LLoyds TSB branch sell off - For customers who wish to stay with Lloyds

danedin

So if 13 May is the date the computer systems become separate then TSB branding can't be far behind?

stclair

danedin wrote: »

So if 13 May is the date the computer systems become separate then TSB branding can't be far behind?

I received a leaflet regarding updated term & conditions which will take place after 24 July.

pqrdef

So is May 13 the day when English ex-pats living in Scotland discover that their nearest branch is in Berwick-on-Tweed?

This is alarming, and it doesn't only affect Verde customers. It would be a half-day round trip for me to visit the non-Verde branch where most of my accounts are held. I've never been there. The only branches I've ever set foot in are Verde branches, which I'll no longer be able to use. Is anybody going to tell me about this, or do I only find out when I roll into my "usual" branch and get told I don't bank there any more?

Do Lloyds want it all to blow up so the regulators have to call it off?

Jaycee_Dove

Verde continues to be a chaotic mess.

Got a letter today implying they were closing my ISA despite not having signed the agreement.

Phoned up, got shunted department to department. Spoke to the transfer team and after 20 minutes was told - yes - there are notes on what they are doing. Will I hold and she will give me a definitive response. I agree.

Five minutes on hold and a man appears asking what I want. I explain I am waiting for (give name of woman). Sorry - he says - I have picked up assuming you were in a queue. Can I speak to (give name again) as I have been on phoner half an hour and she was close to resolving. No, I am advised. You must start again.

I did not have time to go through this for as third time.

So I asked to talk directly to my branch as they know my situation and opened the ISA only 4 weeks ago face to face. He agreed. Told me branch would phone me this afternoon.

They did not.

I estimate I have spent 4 hours so far on the phone over this and am no nearer knowing what is going on.

agent69

I've been with Lloyds about 40 years.

About 25 years ago I moved house, so if I have any issues I go into my local branch to sorth them out. Life being what it is, Lloyds are not transfering the local branch, but are transfering the branch 30 miles up the road where my account is held. You would think it should be the easiest thing in the world to take my 4 accounts from branch A and move them 30 mile to branch B. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I phoned the hotline and after waiting 40 minutes in the queue I then spent 60 minutes being bombarded by facts and figures regarding potential new accounts. I think the easiest way to understand things is to stop calling the bank where your accounts currently sit as Lloyds (it might just as well be Icelands Hankipanki Banki).

With this in mind it ie easier to understand that there is no such thing as transfering accounts. You have to close all the accounts in the original branch and open new accounts in the new branch. When you open the new accounts they treat you as a new customer. It doesn't matter that you have been banking with them for 40 years, they still want to check your credit worthyness. Typical pitfalls include;

• I have a 2 year fixed rate ISA. I can't transfer it to the new branch, I have to close it (and take the penalties) and open a new ISA at the lower current rate at the new branch. I think this account can stay where it is.
• I have a platinum vantage account but you can't set up a new one over the phone. I've set it up as a clasic vantage at the new branch and have to upgrade it online.
• I have a clasic vantage account that had a 1% bonus introductory offer. If I move this to the new branch I loose the 1%
• I have a savings account that they no longer offer and the nearest equivalent new account pays 0.2% less interest.
• There is a limit to howm many accounts they can move in one go. I was told to ring back in 3 days to sort the outstanding accounts.

Overall I can only describe it as a complete fiasco, and I haven't started on the credit card account yet. I think a lot of people will not fully understand the drawbacks of the 'transfer' process and in 2 - 3 years time the lawyers will be making a shed load of cash claiming people were misled.

opinions4u

There is the other option.

Do nothing.

Learn to live without the branch.

pqrdef

They keep making reassuring noises saying it will be seamless, at least for those who aren't in the awkward squad. But in one respect it affects all LTSB customers - they'll all see a big reduction in the number of branches they can use.

Non-Verde customers living in Scotland will have no choice about learning to live without a branch.

Non-Verde customers in England will lose about a quarter of their available branch network, and this may well include a branch they often use.

Verde customers in England will lose about 3/4 of their branch network, just like that.

As well as people who lose the branch nearest to home, this will also affect people who travel around a lot and use branches away from home. Nobody seems to be talking to them.

anon120

I just applied for a new current account via internet banking, thinking that they would open it in a different branch than the verde one. But there was a message on my internet banking today saying that all new accounts will be open in the new tsb branch. Do you think it's possible to transfer the new account to a branch that remains as lloyds so I can have a tsb and a lloyds account?
The tsb branch is far away from where I live, and it doesn't exactly bother me. But in case I need to use the branch urgently, I'd prefer to use the lloyds one that's 3 min away.
Thanks!

pqrdef

I've got a different message. It says any new account I open online will be a Lloyds account, but there's a phone number to ring if I want to open a TSB account.

anon120

They're such idiots. This whole TSB Bank thing annoys me so much... I would switch banks, but it's too much hassle and I wouldn't know which one to choose anyway.