First direct frustrations

lindabea

born_again said:

lindabea said:

Masonic - thank you for your reply. and I accept your point  Yes I do understand that some people are gullible and need protection, but the point I'm making and what I cannot accept, is when bank staff do not use their own initiative to save everybody's time - theirs and mine. 

Such as in my case - I was transferring the money back to my own account. An account that with some checking, FD could clearly see that the account was in my name and already set up on my FD account and would be familiar to them. So I do not see the need to raise any suspicion about being a fraudulent transaction.  In all, I probably had to answer several questions which took more than 10 mins on the phone and nearly a whole day to then release the payment.    I know it's not much, but do I dare mention that I lost a day's interest in the process    How is that justification.

Clearly never used banks system.
DD's are a separate system, so would not be in their face.

Have you never heard that fraudsters ask you to transfer funds to one of your own accounts & then remove the funds from there?

born_again said:

lindabea said:

Masonic - thank you for your reply. and I accept your point  Yes I do understand that some people are gullible and need protection, but the point I'm making and what I cannot accept, is when bank staff do not use their own initiative to save everybody's time - theirs and mine. 

Such as in my case - I was transferring the money back to my own account. An account that with some checking, FD could clearly see that the account was in my name and already set up on my FD account and would be familiar to them. So I do not see the need to raise any suspicion about being a fraudulent transaction.  In all, I probably had to answer several questions which took more than 10 mins on the phone and nearly a whole day to then release the payment.    I know it's not much, but do I dare mention that I lost a day's interest in the process    How is that justification.

Clearly never used banks system.
DD's are a separate system, so would not be in their face.

Have you never heard that fraudsters ask you to transfer funds to one of your own accounts & then remove the funds from there?

First of all, it was not a DD payment that I was making and there's nothing to stop them from making diligent checks.  Secondly, please don't make assumptions you know nothing about.  FYI, I used to design banking systems for a living.  But it would seem that despite all the profits they make, they continue to use legacy systems which are cheaper to tweak than invest in new systems.       .  

masonic

lindabea said:

Yes very frustrating.  I had something similar.  I rang my credit card company, key in my 16 digit number before being put through to a human.  I then get asked for my 16 digit number.  It's enough to test your patience.  But please help me out here to save my sanity.  You say you don't make a fuss and you don't blame the staff, (I admire your patience) so what do you think is the cause of so much incompetence.  As I said earlier, such incompetence is not only with banks these days, but with many organisations, such as utility companies, surgeries, hospitals, care homes.  In fact, I can't name any company that has any credibility going for it.  Absolute disgrace.    

Ultimately, I think it is down to capitalism and competition. The primary goal of a business is to maximise profit for its shareholders. Employees are asked to do more with less, find ways to cut costs and squeeze budgets. Salary costs are a significant one. Understaffing, increased workloads, less training, is seen pretty much wherever you look. In a highly regulated industry, firms are forced into compliance with the potential for massive fines if they do not. This can lead to them prioritising this above all else, at the expense of carefully designing systems with low friction and the customer in mind. Interconnected legacy systems built over decades may not integrate with the changes, leading to clunky workarounds.

On the other hand, the very notion of customers paying for the service they receive is anathema. Most folk here are profiting from the accounts they use. So they are squeezed from the top and the bottom.

Lightning360

lindabea said:

And do you know what else I find annoying... They all love to blow their own trumpet in TV commercials and other media.  How wonderful they are and how better they are than their competitors.  And the so called customer surveys ranking.  FD apparently have some 89% of customer satisfaction.  Don't see why or how.  I wouldn't give them anything greater than 40%  In their app for instance, there is nothing where I can go to show me a list of future payments.  I have to go into each individual payee (labelled delete payee) to see if I have set up a payment.  What a load of rubbish and a pathetic outdated app they have.  As you said earlier, in reality all banks are as bad as each other and it's us customers who suffer the consequences of their inept standards..  

You mean adverts for banks are positive about the banks?! I am shocked. And surprisingly, other people will have different opinions about first direct, including myself. I personally think they are among the best and I've never had a single issue with them. Yes, they have a basic app, but I don't think that's a bad thing

masonic

Lightning360 said:

lindabea said:

And do you know what else I find annoying... They all love to blow their own trumpet in TV commercials and other media.  How wonderful they are and how better they are than their competitors.  And the so called customer surveys ranking.  FD apparently have some 89% of customer satisfaction.  Don't see why or how.  I wouldn't give them anything greater than 40%  In their app for instance, there is nothing where I can go to show me a list of future payments.  I have to go into each individual payee (labelled delete payee) to see if I have set up a payment.  What a load of rubbish and a pathetic outdated app they have.  As you said earlier, in reality all banks are as bad as each other and it's us customers who suffer the consequences of their inept standards..  

