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Abbey |
The sixth biggest bank in the UK and the second largest provider of mortgages and savings in the UK. It has recently been bought by the Santander group, which is the biggest financial services group in the Eurozone. Abbey has the largest international network of branches.
Abbeys offers mortgages, loans, current accounts, savings, and home insurance. Investments and business banking are all available. They offer life insurance through Scottish Provident, and have a specialist bank for high net worth individuals through Cater Allan Bank and James Hay.
They offer a Reward current account, for £10/month you will receive, GreenFlag breakdown cover in the UK, annual worldwide family travel insurance (including winter sports), key protection and replacement cover, identity protection and more.
Visit Abbey for a quote.
| Posted by s davis on the 10th February 2010 | ![]() |
| Posted by s davis on the 9th February 2010 | ![]() |
| Posted by Nathanael Inkson on the 2nd February 2010 | ![]() |
| Posted by sarah on the 2nd February 2010 | ![]() |
| Posted by Natalie on the 29th January 2010 | ![]() |
| Posted by rebecca on the 21st January 2010 | ![]() |
| Posted by Richard Kent on the 17th January 2010 | ![]() |
Biggest mistake of my life was joining this stupid bank. I lost my card and i phoned up to ask for a new one and to block the other one. A person tells me that my card is going under investigation and that they will contact me as soon as they hear anything. This is in December 2009 btw.
Weeks later onto the new year of 2010 15th I get a bunch of letters from Abbey saying I have an overdraft and I have unpaid direct debits, which I do not recognise because I have lost my card!!!
And now I have letters saying I'm overdrawn. Now let's recap this. I phoned up after I found out my card had been lost/stolen. The person on the phone told me they would contact me, which they didn't, they failed. And whilst this investigation was going on, the person who had my card was still making transactions. Seriously how could they let this happen? Some bank. Anyway I'm trying to get to the fraud department at this moment and guess what,
they don't open till Monday. How useless is that.
They most probably bought a house with my card by now and I wouldn't have known because Abbey didn't contact me.
| Posted by Stupid to join abbey on the 17th January 2010 | ![]() |
| Posted by mm on the 16th January 2010 | ![]() |
| Posted by DAREN on the 16th January 2010 | ![]() |
| Posted by Ashley on the 13th January 2010 | ![]() |
James you are I am guessing just a lowly account manager or even working as a cashier - I am guessing this by your poor and ill thought comments (I am sure Abbey would not agree with you publicly) and also the fact that you cannot spell license - so please be quiet adults are talking.
| Posted by fatf1ng3rs on the 13th January 2010 | ![]() |
| Posted by ryan on the 11th January 2010 | ![]() |
The banking language has slipped into colloquialism over use (street talk). Just this morning, I overheard the tiller repeatedly use 'y'know man' and 'yeah' in his sentences. He also behaved in a defensive aggressive manner, when corrected for providing wrong advice.
Recently, at a North London branch, I was greeted by a manager, whose mouth was so full of food that he could not introduce himself. Ten minutes prior to that I was greeted by a young lady with perfect nails, hair and make up, who did not know how to say 'Good morning, apologies for the half hour delay, how might I help' instead I got 'do you want to make a transfer?' nothing more than that .
My main concern here is not the question of Abbey's success, and obvious systems failures as outlined by previous comments, but the lack of training offered to the young staff in banking etiquette, basic manners and the importance of interpersonal skills; the absence of these fundamental qualities have driven me from the Abbey after 28 years. When applied, these mature interactions, lead to a confidence in the bank and its ability to deliver a good service.
I am about to move to Virgin One, where the staff are always courteous, use standard English and are clearly well trained in customer service. My husband and sister have all moved their accounts following advice such as James's '....shut your accounts and move banks'. James merely repeats exactly what has been said to us when we have expressed concern over the management of our accounts.
Santander many well have a large customer base and one would hope that their success continues, but in partnership with continued growth, they have to regain control in staff training, introducing regular, rigorous, performance management reviews and guidance for the workforce of the future.
Sadly, the ill prepared few are degrading the overall quality and driving away once loyal customers.
