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Bank of Scotland

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Hey there,

So there is Halifax with 6.17% high interest account.
And there is Bank of Scotland with 6.17% high interest account + 100 quid for switching over.

I have applied for the Bank of Scotland's High interest current account and got accepted. I also have ticked the switching current account to receive the 100 pounds.

Now I have received a letter to go to nearest branch and show them my ID and a council tax, which is ok.

However what is a bit weird is that I received also a welcome letter from Halifax additionally to my Bank of Scotland's welcome letter. They also asked me to put 100 quid into the account if I wished to activate my account with them otherwise after 14 days the transfer to them won't be done.

Well I never asked to go to Halifax in first place. I asked for Bank of Scotland and their 100 quid. Is anyone else going through this mess? Is it a way to push me to Halifax and not giving me the 100 quid? Is this all about? :rolleyes:

Any comments on this?
Cheers
«1

Comments

  • jonesMUFCforever
    jonesMUFCforever Posts: 28,898 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Where are you living?
    Is there a Bank of Scotland branch near you?
    It may be that they direct customers to the ''bank'' that is nearest their home address.
  • houmie
    houmie Posts: 224 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    I live in London, Ealing. I searched for Bank of Scotland branches close to me through their branch locator. but all I have found was Halifax branches...
  • Fedz
    Fedz Posts: 1,096 Forumite
    BOS are within Halifax branches they have near as damn it split up the personal accounts and business accounts where personal accounts are done through Halifax branches and business accounts are done mainly through BOS ...

    Nearest one I can see is Cockspur St. at St. James' Gate.
    Proudly Banking & Saving With:
    The Co-operative Bank.
    Castle & Minster Credit Union.
    Yorkshire Building Society.
  • houmie
    houmie Posts: 224 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Fedz wrote: »
    BOS are within Halifax branches they have near as damn it split up the personal accounts and business accounts where personal accounts are done through Halifax branches and business accounts are done mainly through BOS ...

    Nearest one I can see is Cockspur St. at St. James' Gate.


    How did you get to this website? It seems to be the same as http://www.bankofscotland.co.uk/.

    Ok, actually Cockspur St. at St. James' Gate. isn't too far away from my work. Thanks for the tip. :D
  • janbanan
    janbanan Posts: 90 Forumite
    I am also confused with this/these banks!!

    Their letters so far have been totally inconsistent (long story). Yesterday I finally was able to pay in the £100 and I could see the deposit when logging in online yesterday. However when I look at my balance today, it's back at £0, without a trace of my deposit.

    I've phoned them on two separate occasions and I find their rudeness overwhelming - I get speechless! They literally tell me "Sorry I can't help you. You must go to a branch. Bye."

    I'm starting to get second thoughts... Barclays payed little interest on my current account, but at least they always showed me respect and professionalism... Hope it's going to be worth it...
  • Eyesparky
    Eyesparky Posts: 689 Forumite
    If you don't like the service, vote with your feet.
    "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." — Confucius
  • Fedz
    Fedz Posts: 1,096 Forumite
    houmie wrote: »
    How did you get to this website? It seems to be the same as http://www.bankofscotland.co.uk/.

    Ok, actually Cockspur St. at St. James' Gate. isn't too far away from my work. Thanks for the tip. :D
    If you goto BOS web site and click through branch locate under business tab ;)

    Like I said personal accounts are largely held and operated under the Halifax branches and business customers are directed to BOS branches but, some like our local Halifax are also a BOS (business) branch.

    You can still use BOS (business) branches to operate personal accounts ;)

    It's Halifaxs' attempt to split personal from business account holders ...
    Proudly Banking & Saving With:
    The Co-operative Bank.
    Castle & Minster Credit Union.
    Yorkshire Building Society.
  • moj1966
    moj1966 Posts: 198 Forumite
    I opened a new account as me and my husband have split up. I set up the account a month before closing the original account. I had to pay in 100 pounds I was told this was to activate the account. But the money was put back in my original account after 24hrs. Original account Halifax, new account Bank of Scotland,
  • houmie
    houmie Posts: 224 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Yesterday I was in the only available branch of Bank of Scotland in London. After a long time of waiting and being passed to three different people I realized they dont know what they are doing themselves.

    After I handed all the Bank of Scotland's forms signed to them, showed them proof of name and proof of living, they simply didn't know how to proceed. I reminded them to read the letter they had sent me that I need to payin £100 in order to activate the account.

    After 10 minutes trying they gave up and gave me my £100 back. The account didn't allow any deposits. She started calling the HQ and after 20 min waiting I left the bank. They called me after 3 hours and told me I had to go to Halifax because there is still something outstanding what I need to show them. I told them I have signed all forms and papers I received from you guys and handed everything in. What else would Halifax need from me? They didn't know. I told her I am not chasing this up. If they want a customer like me they need to know what to do and to be honest I am not really bothered with that. She said but you have opened an account and I said well yeah so it stays empty and? Then she was quiet.

    I might give it another shot today to Halifax, but honestly this is the most horrible experience I had with opening a bank account. I really doubt it to get the 100 quid anyway with all this confusion...
  • saxmund
    saxmund Posts: 197 Forumite
    I've been having problems as well. Everything seemed to be going OK up to the point they sent me a letter asking me to supply ID. I put them in the post - I had applied online, and I didn't fancy trying to get my local Halifax branch to work out how to tie up my details with an account I had set up elsewhere. I also paid £100 electronicaly into my new account. It didn't show up in over a week, and I eventually phoned. Having spoken to 3 different people - I phoned the standard call centre and they didn't seem to know who dealt with new account openings - they said that I hadn't sent enough ID and they therefore couldn't transfer the money from the suspense account. As I was sending it by post I had to supply an additional address ID. Well, this is rubbish - I had supplied all the ID they asked for in their booklet (3 items) - but I sent an additional credit card statement anyway. I still haven't heard from them in writing about the extra ID being needed and after 2 weeks I still can't see the £100 on the account, haven't had a debit card, cheque book etc and haven't started the process of transferring diect debits. I think I'm going to phone the dedicated new account call centre tomorrow and see what's going on.
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