FirstDirect most unhelpful

pcb2go

I am a fairly new customer of FirstDirect. One of the reasons I joined them is because they apparently have a reputation for good customer service. I beg to differ!

I recently arranged a payment using their website to pay off my Amex card. When making a payment, their website offers a menu choice for the date of the payment: "Date it leaves my account", or "Date it arrives at destination account". I chose the latter, and entered 22 September. The first direct website decided that based on that, the money should leave my account on 21 September. I arranged the payment and thought nothing more about it.
That was until this morning when I received notification of a £12 charge from Amex because my payment didn't arrive until 24 September!
I rang first direct to discuss this. They were adamant that they were NOT at fault because the money left my account on the 21st and it's not their problem that Amex took extra time to credit my account, nor that I didn't read all the first direct terms and conditions. I would agree with them too, if they only provided the "leave my account on date" option, but they don't. If they provide the "date it arrives at destination account" option, then they should damn well ensure that it will arrive by that date, or if there is any possibility that this may not be case, then they should make this clear on the webpage where the payment is arranged.
Long story short, due to what I believe is a misleading webpage provided by first direct, I am now £12 out of pocket and have wasted half an hour of my life trying to sort it out. When I asked the second, more senior customer service supervisor, could they really not afford a £12 good will gesture to try to make amends to an extremely annoyed new customer, he said no as it was not their fault!
0/10 for customer service on this issue I'm afraid!

YorkshireBoy

The fundamental issue is that the 22nd & 23rd were non-bank working days.

They (FD and Amex) have complied with the PSRs which state that the payment must arrive by the end of the next business day, which was the 24th.

squeeks

Don't leave it to the wire in future - you have a month usually to pay these things. They usually state something like amount now due, pay by... and the penalties for not paying by this date are pretty clear.... also the FD account doesn't give interest, so if you have the money sitting around, going a week or two early will make no difference to you.

Or change to DD, then you don't have to worry about the dates - just the amount....

Or use a debit card and give the plastic two fingers.

innovate

Although I completely fail to understand why the OP paid a credit card bill the way they did, I do have a certain amount of sympathy in principle.

If I am allowed to specify an arrival date that the bank know they are not likely to meet because it is a weekend, they should either not offer that date, or display a big fat warning that the money might not get paid until the next working day.

Just because banks don't consider weekends as working days, payments might still be due at weekends. It's just sloppy and arrogant systems that assume the customer will check a calendar for weekdays when making a payment instruction, and that the customer knows the bank's rules.

I don't believe this issue is First Direct specific though.

WestonDave

Surely the problem is not with FD but with Amex - if the money left the account on the 21st it would under faster payments have reached Amex on the same day - a day before the deadline. What has then happened is that Amex waited until getting their statement information on the 24th (to cover the 21st information) and credited the payment on that day rather than the day it actually arrived in the account.

Of the two - Amex and FD, I know who my money would be on as the one sticking two fingers up at their customers to make a quick quid. FD haven't benefited here but Amex have had the interest on the money over the weekend and clobbered you for £12 - and yet you are moaning at FD!

meer53

Ask Amex to refund the fee for you. Unless it says to allow 3-4 working days for your payment to reach your account. In which case, it's your error.

barak

WestonDave wrote: »

Surely the problem is not with FD but with Amex - if the money left the account on the 21st it would under faster payments have reached Amex on the same day.....

Not necessarily. As has been said many times here it only has to arrive by the end of the second working day - the 24th.

OP should have paid the Amex bill with FD debit card - if unwilling to set up a DD.

innovate

Amex aren't at fault here. They make it very clear that you need to allow at least 2 business days between your payment and the payment due date. That applies even for payments by debit card.

You can argue that they should be faster but the fact remains they are not, and they do tell you upfront.

System

The problem i've found with First Direct is that they are almost smug and overconfident when problems do occur.

Their internet banking is old and antiquated. They sent my credit card payment to the wrong payment account even though their system brought up the exact name of my card type/provider when setup.

I had lots of hassle getting the payment back and when I complained they blamed me for 'not phoning to check that their systems held the correct payment information'. They also cited their excellent customer satisfaction rate as if it meant they were never wrong.

DrSyn

Stop complaining, it sounds to me as if it was your fault.
Why:

1. Did you not use monthly Direct Debit to pay off your Amex card?

2. As a new First Direct customer & paying off by computer why, did you leave it to the last minute to pay off the card and not 7 days before. The FD account was not paying you any interest after all.

3. Why did you not get and use the First Direct credit card but use the Amex card (does this have a yearly fee attached?). Then this situation should not occur.

4. Why with all the bad news about banks, do you tust any bank. Even a good one like First Direct!

meer53

Heng_Leng wrote: »

The problem i've found with First Direct is that they are almost smug and overconfident when problems do occur.

Their internet banking is old and antiquated. They sent my credit card payment to the wrong payment account even though their system brought up the exact name of my card type/provider when setup.

I had lots of hassle getting the payment back and when I complained they blamed me for 'not phoning to check that their systems held the correct payment information'. They also cited their excellent customer satisfaction rate as if it meant they were never wrong.

When you set up a payment on internet banking, YOU select the beneficiary from a drop down list. Then you confirm the payment to be made. How can it be FD's fault ?