A good bank that is competent is there such a thing?

Wow -- I have to say it _was_ rather like a skit from Monty Python.

Bank: "You can apply for a current account after you've been with us 6 months."

(6 months later)

Bank:   "I'm sorry, your application was not accepted."
Ex-pat: "Really?"
Bank:   "Yes, but you can re-apply."
Ex-pat: "How long do you think I should wait before I try again?"
Bank:   "I'm sorry, we couldn't say."
Ex-pat: "Well, can you give me a rough idea -- 3 months, 6 months, a year?"
Bank:   "We really couldn't say. You can reapply any time. But of course if you re-apply and are denied, it doesn't look so good."
Ex-pat: "Well, can you give me some idea of why the application was denied?"
Bank:   "No, I'm sorry, we can't give you that information."
Ex-pat: "But it's _my_ information, and how can I know what to improve I don't know why it was denied?"
Bank:   "I'm sorry, it's confidential information."

You're in the UK now, mate.

 

Sheesh!  By any chance is your bank the one from the Nationwide commercials?   

Well Bank of Scotland is horrible.  Messed up everything we asked them to do. 

I've been with Barclay's and Lloyds TSB and haven't ever had a problem with either.  My banking is pretty straight forward though. 

good customer service here is pretty non-existent compared to what I've experienced in other parts of the world, and right now NatWest bank is at the top of my hit list.  We've been trying to open a simple account for my 15 year old son for 3 months now and it has gone from bad to worse.  The first idiot input his info into the system incorrectly so it was red flagged and sent to head office, after a couple of weeks we were told the paperwork couldn't be located, could we come down again.  Paperwork done again, lost again.  After many phone calls I went down to the bank on Monday and refused to leave until I spoke to someone with authority, no thank you I don't want to talk to any lackies, big promises made to locate the paperwork which has once again gone missing.  By now I am threatening to close all NatWest accounts including the off shore account.  Someone from the back promised to come to my house yesterday and complete the paperwork so that we wouldn't have to go to the bank yet again.  Did they show??? You've got to be joking, I'm ready to tell them just where they can stick it, but DH is just too British and polite and doesn't like to make waves.

My advice - stay well clear of NatWest

Broken record time: honestly i can't recommend Smile enough. I even sent them an email offering a testimonial. Their customer service is superb and everytime I've ever raised an issue with them they've been very good (and quick) about resolving it....

My husband and I are both with Barclays and we've never had any problems at all. The only thing I find slightly annoying though is that whenever we have to phone for something we get mortgage/insurance/loan sales pitches.

We've had accounts with Lloyd's, RBS and NatWest and have had issues with all of them. RBS and NatWest messed up when we were opening the accounts, and Lloyd's pulled across all our direct debits from RBS when we had expressly asked them not to do so before a certain date.

Well Bank of Scotland is horrible.  Messed up everything we asked them to do. 

We've had problems with our local Bank of Scotland branch, but when I've called the customer service everything has been taken care of fast and properly.

They're all as bad as each other. We're with RBS, have had a few problems here and there, none of which was dealt with properly by the branch manager, or their complaints division, which sent us a letter telling us they were looking into it and then nothing else. Eventually I wrote to their Head Office and everything was sorted out very quickly after that.

Well Bank of Scotland is horrible.  Messed up everything we asked them to do. 

Bank of Scotland or Royal Bank of Scotland?

It's not the banks, it's the lazy workers.

It's not the banks, it's the lazy workers.

That's quite a sweeping statement!

Halifax isn't our only bank, but it's definitely the one I'd suggest to new expats.  They've been pretty awesome to us.

That's quite a sweeping statement!

I've seen the attitudes - well we must take our lunch so we'll close during lunch hour, etc.  Everywhere is like this apparently.  We can't even see house rentals during the weekend let alone after 5.  Oh and get this the one we applied for is checking our references via snail mail!  My employer is in London and I'm in Scotland so that'll a wee while.

I don't know a single bank that closes during lunch.

When I was flat hunting a year ago I had agents and landlords show properties as late as 9pm.

Our letting agents checked references by e-mail.

So it's not universal.  You have, perhaps, just made bad choices with who to use to help you.


Vicky