Complaints are empty without solutions.
| Posted by Elizabeth on the 9th January 2010 | ![]() |
| Posted by Dave on the 5th January 2010 | ![]() |
It is around 7 months since we have been trying to release her account money for her. After 2 visits to the local branch with the PoA document, I have just had a call from the branch to say that they require (i.e. their unreachable and seemingly unaccountable head office) a copy of every page of this document. Since the document (around 25 pages) cannot be stamped or registered unless the full document is present as a legal instrument, why do they require this? Why wasn't this requirement made clear to the local branch staff? It was clear I was resident out of UK and made a special trip. Is it a legal requirement? Certainly not logical but logic goes out of the window when you are dealing with this organisation (sic).
They have a copy of the first page of the document, which they copied and which is stamped. It was also examined by their staff. I also had to fill and sign another large document of theirs which included an agreement by me to assent to a credit check ON ME!
I strongly objected to this but it was clear that the attempt to recover my mother's money from these robbers would not be processed unless I signed it. I also produced my passport and driving licence as I was told I had to, but specifically not a utility bill, which I took anyway and was then asked for:
par for the course in all the dealings I have had with them and their self-conflicting misinformation from the hours I have spent on the phone to them.
Now I have a further delay. I'm hoping my mother is still alive by the time that these incompetents release her money.
Here's a message: don't get OLD, and don't get involved with Abbey.
I can't begin to register the utter contempt I have for Abbey National.
| Posted by Ian on the 2nd January 2010 | ![]() |
| Posted by Mrs LH (Fareham, Hampshire) on the 26th December 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Mr J Jandaur on the 24th December 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Dave Spart on the 23rd December 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by B on the 22nd December 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by C.F.I. Kerr on the 19th December 2009 | ![]() |
1. After I married, I notified Abbey that I changed my surname. Months went by without them changing my name on correspondence or them issuing me a new debit card. Fine, I still received my mail and my debit card still worked, so I didn’t think I needed to bother. But then I received a cheque made out to me in my maiden name. Abbey refused to honour the cheque because it didn’t match the name on my account – married name. Even though I showed the person at the bank my marriage certificate, which shows that I have the legal right to identify myself by either my maiden or my married name, and even though the name on the cheque matched the name (maiden name) which was on my debit card and the address on all my bank statements from Abbey. The cheque, by the way, was from the US government, so they didn’t have to worry about the cheque not clearing.
2. My husband has a business account with Abbey. He was accidentally overdrawn by £5. Instead of notifying him that he was overdrawn, so that he could move more money into the account – he had money in our joint account with Abbey as well as with another bank – they charged him a £60 overdraft fee. Then they tried to make the transaction that caused him to be overdrawn two more times, charging him £60 each time, so that he ended up owing £180. He didn’t anything about this until the fee had reached £180 (this was all in a very short period of time – he does check his balance frequently). When he called Abbey to complain, they refunded him £20, so he was out £155 (£160 less the £5 he owed originally).
He has since moved his business account to another bank due to this and other issues, such as the ridiculously long time it takes for foreign cheques to clear and the inability to get service for business banking at the window at the branch.
3. Husband received a letter from Abbey saying that there was a problem with his debit card on our joint account and that they should call him. Debit card had been in has wallet at all times. There was no activity on the account that we couldn’t account for. He called Abbey, spoke to two people who couldn’t help him. Finally passed to a third person. This person made him review all of his transactions over the past month or so. Husband confirmed that his card had not been lost or stolen, and that all the transactions were legitimate. The person then told him that they had deactivated his card anyway and he had to wait 14 days to get a new one.
4. Abbey credit card – Online banking has never worked for me. Have to pay any bills by cheque or going into the branch. I avoid using it because I can’t be bothered.
5. The latest For a couple of days, when I tried to access my current account online, I received a message saying “This service is not available.” – Not that there is anything wrong with my account specifically, just that the online banking system isn’t working.
After two days, I called to check if the problem was, in fact, with my account and not with online banking in general. It was my account. The person I spoke to did something over the phone, and it turned out that I could access an account – sort of. Apparently, because I have different customer numbers for my current account and my savings account, they mixed up the two accounts, so now when I type in my debit card and security information for my current account, my savings account info comes up. Which doesn’t help me because the money in my savings account just sits there, while I can’t see what money is coming in and going out of my current account. (Not good with a bank that charges £180 for an accidental £5 overdraft – see above.) I also can’t transfer money from my Abbey account to any other bank accounts if I need to.
