First Direct - poor customer service?

raylec

It is generally "agreed" that First Direct has great (24/7) customer service and as far as I am concerned it certainly has in the past.

I have been a customer for 20+ years and today I was on hold for 45 minutes trying to get through to them before I gave up - I haven't phoned them for about 6 months but previously never waited more than 2 minutes (and I used them in days before the internet when everything was done by phone).

So I thought, 'What's going on?' - just google 'First direct trust pilot' and check out recent reviews that suggest that First Direct has deteriorated a lot in the last year and now seems as bad or worse than all the other banks.

So, just be aware that things seem to be changing ............

NotRichAtAll

i left first direct i could not fault their telephone service what got me was the overkill on security. i called them 1 day and the lady asked are you alone can you be overheard, i replied am alone apart from my son ( 10-11 at the time) she refused to go any further until i confirmed i was in a room alone. i made a few huffs and closed a door and stayed in the same room as my son told her i was alone and she carried on with my request.

How would they handle a request from a bus or shop or high street?

alanq

I would much rather suffer the inconvenience of high security than the consequences of fraudulent access to my accounts.

NotRichAtAll wrote: »

How would they handle a request from a bus or shop or high street?

Hopefully they wouldn't. Sensible customers wouldn't attempt to give out security details within earshot of others and non-sensible customers need protection from themselves.

Gilbo_Baggins

Rang them on Thursday evening and I doubt even five rings had been completed before the call was answered.

myth123

I always find the international call number on the back of their card is answered quicker than the one on their website. Both are pretty quick though.

Twiggy_34

We've been dealing with them in the last couple of weeks with a potential move to them as our mortgage provider. Initial contact was excellent until we reached the 2 hour appointment stage with one of their mortgage advisers. She was supposed to ring us back half an hour after the appointment ended with her recommendation. She rang back nearly 2 hours later to advise that she hadn't been able to complete the recommendation and would call back the following evening, but didn't. We emailed (as it was past 10pm and they were closed) to ask them to look into this and received no response until 2 working days later, no apology for the fact no-one called us just a blunt email asking us to provide security details (they could have apologised and/or tried being a little more polite at the same time as requesting the details). Before receiving that email reply we'd telephoned to enquire about what was happening and were told the adviser we'd been dealing with had finished work already, this was on the wednesday and we were told they would arrange for her to telephone us on the Monday as she wasn't back in work until then. We received no call and had to ring them again, only to find that she'd already finished work and had left for the day. Long story short, after a discussion with her manager we got our call and recommendation about a week and a half later. In fairness some of the delay was attributed to illness but that doesn't justify the lack of organisation or the absence of contact prior to this.

katejo

I have also been with FD for over 20 years. I rarely ring but have found that their time needed to answer is slightly longer than before they switched from the 08456 number to the 03456. However it is still far better than other services which I have tried. You still get to a real person quickly rather than a list of options.

System

Well, they seemed quite happy to ask those same things, in a HSBC branch within earshot of all and sundry. Make of that what you will.

It's their money that would lost as it only becomes yours when you get it.

alanq wrote: »

I would much rather suffer the inconvenience of high security than the consequences of fraudulent access to my accounts.


Hopefully they wouldn't. Sensible customers wouldn't attempt to give out security details within earshot of others and non-sensible customers need protection from themselves.

NotRichAtAll

Hopefully they wouldn't. Sensible customers wouldn't attempt to give out security details within earshot of others and non-sensible customers need protection from themselves.

while i fully understand where you are coming from a person within earshot in a high street would have no idea who i was on the phone too in the first place, hence it would be rather difficult for them to marry up anything they heard with a bank.
I take it then you would not trust your 10yr old child?

zerog

NotRichAtAll wrote: »

while i fully understand where you are coming from a person within earshot in a high street would have no idea who i was on the phone too in the first place, hence it would be rather difficult for them to marry up anything they heard with a bank.
I take it then you would not trust your 10yr old child?

A "sensible customer" would realise why FD asks if you are alone, and if you are not actually alone but you are with someone you trust, then they would say they were alone.

SPalin wrote: »

It's their money that would lost as it only becomes yours when you get it.

Money doesn't exist; it's all debt. When you have a positive balance in an account, the bank owes you; when you have a negative balance you owe the bank. If a fraudster fraudulently changes a bank's debt to you into a debt to them, then you've lost money.

colsten

zerog wrote: »

Money doesn't exist; it's all debt. When you have a positive balance in an account, the bank owes you; when you have a negative balance you owe the bank. If a fraudster fraudulently changes a bank's debt to you into a debt to them, then you've lost money.

So money does exist, after all?