Do not bank with TSB - they are rubbish

vet8

We have a small limited company that has a bank account, originally with Lloyds then transferred to TSB when they did all the changes a few years ago. Two months ago I received what looks like a standard letter from them saying they would close the account as it was not being used (untrue) unless I contacted them to say otherwise. I wrote to say we do not want the account closed and we needed the account as it was the only one the company had and having heard nothing more assumed all was well.

Today I received the closing balance of the account as it has been closed. Now sending me a cheque is all well and good, but what am I supposed to do with it when the company now has no account.

So I went into the local branch and had a moan and the manager called their business banking centre and they said I had sent a letter asking for the account to be closed. What!

The manager said I should phone the business banking centre myself which I just did to be told that they cannot help me as the account is closed! I need to call back between 9 and 5 which is very difficult as I have no access to a phone at those times or I could write to them. Well since the last letter was totally ignored I see no point in writing.

I am very unamused. Meanwhile the company has no access to the money that we had in the account

Zanderman

vet8 wrote: »

...or I could write to them. Well since the last letter was totally ignored I see no point in writing.

TSB aren't rubbish - any more than any bank is rubbish. You've just had a bad experience where instructions have been misunderstood. Could happen at any bank.

Your only option, probably, to get any progress with this is to complain. In writing. If you so readily dismiss writing as 'it didn't work last time' you'll never get anywhere.

Complain, wording your letter carefully and politely, in writing.

vet8

Yes I intend to write to complain, but at the moment I need this sorted out quickly so we can access the money and it just frustrates me that I have spent a long time today faffing around trying to sort this and have got absolutely nowhere. I cannot understand why they wanted to close the account in the first place, it was in credit and they charge us bank charges every month so they make money out of us.

Yorkshire_Pud

I will continue to bank with TSB.

They are good.

SailorSam

The trouble is we're running out of banks to choose. Last time i went into the local Hsbc they said they were closing before Christmas, now have just read another in the High St ( Nat West) is due to close.
How long before we only have Charity shops and betting shops left.

xylophone

Take steps to open a new business account as quickly as possible.

Write a formal letter of complaint, in particular asking for an explanation of why your account was said to be unused and requesting a copy of the letter which you are alleged to have sent to close the account.

If you are not satisfied, make your case to the FOS.

http://www.knowyourmoney.co.uk/business-current-accounts/?gclid=CPm13JiG6NACFRThGwodJ1IADg might help.

colsten

Yorkshire_Pud wrote: »

I will continue to bank with TSB.

They are good.

Me too. All those 5% interest accounts and the cashbacks have been lovely. As we go forward, they still offer some good deals which I am determined to exploit, and I am confident I will continue not to have any problems with their service.

colsten

SailorSam wrote: »

The trouble is we're running out of banks to choose.

I have accounts with about 14 of them right now, and some more with Building Societies. The few times I actually need to use traditional Branch services, I can go and do them at almost any Post Office, and no-charge ATMs are abound in shopping areas. Not expecting to run out of banking facilities any time soon myself.

teddysmum

colsten wrote: »

Me too. All those 5% interest accounts and the cashbacks have been lovely. As we go forward, they still offer some good deals which I am determined to exploit, and I am confident I will continue not to have any problems with their service.

I agree.


However, I don't understand why the OP has no access to a phone, for business, during business hours. Surely, if not office based, they have a mobile?

vet8

teddysmum wrote: »

I agree.


However, I don't understand why the OP has no access to a phone, for business, during business hours. Surely, if not office based, they have a mobile?

I live in the countryside and there is NO signal here at all. I might just about be able to make a call if I stand in the field and wave the phone around, but the chances of keeping a signal for the duration of a long call to the bank are zero. Town based people do not understand the difficulties of phoning in the countryside. And the reason we have no land line is that BT say we are too far from the road to connect. We are looking at satellite at the moment.

vet8

Thanks for the replies. The latest update is that I spent half an hour on the phone today to the TSB business centre. The pleasant woman I spoke to was unable to access our account as it is closed, it was exactly the same as when I called on Friday. GGGRRRR

I hung on for ages while she tried to talk to 3 other departments then was eventually put through to customer services where I spoke to a not very friendly man who said it is impossible to reopen a closed account, so we have to faff about with all the unnecessary aggro of opening an account that should not have been closed in the first place.

Everyone on the phone said they could not understand why it was closed as the account had money in it, it should not have been closed and no one could give me any idea why that should have happened - useless.

I am now starting to, quite unreasonably blame TSB for everything. Last Friday I had to drive 5 miles to the nearest town, park the car, walk to the bank and wait to speak to the manager, all this took an hour and that meant leaving my dogs at a time when I am normally exercising them. I have a 7 month old German Shepherd who got bored and chewed a box which contained a new piece of furniture which now has teeth marks in it. All TSB's fault!

Then on Friday night I had too much wine with my dinner to drown my sorrows and felt a bit rough next morning -TSB's fault again!