The person I spoke to said she had to send an email to get it fixed, and it would take 11 business days.
After 5 business days, I called to check up on it, to see if the email had ever been sent. I was transferred to the ecommerce team. The person I spoke to said that a simple merge needed to be done, that he was doing it right away. This was a Saturday. He said that the system would update overnight and it would be all fixed on Monday. Great! (or so I thought)
Needless to say, it wasn’t fixed. So I called Abbey again who said it would take another 7 to 10 business days – from then – and if it wasn’t fixed by then, I should go speak to someone at the branch!
So after that I called the Complaints Department. I was immediately transferred to the Security Department, because when I entered my security information, I never entered a “telephone banking number”, which I didn’t enter because I was never asked to enter one. Before anyone could respond to my complaint – despite the fact that I repeatedly said that my complaint was about online banking and I wasn’t interested in doing any telephone banking – I had to go through the automated process of selecting a telephone banking number.
Finally, I was transferred to someone who was supposed to deal with my complaint. With this person, every time I read her the number on my debit card, she got it wrong, and kept insisting that my account didn’t exist! Finally, she was able to access my account (I guess the number I gave her was right after all) and once again told me it would take 2 weeks to fix.
At this point, I am so disgusted with Abbey that I am ready to leave them.
| Posted by Lucy on the 15th December 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by James D on the 9th December 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Marcus on the 7th December 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Maureen Redmond on the 6th December 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Ron Dayvoo on the 4th December 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by John Browning on the 2nd December 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by debbie carney on the 29th November 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by marylynn1949 on the 29th November 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by James on the 27th November 2009 | ![]() |
The letter said as a process of opening an account, we need to verify our address and without receiving our reply our accounts will be blocked and will be closed if they can't receive reply within 3 weeks . (JOKING, we opened the account at a branch by their staff three month ago! T)
They didn't give any explanation and no apologise! BUT our money all in the accounts! Neither I nor my husband can live without access to the accounts! What about our direct debit default? Do you accept our salary into out account? When I complained to a branch member she said they were a national bank, so it took longer (3months?) to process an account opening, and she said they are protecting us by blocking our accounts without letting us know!!! Why can't you ring us ? Because we don't ring customers (to reduce cost?) Why didn't write a letter to us before block an account? Because fraud may happen ( are you suggesting we are criminal by using our own money?) You don't see the logic, they simply just don't care about US, their customers!!! I suppose we deserve it because we trust them too easily when we opened the accounts. For all the trouble they brought us this week, so far we still can't use the accounts I HATE ABBEY!
| Posted by Cathy on the 26th November 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Stephanie Tate on the 24th November 2009 | ![]() |
Not as sorry as I am that I decided to bank with them.
| Posted by ALAN WALTERS on the 24th November 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Jo on the 21st November 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Adrian Jones on the 21st November 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Astor on the 21st November 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Beryl on the 20th November 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Bran on the 17th November 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by ian on the 15th November 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by diane short on the 12th November 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Ronan on the 9th November 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Aaron Graham on the 9th November 2009 | ![]() |
Placed £1500 cash in used notes on counter (over half a year of hard savings) on Counter to deposit in my ISA account, handed card over, I was told all done, given a paper receipt with a 'Mrs X' name on it!... Anyone know Mrs X????? because for a limited time in my life she had my £1500 in her account before the cashier reopened her account (without her permission) and took back the cash to deposit it into my account!!!! Then the cashier denied she had done this!!!! The Manager at the Branch then denied any Security Breach had occurred! Is it lawful for a bank to access your account without permission, deposit cash into your account then withdrawn the money... all without your knowledge???? So Mrs X... do you know someone has been into your account??? The manager eventually told me it was human error, but said it was just a simple admin error. The BIG FEAR is that should I have walked out of the Branch without looking at the slip I would have had NO WAY of proving I had ever deposited the cash in the first place! being an ISA the last time I did a transaction was 7 months ago, imagine revisiting your account 7 months later (sometime in mid 2010) and not seeing the cash, then having to go into a Branch and saying some time ago I put £1500 cash on a counter to pay into my account and it's not there now! When Sir..? errr?.... 6-7 months ago! Oh how can you prove this? Well they gave me a slip of paper and the name on the paper (should I still have it 7 months on... Mrs X!!!! I did not have to put my card into any device and pin in a code or sign a deposit slip.. nothing... cash on desk, card handed over counter, receipt handed back... What was there to prove that I had even been in the Branch let alone placed cash into my account.. as for the receipt... Well I could have sat in the store overhearing deposits and have obtained Mrs X receipt after she had deposited it in the store waste basket or picked it up elsewhere!!! Could you recall accurately dates and people 7 months on!!!!! And the Manager then reassured me that should this have happened your money would have been re-credited to you! HOW???? This was followed with the fact that this was a Branch matter and there was no further route I could follow!!!!... I'm now waiting for a return call from Abbey Complaints Dept .... !!!!!
