First ditect poor service

amanita

Surfer wrote: »

I do read the good and the bad and then average it out. FD had good reviews but lately seem to have gone downhill. As for the phone all it took ages before it was answered and then the holding game started. When I said I want to cancel, she simply said okay. Did not even offer and apology so I think I am better off without the stress.

You are suffering from confirmation bias. Very common when you're having trouble and research your problem.

Doesn't actually sound as though they have anything to apologise for? They're well known for happily dropping customers who are unreasonable- they refreshingly don't put up with awkwardness. If you are polite and co-operative rather than complaining about their procedures, they have bent over backwards for me, every time.

Surfer

cmjrees wrote: »

You are suffering from confirmation bias. Very common when you're having trouble and research your problem.

Doesn't actually sound as though they have anything to apologise for? They're well known for happily dropping customers who are unreasonable- they refreshingly don't put up with awkwardness. If you are polite and co-operative rather than complaining about their procedures, they have bend over backwards for me, every time.

Actually I never complained at all. I raised a simple query which could not be answered after waiting awhile and could be hassled with a switch if they got things wrong so soon. I know the majority of customers are happy, but they probably transferred a couple of years ago however since it was highlighted that FD have a good rating many people may have decided to switch and they cannot cope with the influx.
If they have an attitude of happily dropping customers because the customer asks an awkward question then surely they are not worth transferring to.
Why do they want to know my professon prior to retiring as it has no bearing on my income or expenditure and I have been retired several years?

eskbanker

Surfer wrote: »

I know the majority of customers are happy, but they probably transferred a couple of years ago however since it was highlighted that FD have a good rating many people may have decided to switch and they cannot cope with the influx.

If you're trying to suggest that a good rating for FD is a recent (<2 years) development then you clearly haven't spent much time on this site, where they've been rated highly for many years, coming out on top whenever the question is asked:

The bank has triumphed in every single banking poll we have ever done since we began asking you to rate your provider's customer service in 2010.

Of course there could also be some confirmation bias involved in these polls too....

katejo

maninthestreet wrote: »

Been with FD for over 22 years, never had any reason to complain.

Same here. have been with them approx 25 years without a complaint.

meer53

Surfer wrote: »

Actually I never complained at all. I raised a simple query which could not be answered after waiting awhile and could be hassled with a switch if they got things wrong so soon. I know the majority of customers are happy, but they probably transferred a couple of years ago however since it was highlighted that FD have a good rating many people may have decided to switch and they cannot cope with the influx.
If they have an attitude of happily dropping customers because the customer asks an awkward question then surely they are not worth transferring to.
Why do they want to know my professon prior to retiring as it has no bearing on my income or expenditure and I have been retired several years?

Why do you have a problem providing this information ? If they need it for the application then they need it, being cagey about giving information isn't going to help. What awkward question did you ask them ?

MABLE

Surfer wrote: »

A few days ago we applied to switch with me as the main account holder. Although the website crashed while doing the application, we repeated all the details and submitted the application which was succesful.
We then got a phone call asking our profession were prior to retiring. I have been retired for 7 years and the wife about 5 years. On informing them of our retirement status, they still required us to tell them our previous proffessions??? Not sure why they need thsi info.
Anyway today a letter arrives addressed to my wife who is not the main account holder stating that they need more details from us but nothing else in the letter.
On phoning to query this it took ages to get through and then the lady was unable to answer our query about the letter and asked us to hold while she consulted someone else. After about 5 minutes she came back and asked us to hold a bit longer. After another 5 minutes or so the same request.
At this point I requested that the application is cancelled and that all our data is removed form their systems. I have also sent an email as a follow up to the cancellation. A very disappointing start to switching banks.
They are now getting very poor reviews on Trustpilot. It may be because they have too many people switching and can no longer handle the volume with the current staff levels.

I left them about 20 years ago and would never return. AWFUL.:mad:

Chaykin

Does anyone know how long does it take for the account opening letters to arrive? I successfully applied on-line for 1st Account on 13th of Jan. I was given a ref. number and it said details will arrive in the post but still haven't received anything.

No_6

All banks are either good or bad,
Just use them for whatever you can get.

I have been with them for 20 or 40 or more years gets you WHAT

TheShape

Chaykin wrote: »

Does anyone know how long does it take for the account opening letters to arrive? I successfully applied on-line for 1st Account on 13th of Jan. I was given a ref. number and it said details will arrive in the post but still haven't received anything.

Oh, you will!

Chaykin

TheShape wrote: »

Oh, you will!

But when? Anyway - I phoned them and they said they will post the documents again as I should've received the original ones by now.