MSE News: Revealed: The best and worst banks for customer service

ses6jwg

Having actually sat and opened/ upgraded 123 accounts for the last 18 months my first hand experience has been that customer feedback has been almost universally positive so this does not surprise me at all.

I honestly could count on one hand the number of times a "switcher" I have processed from another bank has "gone wrong", and even on those occasions it was minor issues.

Santander has increased it's overdraft costs significantly overly the last few years which would indicate to me, alongside the launch of the 123 account and credit card proposition, that they are chasing the affluent end of the current account market i.e. those with excellent credit ratings and those who keep a high credit balance.

Santander is a different beast to what it was 4 years ago.

typistretired

simax wrote: »

Gonna be pedantic now and say "Nationwide aren't a bank".....

I know they are a building society but MSE money team have ranked them 4th in their best bank account article.

alanq

Compare this rating with that from Which? members' surveyed just a couple of months ago. Santander rated just "**" for customer service (equal lowest) and was rated overall fourth from last for overall satisfaction.
http://www.which.co.uk/money/bank-accounts/reviews-ns/bank-accounts/best-banks-for-customer-satisfaction/

What exactly were the questions asked? Santander 1-2-3 customers may rate their accounts highly overall because of their rewards but that is different to receiving best service.

Which? members and MSE Forum members represent different types of customer. Neither may be representative of the general population

Lies, damn lies and statistics!

Anthorn

I am highly surprised that Co-operative including smile has achieved second position. An over-sensitive automatic fraud detector which declines debits even where there is a previous association with the payee, failure to provide telephone contact and failure to answer inquiries for me results in the worst nightmare in banking!

opinions4u

Have they just asked the question "Do you like you account?" or "How would you rate your bank's service?".

Seems like some sort of product popularity poll to me.

Guildford

What I didn't realise until very recently is that all banks are not the same.

HSBC I think are truly terrible. I have had an HSBC Premier Relationship Manager for years and years, but when ever I need their help it is chocolate teapot time. They always plead their rules stop them being of the slightest help.

HOWEVER we just moved house and every time HSBC said it was impossible, my wife's Barclays personal manager came through! He chased a mortgage offer through in 3 weeks! He, the mortgage advisor and the branch manager stayed until 6pm completing the application with us.

A one off? No! Yesterday I asked my HSBC Premier Relationship Manager to certify a document (photocopy and sign as a true copy of original). He asked if it was in connection with buying an HSBC product. "No" I said. And "No" he said, "we will certify copies for our own use and would expect other organisations and firms to self certify in the same way". I stormed out walked across to Barclays and sheepishly asked the man at the counter if he would certify my passport. "Of course" was the Barclays response. I don't even bank with Barclays and he didn't ask me if I banked with them. He was a human being helping another human being by spending 60 seconds of his time photocopying a document and signing the photocopy.

HSBC on the other hand spent their 60 seconds, and more, sending me a letter, that arrived today, repeating why they will never help an HSBC customer unless they are buying an HSBC product. The letter says, "This is HSBC policy for fraud prevention purposes".

All banks are not the same and HSBC in my experience always have a reason not to help you. I'm moving my account to Barclays and should have done it years ago.

grumbler

MSE_Helen wrote: »

"Santander now ranks as one of the best in MSE's index of banks by customer service – but only for its 123 account..."

...
Santander's overall ranking has jumped from bottom to fifth place overall in the space of a year – though this was purely down to its 123 account. Among Santander customers, 75% of 123 holders rate it great, but that figure drops to 62% for the bank as a whole.

This makes no sense to me and just demonstrates that your 'index' is flawed.

Am I wrong in thinking that the CS are the same for all Santander current accounts?

innovate

This is your third post on MSE about the same issue. Have you not read the responses to the first two posts? In summary: banks do not have to offer document certification services, and certainly not for free. If you have more realistic expectations, you will be a lot less disappointed.

Glad you saw the light though and have decided to move away from HSBC. Though your new choice seems just as bad as your old. Neither of these banks have particularly good products, but if you crave, and want to pay for, a personal relationship manager, both HSBC and Barclays do actually deliver.

EDIT: to clarify, my response was to Guildford, not to grumbler who posted whilst I was typing.....

innovate

grumbler wrote: »

Am I wrong in thinking that the CS are the same for all Santander current accounts?

I don't think you are. But MSE afaik conducted a special 123 survey, that's probably why they single out 123.

Milarky

Anthorn wrote: »

I am highly surprised that Co-operative including smile has achieved second position. An over-sensitive automatic fraud detector which declines debits even where there is a previous association with the payee, failure to provide telephone contact and failure to answer inquiries for me results in the worst nightmare in banking!

And the 0844 number change 'scandal' of last year would have tarnished their reputation (if banks customers were as discerning as the average MSE moaner..)