| Posted by Bernie on the 8th November 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Oscar on the 6th November 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Howerd on the 5th November 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Nigel on the 4th November 2009 | ![]() |
The telephone service is appalling - I don't usually use it, but had to because of the fraud. Too many departments, no one knows what's going on or who you need to talk to. They ignored my complaints until I threatened to report them to the ombudsman. The internet banking service is also clunky and seems out-dated. I am shutting all accounts I hold with them to move to a more secure and organised bank. I would definitely not recommend to others.
| Posted by Guest on the 1st November 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Abbey Victim on the 25th October 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Mark on the 24th October 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Roy Dobson on the 20th October 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Mrs T Mughal on the 16th October 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Denzil on the 15th October 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Barle on the 12th October 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Andy on the 9th October 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by basil on the 8th October 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by npoole on the 30th September 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Sylvia Rowland on the 25th September 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by no-floats-on on the 17th September 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Lloyd on the 13th September 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by honeymonster on the 10th September 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Rob Sparshott on the 3rd September 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by David Walters on the 3rd September 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Sandra on the 28th August 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Horace on the 24th August 2009 | ![]() |
Internet Banking - don't bother cancelling standing orders or DDs they don't always take any notice and continue to pay them. Sometimes you can't access your account.
Telephone Banking - don't bother with this either... you will have to go through the first lot of options, then the second, then the third etc. and woe betide you if you press the wrong button by mistake, you are left hanging on having to listen to Abbey Advertisements. Eventually you are put through to someone (not sure if they are people or machines) but either way, you can't understand them and they can't understand you! If you happen to ask a question that isn't on their cue sheet, the person just keeps repeating the same thing over and over.... aaaaahhh! They 'BANK' on the fact that you either get exasperated and put the phone down (as I frequently do) or you DIE! To Abbey, you are just an account number and there is NO-ONE in charge who will take responsibility for your complaints or queries. Just checked who has UK call centres - looks like I'm moving to Nat West or First Direct! LET YOUR FEET DO THE TALKING!
| Posted by S Kerr on the 14th August 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Graham on the 13th August 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by david barraclough on the 7th August 2009 | ![]() |
Avoid them like the plague, they are substandard, greedy and will take your money in a form of legalised theft, I will now have to see solicitors about getting my money back and compensation!
| Posted by Sheena Ashby on the 4th August 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by geoff on the 3rd August 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by ej on the 1st August 2009 | ![]() |
I have had so much trouble with Abbey over the last 6 months after banking with them for over 9 years. I had several counts of fraud followed by the bank failing to send my replacement bank card to the correct address over 5 times, each time I called the bank and told them where to send the card, each person I spoke to claimed to fix the problem BUT it kept occurring. I have since changed banks but now their incompetent switch team have failed to shut down my account leading to unpaid charges for standing orders that have been transferred to my new account over 2 months ago. The Bromley branch staff are so unhelpful, they told me they would sort the problem and failed to contact me back after they said they would and after I had called them and spent an hour in the branch trying to deal with the problem. DO NOT BANK WITH THE ABBEY!!!
