Halifax incompetence!

greyvanman

Hi, I'm looking for advice on which is the best bank for current account. I'm not bothered about who gives a good rate of interest etc just good old satisfaction.

I remember when people who worked in a bank were clever people who you looked up to, not jumped up wanna be's who think they are.

I'm with the Halifax just now and my troubles started when i tried to downgrade my Ultimate Reward to standard account. After speaking to advisor over the phone for quite some time, at the end he said 'oh, this isn't going to work, did this account used to be a Bank of Scotland one?'
Apparently their computers had problems recognising these accounts but it would be sorted and I wouldn't be charged monthly fee till its sorted. Four months on and £20 down I'm no further forward...

I have a standard current account with Halifax too, trying to get my partner on it as we buying house so bills etc coming from this one. Can't be done over phone, can't be done at BoS branch, has to be Halifax.
Now, all I hear is we are under same umbrella yet Glasgow that has only one Halifax branck right in city centre is the site I must GOTO.

BoS branch said no appointment necessary as they large branch so will cope. We turned up at 5pm (closes at 6) and met by four girls chatting at the podium at front door. Oh, no one is available for that we were told. There was not a customer in branch and at least four other people I could see near the back. My g/f kicked off to see manager who was now available to run through things on an iPad. During the process a man suddenly became available to stay back and talk mortgages but no thanks. At the end of fiddling with iPad asking so many stupid questions, surely since she has BoS account it would know who she was and process simple, it said no this process can't be done contact the branch. We were in the branch!!
By now we had 4staff members trying to offer solutions but again my g/f said enough of this incompetence and we walked out.

I've cut this short as there are more things but I'm sure you get my point. Surely the manager of the branch should be going above n beyond to square things up. We are just a number... Thanks for reading

Alan

pmduk

Welcome to modern banking. I'm sorry but you are just an account number, one that exists to make them a profit. Staff in branch know little more than customers about banking. Your best bet is to make a formal complaint which will hopefully be seen by someone with better training.

tripled

The "best" current account would depend on your circumstances, such as income, credit history, whether you rely on an overdraft, whether it's important to have a local branch and so on. Having a scout through Martin's bank account guides would be a good place to start

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts?_ga=1.232454559.161165666.1394721022

When dealing with Halifax, making a formal complaint when you phone them up is usually the best option. Insist it's raised formally and you have a case reference number. That's the best way to galvanise them into action and reimbursing your £20.

greyvanman

I called the Halifax on Tuesday to make a complaint and was on the phone for 55 minutes. The guy was apologetic and kept going over how we resolve the issue. We left it with him logging the complaint, reimbursing my call and the branch in question will call me.

A week on, no call from the bank and no funds in my account from them.

Our credit history is excellent. Between us we have two properties (one mortgage free) over 80k in savings with Lloyd's group and a credit card with 500 owed on it.

TSB are offering good old fashioned high street banking.

YorkshireBoy

The Halifax complaint process handling is as follows...

- We will do all we can to resolve your complaint on the same day.
- If we do not manage to resolve the complaint within 5 working days we'll write to give you an update and let you know when you can expect a full response.
- Once all the details of the complaint have been investigated, (we may call you for further details) we will issue a ‘final response’ to your complaint.
- The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) allow 8 weeks for us to resolve complaints but we will aim to get your complaint resolved well before this deadline.

You're at step 2 now, and 5 working days have not yet passed. Even when they have passed (end of business tomorrow), they'll put a letter in the post...which you probably won't get for another 2-3 days, so early next week.

They will resolve it though, and based on my own experience pay you handsomely for your troubles, so hang on in there.

By the way, they won't be interested in how much money you have with Lloyds, TSB, et al...so don't bother threatening to move it outside LBG.

And when you say you're £20 down over 4 months what do you mean? The fee is £15 per month isn't it...that's £60.

And finally, why downgrade to their standard account?...better to downgrade to the Reward account and continue to enjoy a £5 Reward payment each month.

greyvanman

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

The Halifax complaint process handling is as follows...You're at step 2 now, and 5 working days have not yet passed. Even when they have passed (end of business tomorrow), they'll put a letter in the post...which you probably won't get for another 2-3 days, so early next week.

They will resolve it though, and based on my own experience pay you handsomely for your troubles, so hang on in there.

By the way, they won't be interested in how much money you have with Lloyds, TSB, et al...so don't bother threatening to move it outside LBG.

And when you say you're £20 down over 4 months what do you mean? The fee is £15 per month isn't it...that's £60.

And finally, why downgrade to their standard account?...better to downgrade to the Reward account and continue to enjoy a £5 Reward payment each month.

Hi, sorry I ment the reward account. The ultimate reward is £10 per month. Well that's what I'm charged.
I wasn't threatening to leave, just trying to show credit is good with us and we are OK for cash etc

I've got impatient and called because I thought the branch in question would have been on the case. The customer adviser has just informed me the case was passed to the branch and is now closed. No follow up from them? Unbelievable! Even the details were wrong!!
Escalated to customer relations now and they will call me tomorrow.
I'm not interested in being reimburst but its like banging your head against a wall. No one seems accountable!

With so many banks trying to thrust 100 quid in your hand and being able to switch within a week why would I stay with this lot?

BMN

The Reward Account doesn't have a monthly fee, does it? In fact it pays you £5 a month (as long as you meet the requirements of course) - and that would be my reason for staying with them.

By all means carry on with the complaints process as you're entitled to but in order to resolve this it might be easier to:
Open a new joint account
Close the account you were initially trying to downgrade.
Keep your other standard current account.

colsten

greyvanman wrote: »

With so many banks trying to thrust 100 quid in your hand and being able to switch within a week why would I stay with this lot?

Because they pay you £5 a month if you are playing your cards right. And £5 a month to your partner, and £5 a month for a join account. £180 a year - pays for a sumptuous family Xmas dinner. Or a pair of new shoes, or a handbag.

eastcorkram

colsten wrote: »

Because they pay you £5 a month if you are playing your cards right. And £5 a month to your partner, and £5 a month for a join account. £180 a year - pays for a sumptuous family Xmas dinner. Or a pair of new shoes, or a handbag.

More like ten pairs of shoes!

Everynamestaken

You turned up at 5pm and expected a banking advisor to serve you straight away? how do you know those 4 people could open accounts?

I see the problem really was the BOS branch told you originally that you just needed to turn up. Surely booking an appointment would be the sensible option.

As mentioned, the bank is there for a profit. The mortgage advisors job is to discuss mortgages, not spend time on other queries.

I certainly don't believe in kicking off either and calling people incompetent, especially when you earlier stated that you had 4 people trying to help you and offer alternatives.

Archi_Bald

Everynamestaken wrote: »

You turned up at 5pm and expected a banking advisor to serve you straight away? how do you know those 4 people could open accounts?

Opening an account isn't rocket science, and you would expect even junior members of a Branch team to be able to do that. I remember once walking into a YBS branch with 4 idle staff, just to open a Regular Saver (branch only) account. To my amazement, they said I could come back in a week and a bit, when they had the next appointment slot...I then applied by post and the account was opened within a couple of days.

Having said this, with all the compensation claims for "mis-sold" accounts, I do understand why we now have to book appointments to open accounts. One of the growing number of examples of consumer power ending up in consumers having shot themselves in the foot.