Alliance and Leicester Premier Direct

hereford_2

I opened an A&L Premier Direct Current Account a week ago. Cheque book arrived last week, Visa debit card arrived today.

Both card and cheque book only have 2 out of my 3 initials and the cheque book has no counterfoils, so a bit tacky.

Phoned up to activate the card and the once done the guy tried to sell me card protection insurance, wasn't very impressed with that.

Next phoned 24 hour helpdesk about the name problem. Had to wait in a queue for 5 mins. Not sure if this is good or bad. But when I got through I got put on hold while the person went to speak to their manager. When he eventually came back I was told the manager would look into it but one of my initials may have been chopped due to space. As I've only got a 6 character surname I wouldn't have thought this likely, and no other bank or building society seems to have a problem with it. You'd think a manager would know wouldn't you?

And apparently they don't do cheque books with counterfoils either.

And this is A&L's award winning current account.


All I can say is it's not a very good start. What isn't it?

A very good start sir.

That's right!!

tanith

Hi sounds like you have not had a good start with them. I don't remember their cheque books ever having counterfoils, but there are pages at the front of the book to record all transactions.. date, cheque no, details etc etc... I have been banking with A & L for over 20yrs and in all that time I only had one small problem with them... mind I do everything online now and haven't had to phone them since they have been doing online banking... so I would say give them a chance maybe you have just been very unlucky.... JMO...

hereford_2

How many christian name initials have you got on your cheque book?

tanith

I have 2 do you really need more than this, my husband has 3 intitials but only uses 1 on his cheque books,

LittleVoice

It is annoying to be kept waiting on the phone and to have them try to sell you stuff like card protection insurance when you don't want it.

You've also discovered that A&L are good at getting cheque books and debit cards out to new customers in really rather good time.

Card and cheque book have matching details regarding your name so are usable together. I realise you want to have all three of your initials as well as your surname. Perhaps they will sort that out for you very soon. (I've got a courtesy title and two initials and surname on my cheques - though I would be happier to have simply my given name and surname, I haven't bothered to complain - I can access my money and that's what's important.)

The cheque book doesn't provide stubs for the individual cheques but there are nine pages at the front of the book in which to enter not only the details of the cheques you write but also record payments in and a running balance. This is much more useful in keeping track of your finances. Why not give it a try?

hereford_2

Yes I'm afraid I do. This lack of attention to detail, particularly from a bank is just down right annoying.

hereford_2

LittleVoice wrote: »

It is annoying to be kept waiting on the phone and to have them try to sell you stuff like card protection insurance when you don't want it.

You've also discovered that A&L are good at getting cheque books and debit cards out to new customers in really rather good time.

Card and cheque book have matching details regarding your name so are usable together. I realise you want to have all three of your initials as well as your surname. Perhaps they will sort that out for you very soon. (I've got a courtesy title and two initials and surname on my cheques - though I would be happier to have simply my given name and surname, I haven't bothered to complain - I can access my money and that's what's important.)

The cheque book doesn't provide stubs for the individual cheques but there are nine pages at the front of the book in which to enter not only the details of the cheques you write but also record payments in and a running balance. This is much more useful in keeping track of your finances. Why not give it a try?

Not a lot of choice really. Not what you'd expect from an account with Premier in the name. :rolleyes:

masonic

hereford wrote: »

Not a lot of choice really. Not what you'd expect from an account with Premier in the name. :rolleyes:

You haven't seen A&L's other current account, have you? It boasts, amongst several impressive features, 0% (yes, zero, not even 0.1%) interest on credit balances.

Stephen_Leak

I am in the process of opening an A&L account and (touch wood) all is going according to plan. The selling pitch on activation is annoying, all the more so as it is what you have to expect these days (ISTR that my card activation was automated.). My cheque book is in the "short" format without counterfoils - but then again, who writes cheques these days? According to my records, my last one was on 15/12/2006 and the one before that was on 28/09/2006! My cheque and deposit slip books have my name correctly as "MR S C LEAK", although I do now notice that my debit card just shows "S C LEAK" - this could be an issue, if it ever gets stolen, I suppose. It is a pity that you have gotten off to such a start - as it says in Frank Herbert's "Dune", "A beginning is a very delicate time". "

masonic

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

My cheque and deposit slip books have my name correctly as "MR S C LEAK", although I do now notice that my debit card just shows "S C LEAK" - this could be an issue, if it ever gets stolen, I suppose.

If it gets stolen by a woman, I suppose it might.

RadoJo

I think you may have to pick your battles with A and L - they closed my account 'by accident' and lost my wages two weeks before Christmas so I think you have got off relatively lightly.

Then they didn't failed to apply the 0% interest so I now have to pay interest every month and have it refunded into my account - what a palaver! If it wasn't for the fact that I cannot face swithcing my bank account again, I would ditch them, but I have decided to give them till the end of the interest-free (or interest-refunded once a month in my case) period and see if their performance has improved enough to make me want to stick with them!

I think that as this is a matter which, whilst annoying, will not actually affect your ability to bank so may not be worth pursuing unless you think it might have some ramifications in the future - banks have so many ways of driving us mad that I only bother with the larger things now for the sake of my blood pressure!