Bank recommendations?

[Lee Harris]

Hi Carrie,

We used to bank with the Alliance & Leicester, we had major problems with them as an organisation. It took 7 working days to clear a cheque, they were very reluctant to answer letters & faxes, & telephone banking was most unhelpful. They took bank charges as they said we overdrawn, but we had ample cleared funds in the account – this happened three times! They did not allow us a small overdraft facility, even after two years of not being overdrawn at all.

When we transferred the account to Lloyds TSB, Lloyds did all the work, but the Alliance & Leicester kept on charging us bank charges, when I eventually got through to them, they said that it was my fault that the account had not been closed, as they did not have time to close it! All funds had been transferred to the Lloyds TSB but they still had not closed the account two weeks later!

I then got the banking ombudsmen involved & we got our bank charges refunded along with a small amount of compensation.

Regards

Jenny (Lee’s better half!) 😀

[Jayne Marsh]

Im with Lloyds Tsb and I find them great, I use internet and phone banking as well as the high street branch and have had no complaints. You can get an overdraft decision usually the same day and talk to your business manager with a simple phone call.

[John Childs]

Carrie,

Be very wary of Building Societies pretending to be banks!

Both my wife and myself have fallen out with the A&L. In my case they wanted four days to clear CASH!!!!!!

Both my main business and personal accounts are with the Yorkshire Bank, and I have had faultless service for fifteen years, but they have had a reorganisation recently and I fear they may be going the way of all banks.

[Phill Fenton]

Carrie, I think it’s worth your while to have a good “rant” at the Natwest. We have been with them for Nine years and over the last few years had become increasingly dissatisfied with their service.

I recently had a sales call from them and took the opportunity to have a good moan and explain how dissatisfied I was. To their credit. they arranged an appointment with a business Manager who called in to meet with us to “mend fences”. It turned into a worthwhile meeting and we fixed up a good deal to take credit card payments (something we’ve long thought about).

I think the Natwest bank have realised that they are in danger of alienating many of their customers and are now trying to listen more to what we are saying. Like you, I was ready to jump ship (but quite frankly could do without the hassle). We have now cleared the air and feel we now have a relationship with a manager who does understand our needs and does want our continued business.

[John Simpson]

unlike Jem we wouldn’t recommend Lloyd’s TSB to anyone. We had been with TSB for 26 years, then they where taken over by Lloyd’s. That’s when the trouble started. We threatened them that if they didn’t get their finger out we would transfer elsewhere, but they wouldn’t listen, so we moved to HSBC approx 2/3 years ago.
Now we have a listening bank, a business manager who gives us his private number so we can speak to him personally instead of some call centre in India. We also received 2 years free banking.
L J

[Nicola McIntosh]

we have banked with ‘the bank of scotland’ since 1973 😮 nightmare at times, but i think they are all the same, all have their good & bads points, but i agree with john about building societys claiming to work the same as banks, people i know rant about them all the time!! 😛 i would go with what best suits you in particular, and get the best deal possible 😀

nik

[Russell Huffer]

All my business and personnel accounts are held at Bank of Ireland, brilliant bank, sense of humour.
I use internet banking and often misstype my password and need to get it reset, painless process done instantly.
Bank is friendly and helpful at all times.
Downside, there has to be one, they are quite expensive.
I have only ever had a couple of small problems and they have been resolved instantly in a true professional manor.
All my payments in and out are cleared quickly, even the payments in from Spain where my biggest customer is.

[Peter Normington]

I would not recommend any off the twisters.
they over charge, only lend money when you are well in credit. Try asking for a loan to pay off your overdraft! my bank even charges if I put cash in!
Best advise deal only in cash, keep it under the bed and don’t let anyone know what you got!!!! In my dreams!
Peter

[Carrie Brown]

quote Peter Normington:

Best advise deal only in cash, keep it under the bed and don’t let anyone know what you got!!!!

Now that would be great!!

Thanks for the responses so far from everyone 😀

Its as I thought though … I dont think there is a “perfect” bank out there, they all appear to be going the same route …. down hill!!!

I have put up with Natwest making so many errors over the past year that I’ve really had enough ….. Our accountant is shocked at the charges every month we get from them and although I have complained about the service Im still not satisfied ….. Im still waiting for them to sort our company name change from October …. 8 months on and the cheque books are still arriving in the wrong name despite me complaining each time 😕 We do not have a local bank manager anymore … they are now based in Cardiff which is over an hours drive away. I booked an appointment before Xmas to see her at our local branch, arrived at the appointment to find someone filling in, who knew nothing about why we were there, didnt know anything about the company, had none of our details and proceeded to note things down on an A4 pad as we went along so it could be passed on!! We left the meeting early!! If we call the so called direct managers line we have to leave a message then she calls back ….. but never within 48hrs as promised … it once took her 3 weeks …. seriously taking the pi*s in my book and I’ve had enough of chasing after them and hanging on the telephone automated system or having to leave messages 👿

Phew a bit of type rage there :lol1: sorry!!

