Banks

In 50 years or so I may feel the same but at the moment the most I can
do to shorten the time I have to associate with the unwashed the
better.

 

Krusty expressed precisely :

Mine is black, is there some difference in the colour?

 

http://www.natwestblack.com/

 

Krusty explained :

Ah, thanks - I'll flash it around more then

 

I've had the same bank account for 30 years too. Originally National
Girobank, then Girobank plc, then Alliance & Leicester now Santander. With
each change there have been problems. I've only kept the account as I have
had a sub-Post Office near my last 3 houses where I could withcraw &
deposit cash. Cheques can be posted to the Bootle sorting office.

Now with the Santander takeover some of my accounts disappeared off the
website for 5 weeks. My existing PIN didn't work with the new card. They
have not sent me another paying in book/envelopes to use the postal deposit
service and the general attitude is we DGAF.

I'll be moving accounts once I get back to the world of paid work.

 

It is typically (!) more effective to deal with someone face to face. I
don't like dealing with call centres where the person on the end of the
phone has no clue what you are talking about - I had this with a GM Visa
card and also trying to deal with Pipex / Talk Talk when their news feed
stopped working. No one understood what usenet was. In both cases I had
to end the phone discussion as it was so utterly useless dealing with
morons.

Well I had to go back to branch today as I had attempted to register my
credit card on the dreaded "Lloyds Click Safe" system. Guess what - my
date of birth on that system was wrong and had not been corrected when I
sorted out the incorrect details on my current account. Branch says "oh
the system should feed the change through to all accounts". Click Safe
says "on no the details are held on separate systems and they don't talk
to one another". I made the point to the branch manager that Lloyds
really need to employ people who understand how their systems work and
how they are connected so that they handle problems correctly.

The Manager who dealt with me on Monday saw me today and said "is
everything OK?" to which the reply was "no". After a further explanation
of another 4 days worth of trouble he said that he had agreed with his
boss that Lloyds should provide some compensation. I said "oh and what
does that look like?" He said "a bottle of whiskey". I said "I don't
drink so that's not going to work". He said "a box of chocolates" I
actually felt slightly insulted at this point - you don't offer a male
customer chocolates for heavens sake. On reflection I should have said
"oh yes, I'll have one of the hand made easter eggs from Maison Du
Chocolat on Piccadilly. That would have made the bonus pool shrink at
Lloyds!

I said "how about some nice cash - you know that stuff you make lots
of". He said "OK, how much?" to which I replied "that's a rather
dangerous reply". I suggested £100 which they are happy to lob in my
account this evening. I probably sold myself a bit short but it's better
than nothing.

I am still going to formally complain to my branch manager and probably
copy the letter to the Bank's Chief Executive. I'm half tempted to lob
a copy at George Osbourne, as he owns a sizeable chunk of Lloyds TSB, if
only to make me feel slightly better. I know it would be a waste of
time.

 

I hope you've got a green biro.

 

I'll never use them again after they took money from my then 11 year
old daughter's savings account[1] when my mortgage account didn't have
sufficient funds to cover that month's payment.

Dispicable bunch of cunts

[1] I was a signatory

--
Lozzo
Versys 650 Inter-Continental Hyperbolistic Missile , CBR600F-W racebike
in the making, TS250C, RD400F (somewhere)
BMW E46 318iSE (it's a car, not one of those 2-wheeled pieces of shite
they churn out)

 

I have Sainsbury's deliver my shopping after ordering on the internet.

I've got better things to do with my time than walk around
supermarkets. It's worth paying £3.50 for someone else to do it for
me. Only takes 15 minutes on the website to reorder the usuals plus
whatever else I need for the week.

 

Ewhat? _Pay_ for an account? You're 'aving a larf, intcha?

 

Nah, it's worth it for the freebies. Top quality travel insurance
including winter sports cover, breakdown cover, better foreign currency
& overdraught rates, mobile phone insurance, identity theft insurance,
discounted event tickets etc etc.

 

That's normally bollocks. Most folk find that it's so restritive they'
hardly covered at all.

 

That's certainly been my experience - particularly with winter sports
and motorcycling to be covered.

 

He speaks the truth. I've got one. One of the other freebies is six free
entries a year into an airport biz lounge which, if you do a bit of
travelling and don't always fly biz or first, is very handy.

I'm letting my travel and breakdown insurance lapse as well,.

Plus they offer occasional freebie bashes like wine tasting, etc etc.

 

Well, I've looked at mine quite closely and I can't see what it doesn't
offer that my long-running BUPA travel insurance does.

Seriously, Ace, don't knock it until you've checked it out.

 

Is that a trace element of the service?

 

You won't put people out of their jobs. If stores have their heads
screwed on properly, they'll use those people in other roles (such
as customer orientated roles, etc). It does mean that they won't
need to recruit as many people mind.

For the customer that does use self scanning systems, the experience
is generally much better. Quicker to use, less hassle, etc. Caveat:
This is if the stores organise things properly.

 

I think you might be confusing the cover given with credit cards with the
policies included in bank a/c packages in the UK. The latter tend to be
proper standalone policies that do not require buying the travel using a
particuar card etc.

The free policy that comes with the *free* Alliance & Leicester Premier a/c
has been featured in the Which? top 10 list of travel insurance products.

It's underwritten by Fortis and even covers motorcycle riding over 125cc.

About the only good thing that Santander have done since taking over A&L is
renew the policy last month.

 

This and wessie's post prompted me to have a look at First Direct's
premier package, First Directory, which is £144 p.a..

Ignoring the mobile phone insurance and the identity theft insurance
the only things I'd be interested in would be the Travel Insurance and
the Roadside Assistance, for which I currently pay £156 in total. The
FD Travel Insurance excludes motorcycles over 125cc and the FD
Roadside Assistance excludes homestart and European cover.

Ace is right AFAIAC.

 

Correction. My total cost is £217. Still, I get the cover I need.