Smile or Cahoot

I don't know about smile, except they are Windows-centric and are forever promising to consider other platforms but never do anything about it.

Cahoot. Once established, Cahoot are fine. Their customer support people are completely useless, just like Nationwide, Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, etc. There are one or two little strange things about Cahoot but once you know about them it's quite good.

Berkerk buk buk!

Well I'm a Windows man through and through, so no problems there :)

I hated Bank of Scotland customer support, it was the reason I left for Halifax, and guess what happened two months later?

Can you elaborate?

Have you considered First Direct?

Excellent customer services and access online or via telephone - just keep your savings in a savings account and not the current account.

Regards Sunil

They can't make statements run from the first of the month to the last of the month. The nearest they can get is the 2nd to the 1st. I guess their software can't cope with the end date varying, though it's hard to imagine something so trivial would be beyond them.

In message , TBL writes

I moved to Smile last November from HSBC. I've had an ISA with them for a couple of years, the new current & CC account were quickly and efficiently set up. The transfer was trouble free too, one DD got a little mixed up (I think a B instead of an 8 entered on to the system for the ref. number), but it was all sorted the following month with zero intervention from me.

Customer service has been first rate so far.

Bill would be proud of you. Well, maybe not with Cahoot, but that's another discussion.

Sure. For example:

Payments "due" (such as credit-card automatic payments) still show up beyond when they have been paid. The timing of various transactions is also quite strange. If you have external direct debits, make sure you have the timing of internal Cahoot transfers right, as it can be unexpectedly weird.

HTH

squawk!

I tried to get a Cahoot account but their customer support people were very rude and didn't answer my questions. I'm much happier with the Halifax's customer support :-)

cd

Not so. I frequently access my Smile account from Linux using any of Netscape, Mozilla or Firebird browsers.

Can highly recommend them.

Ben

I am with Smile for the past 2 years, and so far, they have been great. And this morning I read that they are not offshoring any call centre jobs to India, and are creating 500 more jobs in the Manchester area. So for ethics, they get a big ten from me.

Simulet

Please don't use Cahoot, they are shockingly bad and don't deserve your business. I have had the displeasure of trying to use them for the past 18 months and it has been a nightmare. I am currently trying to close my account, and they can't even do that properly.

Don't Cahoot !

I've been with Cahoot for 2 years - never had any problems with them. Customer Service has always been excellent, automatic change over of direct debits etc. went without a hitch, from the day I specified and I have enjoyed market leading interest rates on my current account and savings.

I therefore vote for Cahoot.

Si.

Without a hint of irony, nick_c snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com astounded uk.finance on 05 Feb 2004 by announcing:

Can you elaborate? I've had a few problems but nothing like the problems with the 'established' banks such as Barclays.

Example: invoking the DD guarantee with cahoot took around 10 seconds on the phone along the lines of Me: "Hi. The wrong amount was taken; please refund it." Bank: "Certainly. That's now done for you."

With Barclays, it was Bank: "We can't do that. Speak to the company for a refund." Me: "No. The DD guarantee states you refund me immediately." Bank: "We can't do that." Me: "Can I speak to your supervisor?" Super: "Oh yes, we can do that. We'll pass it to another department who will do it tomorrow."

I agreee strongly with this.

Never had any Problems with Cahoot. Totally strightforward service and setup.