Co-operate Bank - alternatives, please?

RainbowsInTheSpray

Having been a loyal customer for donkeys years, I have finally cracked under the strain of having to deal with their ever-worsening customer service. My complaints to them have been met with a variety of 'oh, don't worry, we really ARE improving things, honestly' permutations which, I now realise, have just been 'customer fob-offs' chosen by a dart thrown at a list.

The revolving door of their CEO back-slapping cronies has seen the latest overpaid and incompetent incumbent writing a begging letter email to account holders, asking for 'patience as they navigate the pandemic'. Oh dear, that's a new one. I hadn't realised there was this new and unforeseen pandemic in town. Yes, right... translation, frankly: 'No, we're NOT going to spend any money on hiring and training new staff. We need it to top up our CEO's perks'.

I have these few basic needs as regards a current account: no charges, regular mailed, paper statements and good telephone banking without constant urging to 'go online'. Can anyone please point me at where I might take my business? The Co-op simply isn't fit for purpose any more. Very sad.

wmb194

HSBC's First Direct might suit.

gsmh

wmb194 said:

HSBC's First Direct might suit.

That would depend on whether the OP joined the Co-operative Bank for its ethical policy. If this was the case, the Nationwide might be a decent option and possibly better ethically than the Co-operative Bank, given its ownership. The Cumberland BS would be at the top of my list, but you have to live in its catchment area to apply. HSBC/First Direct is right at the bottom of the pile according to to most people's idea of ethical.

p00hsticks

wmb194 said:

HSBC's First Direct might suit.

Although it started off as a telephone bank, FD has recently been advising people to use its online services instead as there are increased call waiting times. Although they say that they are hiring more people to take calls, I'm not sure that at the moment FD would meet the requirement of "good telephone banking without constant urging to 'go online'."

wmb194

gsmh said:

wmb194 said:

HSBC's First Direct might suit.

That would depend on whether the OP joined the Co-operative Bank for its ethical policy. If this was the case, the Nationwide might be a decent option and possibly better ethically than the Co-operative Bank, given its ownership. The Cumberland BS would be at the top of my list, but you have to live in its catchment area to apply. HSBC/First Direct is right at the bottom of the pile according to to most people's idea of ethical.

If the priority is good telephone banking, not being hassled to stop using telephone banking and reams of paper then First Direct is for them.

wmb194

p00hsticks said:

wmb194 said:

HSBC's First Direct might suit.

Although it started off as a telephone bank, FD has recently been advising people to use its online services instead as there are increased call waiting times. Although they say that they are hiring more people to take calls, I'm not sure that at the moment FD would meet the requirement of "good telephone banking without constant urging to 'go online'."

It doesn't usually, and these things are relative. There's nothing to stop the OP from opening a few accounts with different banks and trying them out. It's never all or nothing.

RainbowsInTheSpray

Thanks for the suggestions even if, as it seems, there's no single obvious course of action.

I'm sorry to be quitting the Co-op. I really am. I can remember how good its customer services used to be years ago when I joined them. I was actively promoting them to people I knew. It's just been an ongoing tale of woe now for several years with no remote inclination at the top to rectify matters. The clear agenda has been, as with many institutions, to rid themselves of as much 'salary burden' as possible and to hell with the client experience which has simply become a lip service operation.

As I said, very sad.

badger09

RainbowsInTheSpray said:

Thanks for the suggestions even if, as it seems, there's no single obvious course of action.

I'm sorry to be quitting the Co-op. I really am. I can remember how good its customer services used to be years ago when I joined them. I was actively promoting them to people I knew. It's just been an ongoing tale of woe now for several years with no remote inclination at the top to rectify matters. The clear agenda has been, as with many institutions, to rid themselves of as much 'salary burden' as possible and to hell with the client experience which has simply become a lip service operation.

As I said, very sad.

I've had my 'main' account with Co-operative for almost 50 years. Can't say I've noticed a deterioration in customer service in recent years, but then I can't remember the last time I needed to contact them.

