Alliance & Leicester Reviews

had a young savers account set up by my grandad in 1973 been money in there ever since, been at the same house for 34 years, and they said we closed your account because it was domant, but i said this is a savings account not a current account they were not intersted, and kept all the money. no letters ever written to advise me, i wrote them ...  Read the complete review

After reading a review on here I felt the need to also add my penny worth. A&L are dreadful. When I joined them they seemed great with a good amount of interest for a current account. However once I stopped using their services they charged me £5 a month for not putting enough money into the account every month. I know it was probably ...  Read the complete review

Avoid A&L commercial bank. I am shocked that a bank can be THAT BAD. They do not deserve your business, do not give it to them. I have moved my elsewhere at great inconvenience, yet I could not stomach dealing with these people any more. The reasons are - their customer service is appalling, disgraceful. I cannot stress this enough to ...  Read the complete review

I joined this site especially to make this complaint public and so that others are aware of the kind of service they provide. Having been in sales and customer facing roles all my life I am constantly pleased by how First Direct handle their customers but been tearing my hair out at how Alliance and Leicester do it. For the second time ...  Read the complete review

The reason why I opened an account with Alliance Leicester is simple. They have many incentives for people to become clients and I knew that once becoming a client, I could refer a friend and get a 50 Pounds bonus, and my friend would also get it. I applied by phone but they sent me the papers by post. I filled them in and returned and ...  Read the complete review

The quest for decent returns on invested money and cheap rates on borrowed money has become increasingly important in the minds of people over the last year or so. Even those who, for years, doggedly stuck to one financial institution are now looking around to see if they can get a better deal elsewhere. One of the financial ...  Read the complete review

I wish I'd read some of the reviews on here before switching to Alliance and Leicester a couple of months ago. Firstly, the good news: 1. I got £50 through Quidco for switching 2. The interest rate on my Premier Direct (internet based) Current Account is great, 8.25% I think, compared with the insulting 0.1% from HSBC 3. ...  Read the complete review

Recently transferred all my personal and business accounts from Lloyds to A+L (4 accounts in total).

I had three requirements:
1. Instant transfers between business & current accounts
2. Merchant banking for credit card payments to my business account
3. Easy to use, accessible website with a simple login procedure
...all of which were promised when I first met the Bank Manager.

NONE of these are available. NOT ONE!!

Following the lengthy transfer period (during which time they lost and canceled some existing Direct Debits and Standing Orders, causing me to incur fines) I then also found out that I couldn't even pay money into my local branch but instead had to phone the call centre (a premium rate number from a mobile phone) to ask for some envelopes to use at the Post Office.

AVOID THIS BANK LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!

I signed up for a Premier 21 Account a couple of weeks ago through quidco to get the £50, and I thought that perhaps Alliance and Leicester would be a good bank to deal with. It turns it, they're not as good as I thought they would be. I signed up online, so I could get the £50, and the joining was straightforward and quick. However, I ...  Read the complete review

awful! Rude, inflexable, unaccommodating, "no can do" attitude. complaints procedure was a chewed bic pen and a peice of photocopier paper, im dyslexic so was hard for me to write.

i felt like i was an inconvenience rather than an asset! i pay in large ammounts each month but they have a culture of poor customer service and they couldnt care less.
I felt angry,and unsatisfied even after i spoke with customer service, they didnt care either! i have had better C/S at macdonalds,staff huff and puff when i need to pay in.They advised me to use post office for my banking in future and not to come to bank. AVOID IF YOU VALUE YOUR SANITY. 8.5% AER, SO WHAT!!? ITS NOT WORTH THE MISERY.

Does anyone else struggle with their ridiculous customer ID/ PIN system? I have banked with them for about 18 years, until recently never had any real problems. Now that's all changed...in the last 2 months I have suffered endless problems with locked accounts, grumpy/ rude call centre staff, cards and PIN numbers 'lost in ...  Read the complete review

Right then, where do I start? Ok, I opened a 'Young Worker' account with alliance and leicester sometime in August 2003 and it took them no less than 6 weeks to send me my confirmation pack and they had to resend the pack because they decided it got 'lost in the post.' The first pack they sent came after the second one. I was 16 and just started ...  Read the complete review

Opened an account with A and L. That was easy, though time consuming as they all are. Went to pay in some money a few weeks later - late in the day, dirty, scruffy place, completely ignored by the two or three staff even though I was the only customer. Sat around, eventually someone could be bothered to go to the cashier's position, half-hearted answers to my questions. Ran out of there, the place was dragging me down. Think they're demoralised - Rotherham town centre. Completely unprofessional - this was early 2008

I have an account with Alliance and Leicester. It was set up 2 years ago. They are very clever in getting new clients, because they offer very competitive saving rates for the first year. However, once this period is finished, they still offer you good rates, but they are not the best. I decided to leave some money ...  Read the complete review

i opened a bank account had to pay £500 in each month or get bank charges,i shut it down in september 2007 by letter ,they didnt do it ,only found out they hadnt when i was sent bank charges for me to pay,i sent another letter to shut it down after paying bank charges on an account that was supposed to be shut ,they did not reply to my letter ...  Read the complete review

Alliance Leicester used to be a building society and they converted into a bank. I opened an account with them when they had a promotion to launch their services and their "premium service". They offered a very good rate on regular savings, although it only worked on the first 250 pounds per month and was only ...  Read the complete review

£80 in bank charges for NOT being overdrawn!

Yes, incredulous but true - I apparently underfunded my account (which was dormant) so they charged me a £5.00 fine which pushed me into a £3.80 Overdraft situation - They then applied a £60 fine for being overdrawn and 2 more monthly £5 fines!

In total - £80 for being £1.20 in the black...their reaction. You signed up to the T&Cs at the outset the contract- Beware everyone....look elsewhere for your banking.

Alliance & Leicester are THIEVES

Alliance Leicester seem to attract a lot of negative comments. I partly understand why and where the problem is. I have been one of their clients for 2 years. They have a very strange policy and they are effectively trying to reduce the number of branches. They offer good interest rates to savers, they advertise a lot, they do promotion ...  Read the complete review

Alliance and Leicester Banks customer service is appalling and there complaints department cannot even acknowledge a letter of complaint when you send one to them. Also the Chief Executive
can't even be bothered to answer his emails that he gets.
I have been trying to close my account with A & L since last October but up to now they have failed to close it.
Staff in the Chester Branch are rude to customers when they go into the Branch and they make you feel not welcome.
I am now having to resort to legal advice to try and end my long saga with them.
Also they love applying charges to your account.

I wouldn't recommend this bank at all. All banks have a poor reputation among their customers but I think this is one of the worst. You know the big fat man on Nationwide ad? Well this is A&L. They offer great incentives to hook you in, but the quality of their products and services goes right down after the introductory ...  Read the complete review