Visitors to the site are reminded that the details contained within user comments are uncorroborated and as such should not be read as fact but as the opinion of the person who left the comment.
Comments:
and it'll be interesting to see how this lot are going to justify charging for a current account!!
they say you'll be charged if you credit less than £1500 per month.
all the people on benefits or low incomes are ultimately going to suffer as a result, which makes first direct's announcement all the more deplorable!
if they're going to charge people, then charge those hooray henry's on high incomes!!! enough said. joke!
First Direct are the most dreadful bank I have ever had to deal with. I have been with them for 4 years now and whilst they started off all lovely and nice they sure aint now, I think this is down to the fact they have got as big as all the over banks and just dont give a toss about their customers.
I ran into some financial difficulties like we all do at some point in our lifes, well this was last year for me, I kept putting up my overdraft and then paying it off at the end of the month, this started to grate on them after a while.
I am not sure what customer service other people get from First Direct but they call me quarterley to run through my financials and apparently try to suggest ways on which I could save money. I said that at the time I was planning to give up smoking and I threw this down casually in the conversation not something I would expect to be recorded and said that I was going to be taking packed lunch into work and wouldnt eat out as much, the lady on the phone seemed lovely and she said at the time that were very good ideas for saving money but she didnt mention that she was noting this on the system!
A couple of months later another lady called from there and straight away started to lecture me, firstly she asked if I had given up smoking and I said not as of yet, I had managed to cut down and was taking it slowly, she screamed at the me down the phone about how I lied to first Direct and had gone back on my promise, as you can imagine I was totally gobsmacked! then she went onto say that I was doing too much food shopping every week at Sainsburys and she said that my budget for food shopping every week should be £30, I mean come on these days you would be lucky to get the bare essentials for £30! She said that I wasnt earning enough money and that I had to get another job, I had just taken on a Saturday job a week before this conversation and I asked for this information to be added to the system and they said they couldnt put it on the system, you are only allowed one job on there! Pathethic! Needless to say after a few tears and after the shock of the conversation I then put in an official complaint about her and she was given a written warning.
I unfortunately have my mortgage with them too, I phoned them up just to say I was selling and that I wouldnt be needing the mortgage with them anymore and that I was going to go elsewhere, the bloke there was incredibly rude saying we dont actually care!
My advice would be to avoid this bank at all costs!! they are nosey and think that your money is thier money! no concept of customer service at all and way too big for their boots!
I have had a few problems with FD in 9 years but they have allways sorted them out immediately. I think they are a cut above any bank i have dealt with. Top company!!
A true test in any company is when things don't go quite to plan.
Had some financial issues which resulted in me going over my overdraft limit by £100 twice in 3 months.
On both occasions I noticed immediately and got an advance by my company to put the account straight. This obviously takes 3 working days with the crappy outdated BACS transfer.
On the second occasion, I was going to withdraw some cash to pay for my train ticket home at about 3:55pm. The machine swallowed my card so I called First Direct. They said due to the state of the account the debit card and cheque guarantee facility had be removed.
If I had some notice of this then this is fine, but they just pulled the card at the cash point.
Lucky for me, the local HSBC was still open so I could get some cash and buy food for the weekend. If I had done it after 5pm I would have been stuffed...
The letter informing me of the debit card removal arrived 5 days later.
Totally disgusting service. We all have our bad days but they don't seem to care...
To sum-up, the only way round it for them was to consolodate my overdraft and first direct credit card into a loan at 14.9% APR!!!!! The guy on the phone sarcastically said "you are welcome to shop around" then I questioned the APR.
For a better example, I also had problems on an Egg Credit card and informed them I couldn't afford the repayments. They restructured the card in an Egg Loan for 6 years at 6.9% APR... Much better.
It is hard to believe anyone could fit the 'rip-off merchant' tag better than this lot. Go to their website and see what they charge for an unauthorised overdraft that edges up, say, 10 times over one month. Easily done, if a cheque goes astray in the post. You'll be shocked. If anyone knows of a bigger UK bank rip-off I'll eat my hat.
After 11 years and 1 month as a customer I'm off - I can't stand them any more - The list of errors grew and grew from loosing a payment to the US, Online banking never working, always getting the heavy number of calls message whatever time of day you call to cancelling my cards by mistake and spending 20 minutes trying to blame me.
They USED to be good but the bank trades on its former reputation. The staff are arrogant and happy to propogate the myth that they are doing you a favour by talking to you. They started out as the first and best but essentially now they are no better and when at thier worst just as bad as the rest. First Direct customer service has gone down the pan.
Since being made redundant and now with a new job with a vastly reduced salary my treatment by First Direct has changed course, I can never get through to the people I want to speak to, I have been told by First Direct that now my salary has dropped (by 4k) they don\'t really want me as a customer. I am also finding that payment dates for a loan are not being set to my required date as I am now paid weekly which incurs cost to me, which they know I don't have the funds to meet. I feel as if they I am now being ripped off by First Direct and feel like I am being squeezed out. I felt good about them when I first joined as my salarly was 18k now its dropped to 13k they have left me feeling like a lepor. Be warned.
Since being made redundant and now with a new job with a vastly reduced salary my treatment by First Direct has changed course, I can never get through to the people I want to speak to, I have been told by First Direct that now my salary has dropped (by 4k) they don't really want me as a customer. I am also finding that payment dates for a loan are not being set to my required date as I am now paid weekly which incurs cost to me, which they know I don't have the funds to meet. I feel as if they I am now being ripped off by First Direct and feel like I am being squeezed out. I felt good about them when I first joined as my salarly was 18k now its dropped to 13k they have left me feeling like a lepor. Be warned.
I agree with everything that has been said here. Their customer services is excellent.
When my cards were stolen recently First Direct were extremely efficient and helpful and I received my new cards within a couple of working days. I'd definitely recommend them. Keep up the good work guys!
yes all the other comments are true -this bank is truly fab. the staff are unfailingly helpful and friendly. they don't shout at you if you keep going massively overdrawn but go thorugh your spending with you to try and stop you landing in debt. that's just one example of many but would whole heartedly recommend going with this bank - if only for the natty black card!
Use this bank.
Number #1 raving fan.
I have nothing but praise and I don't even work for them.
They call you to tell you that transaction x may be delayed by 1 hour because they have a problem. They call you - just to let you know and keep you in the loop.
Nice. Thankyou.
true innovators delivering #1 class service.. these guys have been outsourcing call centre operations to third-world regions (ok. glasgow) for years.. for 24x7 personal assistance and no automated menu system that are about as painful to experience as pulling your foreskin up over your head and using as a beanie hat, i do whole-heartedly and head-chillingly recommend these... although they are a bank and it would be morally wrong to give them better than a one blagging thumb down...
Add a comment about this blagger
Visitors to the site are reminded that the details contained within user comments are uncorroborated and as such should not be read as fact but as the opinion of the person who left the comment.
Comments:
they say you'll be charged if you credit less than £1500 per month.
all the people on benefits or low incomes are ultimately going to suffer as a result, which makes first direct's announcement all the more deplorable!
if they're going to charge people, then charge those hooray henry's on high incomes!!! enough said. joke!
I ran into some financial difficulties like we all do at some point in our lifes, well this was last year for me, I kept putting up my overdraft and then paying it off at the end of the month, this started to grate on them after a while.
I am not sure what customer service other people get from First Direct but they call me quarterley to run through my financials and apparently try to suggest ways on which I could save money. I said that at the time I was planning to give up smoking and I threw this down casually in the conversation not something I would expect to be recorded and said that I was going to be taking packed lunch into work and wouldnt eat out as much, the lady on the phone seemed lovely and she said at the time that were very good ideas for saving money but she didnt mention that she was noting this on the system!
A couple of months later another lady called from there and straight away started to lecture me, firstly she asked if I had given up smoking and I said not as of yet, I had managed to cut down and was taking it slowly, she screamed at the me down the phone about how I lied to first Direct and had gone back on my promise, as you can imagine I was totally gobsmacked! then she went onto say that I was doing too much food shopping every week at Sainsburys and she said that my budget for food shopping every week should be £30, I mean come on these days you would be lucky to get the bare essentials for £30! She said that I wasnt earning enough money and that I had to get another job, I had just taken on a Saturday job a week before this conversation and I asked for this information to be added to the system and they said they couldnt put it on the system, you are only allowed one job on there! Pathethic! Needless to say after a few tears and after the shock of the conversation I then put in an official complaint about her and she was given a written warning.
I unfortunately have my mortgage with them too, I phoned them up just to say I was selling and that I wouldnt be needing the mortgage with them anymore and that I was going to go elsewhere, the bloke there was incredibly rude saying we dont actually care!
My advice would be to avoid this bank at all costs!! they are nosey and think that your money is thier money! no concept of customer service at all and way too big for their boots!
A true test in any company is when things don't go quite to plan.
Had some financial issues which resulted in me going over my overdraft limit by £100 twice in 3 months.
On both occasions I noticed immediately and got an advance by my company to put the account straight. This obviously takes 3 working days with the crappy outdated BACS transfer.
On the second occasion, I was going to withdraw some cash to pay for my train ticket home at about 3:55pm. The machine swallowed my card so I called First Direct. They said due to the state of the account the debit card and cheque guarantee facility had be removed.
If I had some notice of this then this is fine, but they just pulled the card at the cash point.
Lucky for me, the local HSBC was still open so I could get some cash and buy food for the weekend. If I had done it after 5pm I would have been stuffed...
The letter informing me of the debit card removal arrived 5 days later.
Totally disgusting service. We all have our bad days but they don't seem to care...
To sum-up, the only way round it for them was to consolodate my overdraft and first direct credit card into a loan at 14.9% APR!!!!! The guy on the phone sarcastically said "you are welcome to shop around" then I questioned the APR.
For a better example, I also had problems on an Egg Credit card and informed them I couldn't afford the repayments. They restructured the card in an Egg Loan for 6 years at 6.9% APR... Much better.
Now happily with Nationwide...
They USED to be good but the bank trades on its former reputation. The staff are arrogant and happy to propogate the myth that they are doing you a favour by talking to you. They started out as the first and best but essentially now they are no better and when at thier worst just as bad as the rest. First Direct customer service has gone down the pan.
When my cards were stolen recently First Direct were extremely efficient and helpful and I received my new cards within a couple of working days. I'd definitely recommend them. Keep up the good work guys!
fishface at 27th Jan 2004, 05:06PM
Number #1 raving fan.
I have nothing but praise and I don't even work for them.
They call you to tell you that transaction x may be delayed by 1 hour because they have a problem. They call you - just to let you know and keep you in the loop.
Nice. Thankyou.
Just-anyone at 8th Jan 2004, 12:10AM
pnoid at 18th Nov 2003, 03:48PM
Back