Abbey National Appalling Service

I wouldn't hold your breath.

We've been trying to close an account since early March (because it's paying pitifully little interest). Abbey do not reply to letters, nor follow-up on phone calls and promises.

When / if we ever get a response, I'll be interested in their reaction to our claim for lost interest.

We know several other people who have also been ignored when trying to close an account.

The Spanish may be able play soccer and tennis, but they certainly can't run banks or airports.

Then write to them telling them you are complaining about their poor level of service. They should write back within 5 days saying they are looking into it, and come back with a proper reply within 30 days. If they don't, contact the Financial Ombudsman Service.

If you read the Daily Telegraph on Saturdays you may see a column called 'Jessica investigates', where readers write in for help when they can't get any sense out of a financial institution. Abbey seems to feature disproportionately often in problems about poor service.

But go to the FOS if your attempts to complain directly don't work.

Rob Graham

Agree totally. But on the phone, they said [words to the effect of] "...do you want to register a complaint or do you simply want us to sort this out for you?", and (as it turns out) we gave the wrong answer.

Why not try telephoning 08457 30 20 10 ?

This is the Nationwide number.

I have never had anything but courteous help from either branches or using their Help line.

Or even using the Online message facility.

Even when the mistake was stupid - mine.

Others may give a more balanced opinion. Let us see.

Flop

"Martin" wrote

Can't you simply transfer the entire balance elsewhere immediately, before they actually close the a/c?

It was not on her list of FAQs. She would not be able to read the answer to anything that wasn't. Comprehension and thought are not in the job description.

Diana Wright's customer problem column in the 'Money' section of the Sunday Times frequently features Abbey (and with another problem this week). My only dealings with them were recently opening an internet account. After four days of phone calls and about ten online attempts to fill inthe form, I eventually dictated the form answers over the phone. It was only after several weeks of phone and postal interchange that I finally had internet access to my account.

Their procedures were quaint and convoluted compared to others. Instead of using my initial deposit cheque to set up my linked account, I had to specifically phone to ask for a direct debit form to be sent to me by post and return it with an account statement to prove it was my account. And as an internet deposit account, with fixed interest and withdrawal penalties (ie specifically for long term investment) I could only access it by quoting a cashcard number, and had to wait on a cashcard being sent to me!!

And instead of the linked account sort code and number being embedded in my account, I have to type it in for each transaction - a wonderful way of maximising chances for customer error.

However, the ladies at their Irish call centre are perfectly charming in dealing with all this. But perhaps it's Irish logic linked to Spanish practices which explains the business model ;-)

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