I've been wondering why I have not been receiving cheque books...
I left numerous messages via their online banking function, with no reply. Eventually I decided to waste half an hour holding on the phone and was told this amazing fact:
They keep track of all unused cheques, and when the number exceed seven they stop automatic mailing of cheque books. But they don't tell you they have done it.
It turned out that I had not used eleven cheques since 1999 - hardly suprising as some get spoilt during writing, etc.
The man gave me a list of all of them, cheque numbers and all.
It's a bit like their automatic cancellation of overdraft facilities every three years. They withdraw it without notice, and anything you do (cheques, direct debits, etc) bounces. No notice given to the customer either. I phoned them up when this happened (about 2 years ago) and they told me they are entitled to do it. They had no reason for doing it that related to me; I had never done anything "naughty" - it was just something programmed in their system.
Time to move on I think. Who offers a VISA card with a 10k limit, and a current account with a 10k OD facility, and isn't staffed by robots? I used First Direct previously but their customer service went down the pan too.