If you could close down one financial institution

Undersized_Rascal

I've Dealt with;
Natwest
A&L
MBNA
Nationwide
ICICI
Barclays

Barclay's - didn't like their phone services and Massive queue's ( except in canary wharf)
I've probably gotten the most benefit out of MBNA with their BT's (into bank a/c) and free air miles on the BMI card
Nationwide great for when abroad....but crappy a/c, also, won't gain if they demutualise
A&L great at advertising, brightly colored, but I find them agressive
Natwest, good call centers,
ICICI savings a/c, very inflexible, hard to communicate with, good saving rate, no help from call centres any time I called

Undersized_Rascal

penguin83 wrote: »

Another vote for HSBC - hate them with an unhealthy passion!

Another vote (I know Im greedy) would be for Lloyds - they were being snotty with my dad when I was with him one time and he doesnt even have any debt they were just being awkward anyway he retires in October and is due 100k lump sum - he had a meeting with one of their advisors booked to discuss how to invest it and he cancelled it there and then - I know its only a drop in the ocean to them but it cheered him up no end - he just has to find somewhere else to invest it now (I have suggested the Bank Of Penguin but I dont think he will take me up on that!) x x x

Fair play to your dad.....CONSUMERS IN ACTION!

red_bertie

One small victory eh Penguin...

due 100k lump sum

Remind him of the 35K limit per 'bank'.

RB

6T8

I'll add a third vote for HSBC. On the basis that I can't quite believe that a company of that size with that many employees could manage to be dishonest with its dealings with individual customers that only leaves incompetence! When I deal with them I seem to have to deal with any one of four different departments depending on which way the wind is blowing. None of the departments wants to take responsibility for anything, but each will make commitments to which the others will not be held.

A quick (I hope, I have a tendency to vent when HSBC are mentioned!) example. I have been trying to consolidate my overdraft and CC into a single debt of some sort with them for months, but because they won't accept my budget as being accurate (as defined by government legislation) they won't do this (as I can't afford it) so they are forced to keep charging me higher interest rates. I got a CC statement a while ago and decided to try my luck again, so I phoned them. As a result I found out that the day after my statement had been sent out the balance had been transferred to a DCA (but I had received no notification). I did manage to negotiate a freeze on charges and interest for 3 months though. The following day, however, they sent me a letter demanding full repayment within 28 days, so I contacted them again and they refused to accept any amount of regular repayment because I couldn't afford it (by their calculations). That afternoon a different department contacted me and contradicted this insisting that my agreement to pay £80 per month would satisfy them. Two days later they contacted me again to ask for money and I found out there was no record of my agreement, but they set it up again and insisted they were quite happy with this. When the month was up, in spite of the £80 payment and a further £1000 they issued a final demand, so I contacted them and they insisted that unless I paid £450 a month they would pass things across to a DCA. 10 minutes later they contacted me (different department) and arranged a new overdraft facility with a reducing limit.

HSBC are the only organisation owe money to now (bar my mortgage and one loan that is at too good an interest rate to pay off!) and I have been able to have reasonably conversations with the others and clear what I owe. HSBC are rude bullies, and if I had known when I first started having financial problems what I know now I would have left them immediately and been financially better off than I am now. They have simply milked my financial problems for as much as they can make out of me.

Ames

Egg. They gave me a loan which they knew I couldn't pay back. I know it was my fault for applying in the first place (I have bipolar and was very depressed at the time and wasn't planning on living long enough to have to pay it back) but they should have been responsible too. Also on the credit card front I told them I was having financial difficulties so they upped the limit.

bank_of_slate

HBOS!



...Linda xx

beanokid

Got to be EGG. All other creditors working with me and CCCS. Egg straight to CCJ - continue ti threaten. Ruthless people.

robpw2

halifax bank they are so bad

lil_me

MBNA. Increasing partners interest rate from 14.9% to 32.9% without any good reason or any notice as soon as he had a high amount on the card. They tried to say it was due to the fraudulent activity on his card (card details stolen, possibly online) but why should he be blamed for that? I think it was just as many others have found because he used it more (but only to half his limit) so they wanted to make more money on it. Then they have the nerve to phone all the time offering him a 0% balance tranfer deal but charging 4%......

I am with Halifax, never had any problems.

Che75

It just has to be HSBC. Evil, evil people.

Back when I was a student they nearly destroyed me. Oh yes, I went way way over my overdraft limit I confess. I just couldn't have survived otherwise. But they sent me a letter asking how much per month I could pay back, so I gave them a figure. Next thing I knew I had a personal loan for that amount - no explanation, no discussion, it just happened without any permission from me! Instead of interest free I was suddenly paying retail rates and it took me years to pay off. They tried this with others but I think I was just about the only person dumb enough to fall for it - back then, I thought banks were trustworthy!

They also sent a private detective after me, stole my overtime payments every time I did any and left me stranded one Xmas after charging me £60 and keeping my card because I went 4p overdrawn.

And let's not forget all those stories of students committing suicide because HSBC were harassing them. I can relate. They should be charged with the manslaughter of each and every one of them. Picking on vulnerable kids who are running their own finances for the first time is unforgivable.