What's happened to First Direct?

chimneyman

Hi - it's many years since I posted on MSE and it's many years since I was last a customer of FirstDirect. I quit FD about 10 years ago as part of my previous major reshuffle and I definitely agree that the FD experience is not what it was when I first joined in the early 1990s.

A few weeks ago, I was quite surprised to find that I was eligible for the switching reward despite being a previous customer - I only wish that I had applied via the MSE link and earned an additional £25.

First Direct were the inventors of 24/7 banking and should not be blamed for the fact that other banks have now caught up. With the additional facility of online banking, it is hard to know why telephone banking is still so widely used.

But, yes, as part of my latest banking reshuffle, I have had cause to phone FD on several occasions and it is definitely not an enjoyable experience. Longish holding times seem to be normal and I find it hard to understand some of the broad Glaswegian accents.

But, hey, I've got my £100 reward and my 5% regular saver and I'm not anticipating any need to phone the bank again at any time in the near future.

bioboybill

I've only been with them for a month, and already finding them a bit strange to deal with, although the couple of times I phoned I got straight through and they were helpful.

When I applied I heard nothing back for a few days, so I emailed to ask what was happening and they promised to phone me if I answered a few security questions. I did that and received a reply to say they couldn't verify me, so I would need to phone them. I phoned them and was told my account had been opened the same day I applied and they were at a loss to explain why I had received the incorrect emails.

A few days later I received an email to say that my complaint was being dealt with and I would receive a response within 14 days. I replied to say I hadn't made a complaint and that the phone team had sorted the issue. Today I came home from work to a letter apologising for failing to answer my complaint by the promised date, but I would receive a definite answer by 15th July.:rotfl:

michael1234

I wish I'd come across this thread before making my own similar one - apologies for that.

In brief, I completely agree with the OP. I hadn't called them for over a year because most things are available on their website. I needed to call them today and yesterday about an important and large payment that the recipient initially claimed they hadn't received. I was on the phone for a lot longer than I would have liked - most of that was waiting or on hold.

I do understand it must cost them more to deal with customers over the phone than via the internet. Couldn't they introduce a system that prioritises those customers who don't call up to request stuff that can be obtained easily from the website and like me don't call very often (less than once per year !!) ?