| Posted by Wendy on the 25th July 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by chris gilbert on the 25th July 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by A Sykes on the 24th July 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Martin Loades on the 21st July 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Nadia B. Leaveme on the 16th July 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by sara sweetman on the 14th July 2009 | ![]() |
On my return home I telephoned Abbey to complain and find out what was going on to be informed after spending 45 minutes on hold that a temporary hold had been placed on my account without informing me and that they were unable to inform me over the telephone as to the reason why due to the data protection act, which is laughable as I had telephoned them and gone through the whole security questions scenario. After much wrangling with a foreign lady who was reading off a script and unable to answer any of my questions I was eventually put through to an English person who subsequently put me onhold and then cut me off!!!! After spending over 50 minutes on the telephone with them I am now left unable to access my current account with them on any level and they are telling me at takes 10 to 14 days to issue a new card which I should have had weeks ago!! there was no mention of an apology and no solution offered to my predicament which is entirely their doing!! I am only able to withdraw MY money over the counter at a branch which is not local to me during times which are inconvenient due to my working pattern, and they still unable to tell me why my account has a stop on it and why I have not been issued with a card to access my funds!!
I have not got an overdraft or incurred any fees during my banking history with this company.
I would advise whomever reading this to avoid banking with Abbey or Santander like the plague. I would give them 0 stars but the minimum is 1.
| Posted by Clair Weldon on the 10th July 2009 | ![]() |
They have taken weeks to review my application and the people you speak to on the phone never call back when they say they will. The tactics are clearly to get out of keeping the contracted mortgage I have, but rather than say that uprfront they have wasted hours of my time and thus money in the process. This is not prudent risk management (why compare my current spending when I'm paying a interest rate of 1% with a scenario with rates at 7%? Clearly in such circumstances I'd not spend as much on non essentials).
I also have the pleasure of dealing with Santander as a client of my company. They show exactly the same levels of dishonest incompetence at senior levels in the bank.... right up to the COO. They may be successful at the moment, but it will be shortlived... they are prime for a fall. If you happen to be an investor SELL now... I assure you it is not a good long term investment!
| Posted by Simon on the 6th July 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Archie McVicar on the 3rd July 2009 | ![]() |
....two weeks later no contact so I called again, eventually I was told that my original request had not been dealt with (it seems they had simply put the phone down and forgotten about it!), they then informed me that last August they had a computer error that had set up random debits on peoples accounts and mine was one of them (warning bells, would it not have been an idea to write to there customers asking them to be vigilant in case it affected there account? no they didn't...).
I was told they would write to me about this and that all the charges would be refunded and a goodwill payment would be made.....
...two weeks later no progress so once I finish this epic tome I will once again I fear be forced to enter that familiar cul-de-sac (I will also pay for this experience with my phone bill to there customer support department) support??!! I could cry.
Something needs to be done about this shoddy outfit. I would not trust them with a paper stand. Someone, some governing body, please please please take there license to trade away. If you don't want a heart attack don't bank with them clowns please. Nothing more to add so off to that cul-de-sac again, oh deep joy. If I could enter minus stars in the rating it would fill the heavens.
| Posted by Paul on the 3rd July 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by John on the 30th June 2009 | ![]() |
Abbey should buck their ideas up, I have since applied at Barclays for an account, goodbye Abbey and good riddance!
| Posted by Daniel Foley on the 22nd June 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by basil on the 16th June 2009 | ![]() |
I've given them documents three times, visited the branch many times. Had the underwrites put the overdraft on then take it off without telling the branch. They still haven't got it right, they haven't put the overdraft on that I requested and haven't given me the interest free overdraft that was promised.
As soon as i can recover my costs from them or have the complaint upheld from the ombudsman, i'm going back to Lloyds.
ABBEY DONT UNDERSTAND CUSTOMER SERVICE OR PERSONNAL BANKING.
| Posted by andrew Berry on the 3rd June 2009 | ![]() |
Of course I can put it in babel fish and get a rough translation but feel that British customers should see errors in English not Spanish. This is a coding error in the website so I need to report it as a website technical error. Very poor Abbey as you should have error feedback!!!
| Posted by leslie Norton on the 30th May 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by k harold on the 21st May 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by siobhan hapaska on the 18th May 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Richard Ayres on the 16th May 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Sue Milnthorpe on the 8th May 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by arthur turner on the 7th May 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by joy woodward on the 27th April 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Very angry customer on the 23rd April 2009 | ![]() |
Recent problem gave me high blood pressure. Talking to a foreign gentleman about it got me nowhere as usual but he said I would have to pay a fee for copies of cheques and I would have to go to my branch to sort the mess out. I said no way, the bank do that and NO FEES! I used to think Lloyds bank were the worst but Abbey is a close second. I am not sure I can keep my money with Abbey. Maybe they are not in the news much and seem to be doing well but having read just a handful of the reviews here I know that Abbey have got it all wrong. Customers don't count. Their admin is awful, complaints take for ever to be answered let alone dealt with and I feel I cannot trust them to look after my money after nearly £2000 was transferred to the wrong account. Still waiting for it to come back to the right one. Will I get my interest I wonder?????
DISGRUNTLED
| Posted by VERY UNHAPPY on the 12th April 2009 | ![]() |
After applying, being accepted, receiving my mortgage certificate for my first house, I reserved my house (cost), I paid solicitors fees (cost), paid for searches (cost), family bought furnishings, I notified my friend that he was able to move in and he got the ball rolling,I organised home and buildings insurances etc. etc. They then took the product off the market that I'd been accepted for. No problem, I thought, my application was in well in time before then, how can I get confirmed for a mortgage which doesn't exist? Fine. Not fine. After taking the product off the market they then stated I know you won't like this too many mortgage brokers and hence customers that they would not be honouring any offers that they had made and were in the system already.
Due to my circumstances (good job but no deposit and shared equity of 85/15 with the builders) there are NO other products now available to me. I cannot buy the house I have reserved, my first house, the house my parents have expressed are proud to see me buying and moving into. I am £thousands down and have to let down a dear friend.
I am absolutely appalled.
I want the product which they sold to me and gave me certification for. I have absolutely no doubt that I will recover all expenditure that I have incurred on the basis of their confirmation as I will take it as far as it needs to go, starting with the small claims court. To add to the actions the courtesy has been poor, they have NOT contacted me directly, I heard it through my broker despite them having all of my details. I am left poorer than I was with a commitment to buy a house from a builder that I now cannot fulfill. All I want is to move into my first house, pay my mortgage every month at their rates, on their terms making them a massive profit but they've decided they don't want to do it any more and have been completely, unnecessarily wreckless and inconsiderate to customers who are wanting to be good willing customers. I am failing to express my annoyance and frustration properly via text. I am currently formulating an email to Antonio Osorio who is a top top big wig and I will CC to any other emails that I can get my hands on too. I find this completely unacceptable. This is my very first dealing with Abbey.
| Posted by Andrew James French on the 2nd April 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by H.J.Hall on the 1st April 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Janice on the 27th March 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by stephanie on the 26th March 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Bev on the 24th March 2009 | ![]() |
Not that I've had many complaints with Abbey. Slight snag transferring from e saver to 50plus but Nicola sorted it out.
When do you ever hear of Abbey in the news with problems? So far - never. They run a tight ship that's why. Bless 'em.
| Posted by Asa Newt on the 19th March 2009 | ![]() |
Something has to be done with Abbey. How can so many banks be falling and Abbey is still standing? Our family is now on its 4th formal complaint with Abbey. Two of the family used to bank with Abbey but have now transferred to other banks - not without nervous breakdowns. One member used to work for Abbey in Unsecured Loans but resigned due to the embarrassment of being asked at parties, events, etc 'Where do you work'?
This is the 3rd time I've left a message here. The problem I recorded 3 Nov 08 and 11 Jan 09 has STILL not been resolved. I won't go over all the hassle again as its pretty much the same as you've all been describing (I'm now a banking expert as for the last 8 months, I've had to learn how to do all the procedures myself as Abbey can't quite manage it). I thought 8 months was an appalling time for this but having read through every complaint here, I realise that this is the NORM for Abbey.
I agree with all of the previous complaints and have told the Complaints Team at Abbey this verbally and in writing. We have been through the incredible gobbledegook spewed forth from the Bangalore Call Centre staff who hang up when cornered. We have endured phone calls and letters from the Complaints Team who a) apologise profusely for all we've been through b) empathise with how frustrated we all must be feeling and c) re-list all our complaints - without a word of how they're going to IMPROVE upon and implement staff training.
