Co-op Bank: Can They Really Be That Bad?

gsmh

Emily_Joy said:

I had a reason to complain about RBS as their customer service in the app and on the phone was sending me in circles for over a month. The problem was promptly resolved once I managed to visit a local NatWest branch.  As a bonus, the latter was offering free mince pies and hot tea   I have to admit however that I haven't tried to resolve a problem with NatWest by visiting an RBS branch yet!
I will report on Co-Op once I manage to figure out what's happening with my £75 switching bonus

Interestingly NatWest/RBS has an over-60s phone number. I am eligible, as I imagine many on here would be, going by the posts and the nature of the comments. The call is answered very quickly and issues dealt with effectively. I like my Royal Bank of Scotland account.

UKX69

gsmh said:

incus432 said:

One example, you cannot send a secure message on the smile app. You have to log into the website. Is that not the case for you?

As I've said before it's that checklist of features again. I use a desktop computer and the app on my phone is an adjunct. Trying to score points like this isn't particularly useful. Clearly my criteria for a good bank and yours are very different. Maybe your life is all about checkboxes. Mine isn't. I have always purchased and enjoyed driving cars where several checkboxes could not be checked. I've already said my worst experience of a bank has been Monzo, followed by Barclays. Starling feels pretty sterile. All three have nearly every feature available in their respective apps. Life is more interesting than checkboxes.

You guys find the Co-operative Bank lacking, I don't. It is maybe time to just accept we have a different take on life and leave it there.

Just out of pure curiosity, your problem with Monzo - was it a particular issue or just in general? I know that Barclays was one of the worst banks I have dealt with.

Rob5342

incus432 said:

gsmh said:

I wonder why the Co-operative Bank is providing me with such a better product than it provides to @incus432 or @WillPS ? As I have said repeatedly, go back a year or so and I'd agree with everything the two of them have said about the bank. These days it's like a different bank. The app is now modern and slick and the service is just as good as other banks, I just don't get it. There is something very strange going on.

PS I agree with others that Nationwide is worse - really bad like stepping back 30 years technologically

I find it completely bizarre that a company whose entire business is banking has so little interest in having even the most rudimentary features in its app. People have made comparisons with cars but the Nationwide car would still run on unleaded petrol. 

WillPS

gsmh said:

I wonder why the Co-operative Bank is providing me with such a better product than it provides to @incus432 or @WillPS ? As I have said repeatedly, go back a year or so and I'd agree with everything the two of them have said about the bank. These days it's like a different bank. The app is now modern and slick and the service is just as good as other banks, I just don't get it. There is something very strange going on.

It seems exactly the same to me as it did 2 years ago. I understand from what you say some things have improved, but I've yet to detect any of those improvements personally.

WillPS

Emily_Joy said:

WillPS said:

Emily_Joy said:

eskbanker said:

Depends what you mean by 'that bad' - if you read threads about any bank (on here or Trustpilot reviews, etc) then you'll see a mix of positive and negative?  If you've been with all the other high street players and (implicitly) don't want to return then you presumably don't rate them either?

Edit: I should have added that a less subjective assessment of relative merits is available via the bi-annual surveys conducted by Ipsos on behalf of the CMA, which use proper surveying methods rather than being unduly swayed by 'who shouts loudest':


https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/en-uk/personal-banking-service-quality-great-britain-august-2024

Taking into account the top 4 are the banks without physical branches I wonder if this survey tells us more about people who comleted the survey rather than about the quality of the actual banking services... 

There's also nonsense like Natwest scoring 11 percentage points higher than RBS despite the two offering substantively the same thing with the same customer service, app, branches etc.

It's definitely not much use looking at individual rankings but if you ignore the banks with slightly excessive fandoms around them (First Direct, Monzo, Starling) and look at broad strokes, Co-op Bank are considered among the worst.

