1st Direct, my experience

bipolarproud75

When Nationwide weren't treating me in what I considered a fair way. I took Martins advice and switched to 1st Direct. Once set up I admit it was great even fantastic, however, trying to register for internet banking proved a tough task.
Martin said 7 days, not a chance,I struggled all the way, and my problems have led me to use resolver, a product I would definitely recommend , to tackle what could of been dealt with if they would have said " if you could call in to your nearest H.S.B.C. branch someone (name ) would be really happy to help ":.
Apart from having Bipolar disorder , I am an hearing aid user , and 62 years of age , so I'm obviously great on a computer .
Turns out they do not have a specially trained operative to deal with 1 in 4 , If you know what I mean. I did not have much trouble using Nationwide's online bank at all and stopped receiving paper statements to save the trees.
As I said it is a great bank.:)

eskbanker

bipolarproud75 wrote: »

Apart from having Bipolar disorder , I am an hearing aid user , and 62 years of age , so I'm obviously great on a computer .
Turns out they do not have a specially trained operative to deal with 1 in 4 , If you know what I mean

No, I don't know what you mean - maybe others will but feel free to say what you actually mean rather than being cryptic!

If the 1 in 4 comment is intended to refer to the previous sentence, I find it hard to believe that either bipolar folk or hearing aid users are anything like 25% of the population and even if 25% were 62 or over (they're not), would you expect them to be treated differently by virtue of their age?

meer53

I can't see why you thought someone at HSBC would be able to help ?

SallyDucati

meer53 wrote: »

I can't see why you thought someone at HSBC would be able to help ?

Because First Direct are a division of HSBC.

EarthBoy

SallyDucati wrote: »

Because First Direct are a division of HSBC.

Yes, but you can only use HSBC branches for paying money in. The staff there can't help with First Direct accounts or their internet banking.

jonnygee2

1 in 4 people are affected by mental health disorders @eskbanker

eskbanker

jonnygee2 wrote: »

1 in 4 people are affected by mental health disorders @eskbanker

OK, fair enough, thanks - my natural curiosity led me to this article citing that statistic and it confirmed my suspicion that it covers a wide range of disorders and other conditions (bipolar being 2%), so I'm not sure that it would be practical for banks to have teams qualified to deal with the variety of conditions, severities and symptoms?

Anyway, I must confess that it's not an area I'm particularly familiar with so wouldn't want to wade in and say something inappropriate so will leave it at that, thanks for clarifying.

PRAISETHESUN

@OP, the 7 days refers to the switching process itself to move your old bank to FD, not the process to actually open and have the account up and running. HSBC (and by extension FD and M&S Bank) are known for being very slow in their account opening processes, particularly when they have an incentive going on and there are a lot of new account applications in a short period of time.

I'm currently in the process of opening a FD account (not to use as a main account, so I don't mind TOO much that the process is slow) so I can sympathise. And for a bank who prides themselves on great customer service, I also agree that they should have operatives trained to deal with their customers properly, particularly since you can only actually deal with them online or over the phone.

stehouk

I applied on tuesday, got my debit card, current account number and sort code today (thursday) i'd say that is one of the quickest account opening's iv'e ever had,

[Deleted User]

stehouk wrote: »

I applied on tuesday, got my debit card, current account number and sort code today (thursday) i'd say that is one of the quickest account opening's iv'e ever had,

Starling was the quickest for me.

Applied from the sofa at home at 10:00 on Monday, had my account opened and the details by 10:15 on that same Monday and my card by the Wednesday/Thursday if I remember correctly