Interestingly, in the phone call to me from the Complaints Team regarding my own complaint, Abbey admitted that it used foreign call centres because they were cheap and would NOT be changing this as few of its customers had ever complained about language barriers. I was the one at fault apparently because I come from Northern Ireland and its call centre staff have a problem understanding all the Ulster accents - more so than in any other part of the UK! The other admission was that not all Abbey staff had received proper training in the new and immensely complicated Santander IT system. Most depts were still trying to get to grips with it, and this was to explain why staff were unable to process requests and perform procedures with the skills of yesteryear! Bless. Funny how many organisations have radically developed or changed IT systems and been able to train hundreds of staff within months, not years.
Having talked to Abbey staff at length, I've come to the conclusion that Abbey are deliberately as thick as two short planks. After all, the staff still get paid the same salary at the end of the month for making errors or not. Why make an effort? What can we, the customer do? Phone calls - those that get through - are not returned. It's not that person's/department's responsibility when you do get through - and they can't transfer you because they don't have an outside line (yes, really!). Complaints to the Complaints Dept are FINALLY answered with a phone call apologising and empathising like there's no tomorrow. But they don't deliver - NOTHING CHANGES. I'm applying for a job in the Complaints Dept as the salary for doing damn all would be absolutely fantastic in this uncertain world.
So far, we have written to the Financial Ombudsman's Office which is only now being looked at (3 months later) due to the backlog of complaints - probably from Abbey customers. we also wrote to the Financial Services Authority who advised that it cannot deal with individual cases and referred us to the Office of Fair Trading who advised same and suggested we try the online Consumer Direct who advised us to try the Financial Ombudsman! Likewise the NI Trading Standards Authority! I've written to my local MP and letters to the editors of two of the largest papers in Northern Ireland. I've told Richard Harris, Head of Customer Complaints all of this. No reply. I'm expecting my apology and empathy phone call soon. I try not to phone these creatures as I end up swearing and shrieking down the phone like a banshee. I'm appalled at how primal I become but unless you are a customer of Abbey's you cannot possibly understand the depths you can sink to in dealing with this tribe - they are truly a breed apart. That's why I would like to take it as far as I can.
| Posted by dh on the 17th March 2009 | ![]() |
You're probably wondering, 'why don't you just leave?' Well, loyalty is a big thing when it comes to business. I've grown up with the bank and yes, the time has come to move on, but not before I let the world know how incompetent the staff at Abbey really are! They simply don't care enough. Good luck with your banking and remember VOICE your opinions. If we all do this, it may help them to run a tighter ship!
| Posted by R James on the 12th March 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by george on the 10th March 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Steve Daulby on the 8th March 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by david blanchard on the 1st March 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Sue E. Sidal on the 26th February 2009 | ![]() |
I have a freephone number for them
0800 056 5151
Use it, pass it on and above all else get your money out of the hands of this utterly appalling bank and spread the word.
They do not deserve any customers.
| Posted by sue on the 3rd February 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Anne Arana on the 27th January 2009 | ![]() |
Someone has used my card details to make an unusual ~2000 purchase
and Abbey have not given me a response about what is happening despite numerous emails, phonecalls and letters. I have written to the complaints department 3 times now. Almost a month has past now.
I'd love to appear on It Pays to Watch with my problems perhaps someone would take notice. I'm sure I could get the afternoon off work to go on the show.
27/02/2008 - Three transactions for 1.50 were applied to my account for ****Details Ommitted*** only one of which completed
I was ill at home on the 27/02/2008 and have never been to ****Details Ommitted***. This was not one of my transactions. This unusual activity was not reported.
01/03/2008 - I rang customer services to check my account but the system was down. Otherwise I may have spotted the first fraudulent transaction.
07/03/2008 - A purchase of 1947.00 was applied to my account for ****Details Ommitted*** I was at work all day in Reading and at my badminton club in the evening on 07/03/2008. This was clearly not my transaction. Who buys nearly 2000 of ****Details Ommitted***? Why wasn't this flagged up as fraud straight away? This is far removed from my spending pattern of mainly supermarket spending and it is almost the same as my monthly salary.