You mean adverts for banks are positive about the banks?! I am shocked. And surprisingly, other people will have different opinions about first direct, including myself. I personally think they are among the best and I've never had a single issue with them. Yes, they have a basic app, but I don't think that's a bad thing

The most annoying thing for me is not being able to have two payees with different nicknames for savings accounts (identified by reference, but sharing the same sort code and account number). Means I cannot easily tell the accounts apart. But apart from that the app is fine for my needs and the customer service has been great.

boingy

masonic said:

Most folk here are profiting from the accounts they use. So they are squeezed from the top and the bottom.

That's true, but we are very much in a minority. There are millions of people out there who have never changed banks and who have a current account with too much money earning 0% and a savings account at the same place that is earning only slightly more. I guess we should thank those folks really...

clairec666

masonic said:

The most annoying thing for me is not being able to have two payees with different nicknames for savings accounts (identified by reference, but sharing the same sort code and account number). Means I cannot easily tell the accounts apart.

Similar issue with Natwest - if you're paying into somewhere like Skipton, where everyone has the same sort code and account number, and individual accounts are identified by a reference number. If you want to pay into more than one Skipton account, you have to delete the payee and set it up again. It's a right pain.

lindabea

Lightning360 said:

lindabea said:

And do you know what else I find annoying... They all love to blow their own trumpet in TV commercials and other media.  How wonderful they are and how better they are than their competitors.  And the so called customer surveys ranking.  FD apparently have some 89% of customer satisfaction.  Don't see why or how.  I wouldn't give them anything greater than 40%  In their app for instance, there is nothing where I can go to show me a list of future payments.  I have to go into each individual payee (labelled delete payee) to see if I have set up a payment.  What a load of rubbish and a pathetic outdated app they have.  As you said earlier, in reality all banks are as bad as each other and it's us customers who suffer the consequences of their inept standards..  

You mean adverts for banks are positive about the banks?! I am shocked. And surprisingly, other people will have different opinions about first direct, including myself. I personally think they are among the best and I've never had a single issue with them. Yes, they have a basic app, but I don't think that's a bad thing

You're very much correct.  There is nothing wrong with having a basic and cumbersome app.  But what is wrong and unacceptable is when the bank promotes an image of itself about how wonderful it is, how innovative it is, and having a high customer satisfaction.  Surveys and statistics are usually manipulated, and one can massage figures to prove one's ultimate objectives  Your own experience of FD may well be a positive one, and I wish you continued satisfaction with their service as there's nothing worse than being let  down by your bank.  I too was satisfied with their service in the early months, although I was never impressed with their technology, (and their dreary unimpressive logo) but for me, it was only a matter of time that they showed their true colour.    

lindabea

I can't believe this thread went on to three pages.  I only responded to support the original OP who like me, had a bad experience with FirstDirect..   Thank you everyone for all your responses and shared views and experience.  I thoroughly enjoyed our exchanges and I can't believe it is now time to start cooking dinner !!!

EarthBoy

First Direct's app is only basic, but that's one of the reasons that many customers like it. They just want to be able to check their balance, pay bills, and transfer money.  They don't want all the bells and whistles that you find in some other banks' apps because they're too confusing. 

born_again

lindabea said:

Yes very frustrating.  I had something similar.  I rang my credit card company, key in my 16 digit number before being put through to a human.  I then get asked for my 16 digit number.  It's enough to test your patience.  But please help me out here to save my sanity.  You say you don't make a fuss and you don't blame the staff, (I admire your patience) so what do you think is the cause of so much incompetence.  As I said earlier, such incompetence is not only with banks these days, but with many organisations, such as utility companies, surgeries, hospitals, care homes.  In fact, I can't name any company that has any credibility going for it.  Absolute disgrace.    

Entering Card number will bring up your account on their screens, so when you get to a human, they just have a account on their screen. Asking you again is to ensure that you are the card holder. 
Try it from the other side 🤣

Vote with your feet if you don't like it. But good luck on find something you like 🤷‍♀️