Is First Direct Oversold?

bxboards

JuicyJesus wrote: »

They really are nothing special. Maybe the reason you see them as such is because you've been with them for 18 years, and as such you can't see that other banks have actually met their standards and in many ways surpassed them.

I don't recall saying I was with them exclusively, not did I imply it.

In fact, given I said it's not as pretty as other banks, I would have thought that it was implicit I'd used other banks too...

I didn't think willy-waving a list of my other current accounts was necessary to have an opinion

No_6

@ enth..saver what ever

You phone your bank !!!

?

loads of bank accounts.. cant remember the last time I
would have phoned them.


Do they give you problems ? that needs to you to phone ?

or are you old , like me but not up for online banking.

eschaton

They've just sent me an email half an hour ago to tell me how good they are.

I'm actually half hoping that they drop their regular saver so that I can close my account.

JuicyJesus

eschaton wrote: »

They've just sent me an email half an hour ago to tell me how good they are.

It's the insufferable reminders of "we're actually really good, actually, ACTUALLY" that really rankle when they clearly f*ck up or just aren't very good.

It informs their approach to a lot of things, since they believe that since they're actually really good, if you don't like it or are unhappy with something it's you that has the problem.

Enterprise_1701C

I like First Direct. Their call centre is UK based so never any problem there. My OH banks with someone else and cannot set up a payment ahead of time, I can and have several payments set up to go out at varying times (one offs).

I know this is how it should happen, but I had someone clone my card a few years back. They were on it in a flash, called me immediately something looked remiss, and immediately refunded the payments I said were not mine. The only problem was that my card was obviously blocked, but the new one arrived very quickly too.

No_6

I like Santander because they are Spanish and I often
go to Spain or Balearics Islands and I know how to order
in their language, great food, views, sea etc

Have 3 accounts




but have NEVER had need to phone them

rosy10

I'm a fan of FD and still have accounts with them. Had an offset mortgage with them back in the 2000s which was brilliant. Customer service always excellent I've found.

I've also banked with TSB; Tesco; M&S; Halifax; Barclays; Nationwide; Santander and loads of other providers - the worst for me, by far, Bank of Scotland and Barclays. Both spectacular for their sheer incompetence.

JezR

JuicyJesus wrote: »

I don't mind the prettiness, I do think it looks quite nice overall, but I do mind the distinct lack of functionality. Nationwide, Barclays and even their sister bank HSBC all knock it out of the park compared to FD's poor functionality. There has literally been no new functionality added to FD's online banking since 2009. No I'm not exaggerating. It is precisely the same as it was in 2009, with the exception of the Secure Key (which doesn't count as a "function" as such).

For that matter it has a remarkable similarity in appearance to the website they had in the mid to late 1990s which was not actually on the internet but required you to dial up FD with your modem. I presume though that it won't have the same technology behind it ...

EarthBoy

If you prefer to bank over the phone then First Direct is the bank for you, and you'll probably love the service. You get through to a human being straightaway, without having to press any options on the keypad or enter your account no. and the first person you speak to can usually answer all your questions.

If you never ring your bank and prefer to use online banking or an app, then you'll be better off with a different bank because most of them have better online banking and mobile apps than FD. In this case, the only reason to stay with FD is the 5% regular saver account.

Wheres_My_Cashback

Cotta wrote: »

Hi All,

Whilst I am with this bank and agree that the customer service is good and the regular saver @5% is a market best I am still bewildered about how much it's promoted as the top bank on MSE. Personally I find the switching vouchers on offer poor and after the regular saver account there is nothing else of note offered by the bank in terms of financial products. Does anyone else find this or am I missing something with First Direct?

I suspect it's all a self fulfilling prophecy fuelled by perception rather than fact and MSE is rsponsible for some of that !

I've accounts with 32 financial institutions, but wouldn't find anything in my dealings to put them ahead of any of the others. Had various problems at times with many of them and wouldn't say they were any better than others at coming up with solutions or resolutions.

They're all pretty much on a par.