Care to give us a clue about the problems you've encountered?

RainbowsInTheSpray

badger09 said:

RainbowsInTheSpray said:

Thanks for the suggestions even if, as it seems, there's no single obvious course of action.

I'm sorry to be quitting the Co-op. I really am. I can remember how good its customer services used to be years ago when I joined them. I was actively promoting them to people I knew. It's just been an ongoing tale of woe now for several years with no remote inclination at the top to rectify matters. The clear agenda has been, as with many institutions, to rid themselves of as much 'salary burden' as possible and to hell with the client experience which has simply become a lip service operation.

As I said, very sad.

I've had my 'main' account with Co-operative for almost 50 years. Can't say I've noticed a deterioration in customer service in recent years, but then I can't remember the last time I needed to contact them.

Care to give us a clue about the problems you've encountered?

I joined them because I prefer to transact business via phone banking, talking with a human being. Bank transfers, changes to standing orders, one-off payments etc. Specifically, I do not wish to engage in internet banking which I regard as a world-wide accident waiting to happen and of this we have already seen plenty of minor precursor signs. At the time (15+ years ago) I was assured in as many words that this particular service of theirs (phone banking) was second to none and would not be allowed to deteriorate. 

For perhaps the first half of those fifteen years, the service was as advertised. The rest has been an accelerating descent into sheer awfulness.

They've also closed all their local branches in my area. If I want any reasonable prospect of getting something done promptly, I am coerced into the 'online' option. A not-so-hidden agenda. 

Well, thank you but no thank you. I do not apologise for my old-fashioned mindset and I also view my expectation that a promise should be honoured as reasonable.

badger09

First Direct is probably still the leader as far as telephone banking is concerned, but as said above, even FD are encouraging customers to use online/app based banking where possible. However, it doesn't have any branch network of its own.

Nationwide still has a decent branch network, so perhaps a combination of those 2 might suit?
Most banks also allow some transactions to be made at Post Office. 

MoJoeGo

RainbowsInTheSpray said:

badger09 said:

RainbowsInTheSpray said:

Thanks for the suggestions even if, as it seems, there's no single obvious course of action.

I'm sorry to be quitting the Co-op. I really am. I can remember how good its customer services used to be years ago when I joined them. I was actively promoting them to people I knew. It's just been an ongoing tale of woe now for several years with no remote inclination at the top to rectify matters. The clear agenda has been, as with many institutions, to rid themselves of as much 'salary burden' as possible and to hell with the client experience which has simply become a lip service operation.

As I said, very sad.

I've had my 'main' account with Co-operative for almost 50 years. Can't say I've noticed a deterioration in customer service in recent years, but then I can't remember the last time I needed to contact them.

Care to give us a clue about the problems you've encountered?

I joined them because I prefer to transact business via phone banking, talking with a human being. Bank transfers, changes to standing orders, one-off payments etc. Specifically, I do not wish to engage in internet banking which I regard as a world-wide accident waiting to happen and of this we have already seen plenty of minor precursor signs. At the time (15+ years ago) I was assured in as many words that this particular service of theirs (phone banking) was second to none and would not be allowed to deteriorate. 

For perhaps the first half of those fifteen years, the service was as advertised. The rest has been an accelerating descent into sheer awfulness.

They've also closed all their local branches in my area. If I want any reasonable prospect of getting something done promptly, I am coerced into the 'online' option. A not-so-hidden agenda. 

Well, thank you but no thank you. I do not apologise for my old-fashioned mindset and I also view my expectation that a promise should be honoured as reasonable.

No one needs to apologise for expecting good service, we just have different views of what that entails. My own view though is that if you were promised something 15 years ago and they delivered for at least 7-8 of those then that wasn't a bad result. In modern banking terms, 7-8 years is an eternity.

One option that comes up from time to time in terms of good personal service is Handelsbanken. Can be a bit 'marmite' in how people see it - as they tend to be a bit picky. But might be worth a look?