I will just have to weigh up all the info from each and take the plunge I guess.

😀

[Dave Bruce]

Carrie, I have recently moved from TSB to A&L. TSB were so slow, you can’t get a cash card for six months after opening an account, but their charges were zilch for the first year. When I moved to A&L TSB didn’t stop my DD so a few got paid twice, the local branch had not comunicated with the main branch. A&L are free banking as well but not just for the first year, all my cash/cheques are put in through the post office which is open longer than the bank so more convenient.

So far so good.

Was with the Bank of Scotland for years then Halifax merged with them, and oh dear things went down hill.

Dave

[Peter Normington]

Carrie,
Dont get angry! get even.

You are only a young slip off a thing, Where as my teeth are very long.
Banks work like this. If you owe the bank 10k, you’ve got a problem,
If you owe the bank 10m, the’ve got a problem.
Dont be afraid to treat a bank like you would any other supplier, Shout and complain, threaten to take your business elswhere, if that dosn’t work keep it under the bed 😀
Peter

[Carrie Brown]

If I feel in the mood tomorrow I shall have another good old whinge at them. I sometimes wonder if the reason they seem un-interested in some businesses is because they dont make much off them ….. if that makes sense? I mean as in us for example havent borrowed a penny off them so they make no interest off a loan, our account is in good order so all we get is the standard bank charges … makes me feel as though the small businesses are not wanted? Could be wrong though.

😀

[Peter Normington]

Carrie, it makes perfect sense, The banks dont treat companies like customers, simply because they have a monopoly. they have created the need for banking and we cannot do without it. Banks are a bit like insurance companies in the respect that they cherry pick their clients.
Better to keep it under the bed 😉
Peter

[John Childs]

Carrie,

I’ve not checked into it myself because I’m not ready to change banks, but I did get a flyer from the Federation of Small Businesses about a deal they had set up for their members with the Co-operative Bank that might be worth a close look.

[Carrie Brown]

Thanks John, Im looking into the fsb at the moment 😀

[David Rowland]

hm, i am with natwest.. im okay with them but all banks do have their pros and cons. I think it will be down to your local bank managers and the way they do their day to day work. The english banking system is very poor now, they even suspect english currency/cash these days.

Don’t forget your Credit Record which is normally held at http://www.experian.com/ , if that is out of order then you will have difficultly with banks, I had to clean it up with some weird things on mine.

[Carrie Brown]

My credit Record is ok, just had it all checked for mortgage reasons. I don’t want to borrow anything and I dont owe anything …… I just want a good all round service …. which seems impossible to get 😕 I want simple things such as the correct company name on the cheque book, not having paperwork for an additional company card lost twice, not having statements not arriving and then calling for a copy only to be charged for it and then told it could take up to 14 days to arrive, charges are high ….. Im sure Im being charged just for thinking about Natwest :lol1:

Peters right …. charge cash and keep it under the bed :lol1:

Our first year and a half with Natwest was great, could not fault them and even recommended them to people ….. that was when we had our bank manager based at our local branch and he was great, would call to see how we were getting on, popped in, we were able to call him or his assistant any time with any queries and get a response back in an acceptable time. Now though its all changed, no local manager. The staff are good enough but I feel the overall service is pants …. big grey grotty ones!!

and on top of Natwest …. Ive been on the phone most of the morning sorting out Electric companies who are overcharging despite being given the correct meter readings 3 times :lol1: Im being tested …. Its a stress test …. all suppliers are in on it I know they are 😮

:lol1: Im actually laughing too … really laughing … Im having one of those days … months …. year actually!!

😛

[Ian Higgins]

Hi Folks,

ALL banks are as bad.
I use Barclays but they are a pain.. If I get cash customers I pay it into my private account and then write a cheque accross to the business account as they do not charge for putting cash into a personal account but they charge a fortune for putting it in the business account.
I think the bank charges are a joke!!! but I make them work for it, Run a magnet accross the bottom of any cheques you bank and the machine cant read it so they have to type the numbers in manually!!! :lol1:
I dont do it on all my cheques but I do it on a few each time I pay in.. I know it is petty but the banks have been taking us for a ride for years..
When I started up in business they would not help one bit! “We need to see accounts before we can lend”.. Now that I am established and don’t need their help they keep trying to throw money at me left right and centre..

And don’t get me started on credit cards!!! 👿

Sorry to rant but feel much better now!
Cheers
Ian

[Shane Drew]

Reading all these posts makes me feel a lot happier 😮 It seems that my experience with banks is the same as yours…. and I thought it was just me.

My definition of a bank; Someone that will lend you an umbrella when the sun shines, but wants it back when it rains.

Some banks here even charge a penalty if you want to talk to a real person like a teller 👿

Not like the good ol’ days 😥