Abbey National. No thanks. (Abbey National)

Member Name: bryan31

Product:	Abbey National
Date:	25/01/01 (103 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy Account Upgrades

Disadvantages: Bad customer service, Appaling charges

I have been with Abbey National for longer than I care to remember and until quite recently had barely used my account except to deposit cheques etc...However, about a year ago I began to use their services more and more and was surprised to find that after about three months Iwas given the oppurtunity to upgrade my account to include a Visa Electron Debit card. Fabulous,.The service itself isn't TOO bad. The list of shops which accept the card is quite impressive, although there are still too many which don't. However, my main problem is with the speed at which the system operates. In theory the whole point of a Debit card is that only money which is in your account may be used. This isn't however, always the case. There have been several occassions during my use of the card, when I have been able to make purchases, overdrawing my acount simply because the system hasn't caught up with previous transactions, for which Abbey National has the cheek to impose charges for being overdrawn !!! Which brings me to my second and main point, Charges. A further six months down the line and my account was again upgraded to include a cheque book and £50-00 cheque guarantee card, Which is where most of the charges come into play. Never before have I encountered an organization with so many petty rules and loopholes to enable them to extract as much cash as possible from their customers.I give the following as an example of a frequent problem I have encountered. Suppose two cheques for say £2-50 are presented your account one morning at 9am when there are insufficient funds available. Two hours later funds become available, maybe in by a cheque clearing, maybe by a cash transfer etc. The total charges would be £12-50 for having an unauthorised overdraught (which incidentley is the amount for a full month !!), and 2x £10-00 for the paid cheques. The total amount would be £32-50 for being overdrawn by £5-00 for a period of 2 hours.....!!!!!! When you combine these
charges with the situation outlined above where a debit card payment is allowed on your account without there being sufficient funds, it is easy to see how this situation may become a frequent occurence. Likewise, cash deposited by way of an ATM machine actually takes two whole days to show on your account (you would think it would be possible to empty the machines and count the money more frequently), which only serves to aggravate the problem further. I have also noticed that where outgoings and incomings occurr on the same day the outgoings ALWAYS processed first, which of course is in their best interest. The system for ordering cheque books leaves a LOT to be desired and there have been numerous occassions where despite frequent requests, my cheque book(s) have not been ordered, In fact this is the case if you are showing more than three unused cheques on the account. It would seem they do not allow for destroyed or cancelled cheques. The resut, you may find yourself without a chequebook when you need it most. Their customer service I have also found quite impersonal. They refuse to handle any enquiries at your local branch, referring you instead to their telephone banking system (which, despite it's clinicity is actually not too bad).
Overall, I have found the Abbeynational to be VERY impersonal, the charges are appalling, the service provided substandard. In fact the only real advantage is the ease with which you may upgrade your account. But when you consider the charges which this is likely to generate this is hardly surprising.
Definately a thumbsdown........

Summary: