are Scousers, I tend to believe that they just sound like that - not because they have a snotty attitude, but that's how Scousers talk.

raeble

Yes they are allowed Lunch breaks but the branches should stagger them better. I used to go into the main branch in Leicester city centre - this could take 14 cashiers at once, start with then it dropped to 12. At lunchtime there would be two or three or maybe four on. I went in there after 2 and there were nine members of staff sitting there doing !!!!!! all. It would be just as bad at the weekend. The staff on the phone weren't Scoucers at all. I've been with A&L for at least 20 years but they changed once they became a bank or plc or whatever the heck they are calling themselves lately.