I had a reason to complain about RBS as their customer service in the app and on the phone was sending me in circles for over a month. The problem was promptly resolved once I managed to visit a local NatWest branch.  As a bonus, the latter was offering free mince pies and hot tea   I have to admit however that I haven't tried to resolve a problem with NatWest by visiting an RBS branch yet!
I will report on Co-Op once I manage to figure out what's happening with my £75 switching bonus

Aye, that's just good service in branch compared to other channels (I have anecdotal experience of the same!).

gsmh

DasTechniker said:

Just out of pure curiosity, your problem with Monzo - was it a particular issue or just in general? I know that Barclays was one of the worst banks I have dealt with.

Given that Monzo is an app-based bank, the app is the interface with which you access the bank. I need a functional app which looks pleasing and feels good and has a paradigm I can get on board with. Monzo's app looked like it was developed by a talent-strapped teenage trainee design student. That it ticked nearly every feature box was very low down on my list of priorities. Something erring towards functional, clean and not too busy suits me.

Emily_Joy

WillPS said:

Emily_Joy said:

WillPS said:

Emily_Joy said:

eskbanker said:

Depends what you mean by 'that bad' - if you read threads about any bank (on here or Trustpilot reviews, etc) then you'll see a mix of positive and negative?  If you've been with all the other high street players and (implicitly) don't want to return then you presumably don't rate them either?

Edit: I should have added that a less subjective assessment of relative merits is available via the bi-annual surveys conducted by Ipsos on behalf of the CMA, which use proper surveying methods rather than being unduly swayed by 'who shouts loudest':


https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/en-uk/personal-banking-service-quality-great-britain-august-2024

Taking into account the top 4 are the banks without physical branches I wonder if this survey tells us more about people who comleted the survey rather than about the quality of the actual banking services... 

There's also nonsense like Natwest scoring 11 percentage points higher than RBS despite the two offering substantively the same thing with the same customer service, app, branches etc.

It's definitely not much use looking at individual rankings but if you ignore the banks with slightly excessive fandoms around them (First Direct, Monzo, Starling) and look at broad strokes, Co-op Bank are considered among the worst.

I had a reason to complain about RBS as their customer service in the app and on the phone was sending me in circles for over a month. The problem was promptly resolved once I managed to visit a local NatWest branch.  As a bonus, the latter was offering free mince pies and hot tea   I have to admit however that I haven't tried to resolve a problem with NatWest by visiting an RBS branch yet!
I will report on Co-Op once I manage to figure out what's happening with my £75 switching bonus

Aye, that's just good service in branch compared to other channels (I have anecdotal experience of the same!).

Sure, but neither the person I spoke to on the phone nor the online chat agent suggested that I visit a NatWest branch to have it sorted! I thought I will give it a go, as I have nothing to loose and was plesantly surprised. 

jimjames

ZeroSum said:

Main downside to co-op is that faster payments take ages to arrive, and can't do am internal transfer to savings accounts via app, have to do by website. Oh, and payments to credit card take to days to leave your account even though it's internal transfer. Mind the issues I have with co-op are quite similar to what I have with first direct, but they score highly on ratings lists 

Not sure why you can't do transfers on the app, it works fine for me

flaneurs_lobster

jimjames said:

ZeroSum said:

Main downside to co-op is that faster payments take ages to arrive, and can't do am internal transfer to savings accounts via app, have to do by website. Oh, and payments to credit card take to days to leave your account even though it's internal transfer. Mind the issues I have with co-op are quite similar to what I have with first direct, but they score highly on ratings lists 

Not sure why you can't do transfers on the app, it works fine for me

And me, do it every month to fund the RS. I'm Android, not some weird iOS restriction is it?

ZeroSum

flaneurs_lobster said:

jimjames said:

ZeroSum said:

Main downside to co-op is that faster payments take ages to arrive, and can't do am internal transfer to savings accounts via app, have to do by website. Oh, and payments to credit card take to days to leave your account even though it's internal transfer. Mind the issues I have with co-op are quite similar to what I have with first direct, but they score highly on ratings lists 

Not sure why you can't do transfers on the app, it works fine for me

And me, do it every month to fund the RS. I'm Android, not some weird iOS restriction is it?

I'm android also. Did you have to manually set it up first? As it'll let me do it if I set my RS up as a payee, but I shouldn't have to do that, it should just be there.