Anyone else had dramas with Halifax? Or is it just me?

Lizzie75

Having a few headaches with Halifax trying to reactivate a dormant account with them.

I opened a Help to buy ISA with them recently and paid in the max plus set up a monthly standing order. I must have selected the wrong date for the SO, as when it left my account, Halifax bounced the money back, saying I'd paid in the max for that month.

It wasn't a big deal, so I asked instead if I could put in that month's savings into an Easy Saver account which I have held with them for years, but had a balance of £7 and was 'dormant'. I went through banking security and they told me that I just needed to log in online, transfer some money into it and that would be the job done. I did that, then once again, the money bounced back to me. So I rang them again and this time they told me that I would have to go into a physical branch with some 'photo ID' such as a photo card driving licence.

So, this morning I booked a couple of hours off work and went into a nearby branch (feeling slightly irked at having to fight through Christmas traffic and pay for parking). Went into the branch and they told me that I'd been given wrong info...I needed two forms of ID; a photo ID AND proof of address. So, I produced from the depths of my bag both a printed payslip plus a CRB DIsclosure certificate, both with my address on. But they insisted it HAD to be a utility bill.

I explained how much drama this was causing me - all I wanted to do was to pay £200 into a dormant account. Could I just not do that? I wasn't asking to make a withdrawal, just pay some cash in. But nope, not without a utility bill. The Photo ID and other proofs of address were not enough. Ggrrr! So, as I pay all my utilities by paperless billing, I don't have actual printed bills, but online bills. But nope, that wasn't enough either, it had to be a print bill....which means of course that I'd need to pay £2 for the privilege.

I asked to see a manager to explain that I just wanted to pay some cash in, but it was a repeated no. Very frustrating and a rather big waste of time today.

Is it just me? Or has anyone else had dramas with Halifax? :eek:

Westie983

This is incorrect information - to remove a dormancy indicator you will need to provide either
- a signature that is verified on the system (this is unlikely as this is a new caputure from 2013)
- a driving licence with correct address on it
- a valid In date passport

If you can't provide any of these then you will require a bank card with a signature and a utility bill/ bank statement/DWP letter/Tax Credit award letter or a payslip.

Then the dormancy indicator can be deleted, it's correct you needed to visit branch though but you can remove this with the documents you said you had.

Try again or make a formal complaint for the issues you have had with the return visit to branch.

**Edit you didn't have photo ID so they were correct but if you return with photo ID you will be able to take the dormancy off

colsten

If they gave you incorrect information on which proof of ID etc you had to provide, or if you provided what Halifax expect and they rejected it , or if you think you have any other reasonable complaint about their services, you should formally complain to Halifax.

realaledrinker

Sounds like their Frodsham Street, Chester branch. Unbelievable incompetence.

Lizzie75

Thanks for this! Sorry, I should have explained that their customer service told me I'd just need a form of photo ID, so I went in with my photo card driving licence. Their website said I'd need 'proof of address' but didn't specify what, so in the absence of a paper utility bill, I grabbed whatever official looking documents I had, such as the payslip and the CRB certificate, both of which had my address. I also showed them my bank card (with a signature) but was told it HAD to be a utility bill.

Anyway, I've written to complain. I don't mind that their security is tight, but I do mind when they give me inaccurate info and send me on a wild goose chase. I'm so annoyed that I've just downloaded the Help to buy ISA transfer form from Virgin Money and I'm going to transfer the ISA across. They pay 3% whereas Halifax pay 4% but I think it's not worth staying with them. If they're this difficult at the beginning stages, who knows what will happen when I actually want to get my money out.

Oh, had an email in response to my complaint to say they'd ring me within 48 hours...so we'll see if they do.

Malthusian

Why do you even want to put the £200 in a dormant account? Why not just leave it in the current account until the next month? Even if you were putting the £200 in a best-buy account, the interest earned from having it in a savings account instead of the current account for a month will be pennies. And as it's a dormant account I very much doubt it is a best-buy rate.

Even if Halifax operated with perfect speed and efficiency (lol) I can't see how it's worth the cost of your time.

VT82

For what it's worth, the Halifax complaints team were brilliant with me when I set up a complaint. They were practically looking for excuses to give me money. I'd only been mildly inconvenienced, but they talked me into accepting £39 which was in my account the next day. If you really are aggrieved, you should lay it on thick on the phone!

Lizzie75

Malthusian wrote: »

Why do you even want to put the £200 in a dormant account? Why not just leave it in the current account until the next month? Even if you were putting the £200 in a best-buy account, the interest earned from having it in a savings account instead of the current account for a month will be pennies. And as it's a dormant account I very much doubt it is a best-buy rate.

Even if Halifax operated with perfect speed and efficiency (lol) I can't see how it's worth the cost of your time.

To be honest it's more to do with putting the cash where I can't easily see it! I'm really bad with money and over the last 10 years, have steadily worked my way out of terrible debt. This is the first time in my life I've had savings but when cash sits in my current account, I still feel the old urge to spend it. I do all my regular banking with Barclays via the app, so I wanted my savings in another bank, so I could do my best to 'forget' that it was even there.

Just a personal thing really....despite the pain of the last few years, turns out I've still got an itch to spend cash! I'm trying to crush it as I want to buy a house and need to stash every spare penny.

Lizzie75

VT82 wrote: »

For what it's worth, the Halifax complaints team were brilliant with me when I set up a complaint. They were practically looking for excuses to give me money. I'd only been mildly inconvenienced, but they talked me into accepting £39 which was in my account the next day. If you really are aggrieved, you should lay it on thick on the phone!

Yep...I am still annoyed, mostly just at the conflicting information and the time wasting. Have submitted a complaint so I'll see if they ring me.

GreenBitterfly

I've found Halifax to be terrible, told lies about me to DWP allegedly!, and been regularly patronised by staff there. I refuse to use them from now on.

colsten

I find Halifax wonderful. They pay me free fivers each month, just for cycling a bit of money through them. Why don't you do the same? It's an easy way to make an extra £60 a year. If you find a spare current account that you can switch to them, they'll even pay you an extra £100.