Sorry butI think MSE is wrong to promote Virgin Money...please read

maxtheminx

We are all looking for that magic interest rate to finally boost any rare savings we have so i understand how Martin and MSE are consistenty raving over the high interest rate they are offering on their Virgin M Money Account and linked Savings account. yes it is high, but it comes at a great cost. I fell into the trap several moinths ago and have regretted it. I was blocked for no reason and couldn't get in touch. After 1 week of daily phone calls up to 4-5 hours a day on hold and department transfers they said they will unblock the card. They didnt. Another week went by with the same crucifying incompetence and at least 4 hours on hold a day for another week. In the end it got to me and I had several emotional calls in tears. The last straw of incompetence when a team member said to start all over again, i broke down, heavily. I was emotionally drained and couldnt work the next day. I still have no access to my account and its 3 months down the line with my card still blocked. I will not go through the customer service route ever again because its so badly run and no-one is capable. the case has now gone to the Financial Ombudsman as they refuse to apologise or sort it out. This is not a singular case as you can see by the 89% dissatisfaction raating on Trustpilot - I wish I had read this first. So Martin, your words of advice I have trusted and folowed over the many many years, but I applore you to stop pushing this account as its popularity is obviously to large for the customer service team to handle, read the reviews, take it from my experience and others that changing your account to theirs could be the worst thing to do. Please see Trustpilot review for Virgin Money Uk yourselves and see. Thank you for listening...

eskbanker

There will always be plenty of complaints about all financial institutions so if MSE decided not to feature those with poor Trustpilot reviews (rarely a meaningful way to judge such companies, largely populated as it is by those with an axe to grind) then their best buy lists would be very short!

There are plenty of satisfied VM customers on the savings and banking boards (the right places to discuss their savings products and current accounts), but, more importantly, see the foot of each page on here:

How this site works

We think it's important you understand the strengths and limitations of the site. We're a journalistic website and aim to provide the best MoneySaving guides, tips, tools and techniques, but can't guarantee to be perfect, so do note you use the information at your own risk and we can't accept liability if things go wrong.

• This info does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research on top to ensure it's right for your specific circumstances and remember we focus on rates not service.
• [...]

jbrassy

maxtheminx said:

We are all looking for that magic interest rate to finally boost any rare savings we have so i understand how Martin and MSE are consistenty raving over the high interest rate they are offering on their Virgin M Money Account and linked Savings account. yes it is high, but it comes at a great cost. I fell into the trap several moinths ago and have regretted it. I was blocked for no reason and couldn't get in touch. After 1 week of daily phone calls up to 4-5 hours a day on hold and department transfers they said they will unblock the card. They didnt. Another week went by with the same crucifying incompetence and at least 4 hours on hold a day for another week. In the end it got to me and I had several emotional calls in tears. The last straw of incompetence when a team member said to start all over again, i broke down, heavily. I was emotionally drained and couldnt work the next day. I still have no access to my account and its 3 months down the line with my card still blocked. I will not go through the customer service route ever again because its so badly run and no-one is capable. the case has now gone to the Financial Ombudsman as they refuse to apologise or sort it out. This is not a singular case as you can see by the 89% dissatisfaction raating on Trustpilot - I wish I had read this first. So Martin, your words of advice I have trusted and folowed over the many many years, but I applore you to stop pushing this account as its popularity is obviously to large for the customer service team to handle, read the reviews, take it from my experience and others that changing your account to theirs could be the worst thing to do. Please see Trustpilot review for Virgin Money Uk yourselves and see. Thank you for listening...

Can't be bothered to read all that, but I've had no issues with Virgin Money. The app is a bit rubbish, but that's about the extent of it.

[Deleted User]

They already give you a indicator -  their Service rating: 37% 'great' 
Doesn't that speak for itself? 

The_Fat_Controller

Accounts rarely get blocked for no reason, there is likely more to the story which the OP will never divulge.

grumbler

The_Fat_Controller said:

Accounts rarely get blocked for no reason,

They do, and very often. "Reason" is a very vague term, almost meaningless.

And what I see it's the debit card that was blocked, not the account.

penners324

grumbler said:

The_Fat_Controller said:

Accounts rarely get blocked for no reason,

They do, and very often. "Reason" is a very vague term, almost meaningless.

And what I see it's the debit card that was blocked, not the account.

If a bank doesn't give a reason for blocking an account then they suspect fraud on the account. So it's very likely the OP has done something with or on their account that looks suspicious to the bank.

A Financial Ombudsman complaint won't go anywhere either

mcpitman

VM customer here, quite pleased with the current account and linked savings account.

Never had any issues and was transferred from a Yorkshire Bank customer.

App is a bit basic but improving with every update/release.