Alliance & leicester

DanDan123

Just wanted to say, and to give some hope to people that have been unable to get full accounts etc.

Around 6 weeks ago i opened a premier direct current account with A&L and my application to my surprise was sucessful. I have a poor history, and have been even turned down for some basic accounts in the past.

A&L gave me a full account (but said no to an overdraft) but comes with a Visa Debit card and cheque book. Which has been fantastic.

At the end of last week, i thought i would apply for an overdraft (i applied for £250) which i didnt get any response for, although today, i logged into my internet banking and they have given me an overdraft (although only for £100) but atleast it is a start.

Couldnt recomend them more.

Cheers

DGJsaver

your card wont work in self service petrol stations or the railway station mind you

bella2121

all i would say about alliance and leceister is they have really crap customer service they are really arrogant when you call them! just a warning i cant wait to pay my overdraft off then i can cloe my account and move to a friendlier more helpful bank!

fitorbust

Hi - I applied for the current account with the high interest regular savings attached just to access the savings account.
All went well - accepted/overdraft etc then this week an A&L credit card appeared with a £5500 credit limit managed by MBNA.....
As a 'good' MSE fan I am slowly getting rid of cards so certainly didn't want one I hadn't applied for.
I have just rung to cancel the whole account etc, and had to ring another number to cancel the card I hadn't even applied for.
I am quite annoyed by this.
I was happy with my Nationwide account (which we have as we travel a lot and it is by far the cheapest way to shop abroad), and have just got their CC for that purpose alone.
It just seems sneaky to me to 'throw' in a product which could cost someone dearly if they are not savvy.
Both members of staff were shocked that I was closing the account/s and the CC girl told me I had £5500 credit limit, 3 months interest free purchases and 12 months on balance transfers, and was I still sure?? Like I am suddenly going to say 'No - let me go out shopping now!!'
I know these companies are trying to make money but this just seems a bit irresponsible to me.

ShelfStacker_3

That is irresponsible, and as you presumably haven't signed a credit agreement agreeing to the card, possibly illegal.

cifpower

IIRC, when you apply for the current account you also apply for a credit card

doire_2

bella2121 wrote: »

all i would say about alliance and leceister is they have really crap customer service they are really arrogant when you call them! just a warning i cant wait to pay my overdraft off then i can cloe my account and move to a friendlier more helpful bank!

Well i have never had any issues with them.

Like all customer service centers you get the odd bad apple

DGJsaver

doire wrote: »

Well i have never had any issues with them.

Like all customer service centers you get the odd bad apple

The `odd` bad apple ?

A&L need to do some quality control of all these `apples` , and quite quickly

erb

My better half recently opended the Premier Direct account and all went well until she rang to activate her debit card. A&L said she had to take out Personal Identity Fraud Protection Policy at £60 pa and the card could not be activated until she did this. She was on the phone 20 minutes listening to a recorded speal about this policy while her card was being activated and although she said repeatedly that she did not want it the only way she could get her card activated was to accept it but with the understanding she could cancel within 14 days of getting it - which she did. What an unnecesary palarva:mad: .

skintdragon

God, don't even mention A&L! I had a terrible time with them! Here goes...

I applied for a loan with them (I don't bank with them) sometime ago before christmas, and in order to qualify for this particularly low loan rate i was recommended the premier account- it sounded too good to be true- "all you have to do is make sure you have £500 going in and out of that account monthly (as i didn't want to use it as my main bank account), and if your application for opening the account is successful, then the loan would be more or less guaranteed, although the rate offered to individuals would vary" -I kid you not, are the words that still ring in my ear. Of course, i was declined the loan, but hey presto i have been approved for the bank account which was deemed totally useless for me. There goes another couple of credit check records, but it didn't end there; when i tried to contact the woman whom applied on my behalf to discuss an appeal (she never returned my calls) it transpired that she went ahead and lodged an appeal without discussing it with me first- another unnecessary credit check. I was absolutely fuming, but after writing them a long letter they eventually agreed to contact the credit people and have the last search removed against my name (or so they say).

Now, a new year, trying to use new ideas to save myself a bit of money, i decided to open an account with Nationwide building society simply for using their free ATM transaction cards for when i go abroad- i didn't even want an overdraft facility- and just received a letter from them saying that my application has been declined due credit reference information. How annoying is that?!?!?!!?!?!? I am so angry! Once again, i feel deflated by money matters, and the rip- off system of the banking world.:(

We_Laugh_Indoors

erb wrote: »

My better half recently opended the Premier Direct account and all went well until she rang to activate her debit card. A&L said she had to take out Personal Identity Fraud Protection Policy at £60 pa and the card could not be activated until she did this. She was on the phone 20 minutes listening to a recorded speal about this policy while her card was being activated and although she said repeatedly that she did not want it the only way she could get her card activated was to accept it but with the understanding she could cancel within 14 days of getting it - which she did. What an unnecesary palarva:mad: .

i'm suprised at that as there is no reason she should be forced to pay for a needless service.