09/03/2008 - I rang customer services to check a transaction that I wanted to check the previous week. This was ok but the customer representative mentioned this huge transaction. They were helpful and cancelled the card straight away. She gave me the fraud department number as 08456017238 on Monday . I was appalled that the fraud department does not operate 24/7.
10/03/2008 - I rang 08456017238 and was directed through various departments to an automated system for dealing with disputed transactions. Correctly giving the responses to the questions led me to be cut off. I rang again later and eventually got through to a person in disputed transactions who said I would receive a form in 4 days.
13/03/2008 - I emailed Abbey saying that no form had arrived.
15/03/2008 - I contacted the police who were very helpful crime ref ****Details Ommitted***
18/03/2008 - I rang Abbey. I was bounced from current accounts to credit card customer services, fraud department, Visa disputes, Visa credit card disputes. I was told that only the disputed transactions department could deal with me. When I got through to disputed transactions they wanted to bounce me back to the people who said they could not deal with me. The customer advisor took my mobile number and said he would ring me back in 10 minutes. I have had no call from Abbey. On the same day I also received the letter regarding my complaint ref ****Details Ommitted*** saying that it would take another 15 days to get an answer.
19/03/2008 - I rang the given number 01908 680227 regarding my complaint ref****Details Ommitted***. I still could not get any information about when I would receive the promised disputed transaction forms.
21/03/2008 - I received my monthly statement including the fraudulent translations. They even had the gall to include the 'With the Abbey Credit Card you money is safe' leaflet. None of which has been put into practice.
I have received no information about the progress of the investigation and only an acknowlegdment of my letter of complaint.
| Posted by Mariegriffiths on the 22nd January 2009 | ![]() |
Also some one fraulently taken over £2000 from my account. I have made at least 10 phone calls and three letters and nothing has happened so far. I am thinking of closing my all accounts with abbey
| Posted by A Gaur on the 22nd January 2009 | ![]() |
Also some one fraulently taken over £2000 from my account. I have made at least 10 phone calls and three letters and nothing has happened so far. I am thinking of closing my all accounts with abbey
| Posted by A Gaur on the 22nd January 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Theodore Sturgeon on the 22nd January 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Sarah on the 20th January 2009 | ![]() |
After nearly 30 calls and 2 visits to local Abbey branch, we only discovered that the Complaints Team do not actually deal with your complaint until it is LOGGED OFFICIALLY IN WRITING BY YOU, THE CUSTOMER. They just listened for weeks to our telephoned complaints, making soothing noises and promising to look into it. After 3 full months of this, we eventually sent a short email (previous emails to Abbey's website crashed) and it took Abbey a fortnight to reply by email to say they'd look into it. Heard nothing, so wrote a 9 page letter and contacted Financial Ombudsman who asked us to give Abbey 2 months to resolve complaint now they had it in writing. 2 months have passed, and Abbey has been unable to sort out the mess that has resulted in my relative's credit rating being affected. Their designated Complaints Officer for our case, states that our case is extremely unusual for Abbey and that is why they are having trouble coming to some sort of solution!!! An apology was made re our complaint about foreign call centres, stating that it was in Abbey's interests to keep costs down by employing foreign staff and they would not be changing this. It was also admitted that after Santander took over, there are still areas where training still has to be carried out as some depts are still not caught up with the new systems. And of course, we, the customer, are paying the price.
My family have done nothing but torn our hair out for the past 6 months and we don't think that Abbey will ever be able to sort out the mess they've made with my relative's account. It is beyond belief but they are the worst organisation we have ever had to deal with in all our lives.
| Posted by DH on the 11th January 2009 | ![]() |
| Posted by Nick on the 6th January 2009 | ![]() |
I have been in dispute for almost 2 years with Abbey Credit Card over late payment and interest charges they applied to my account after failing to apply the direct debit in full each month that I requested when setting up the account. I repaid in full all amounts spent on the card and the balance they claim outstanding is for late payment and interest charge thereon.
I made dozens of phone calls and sent many letters and finally refered the matter to the financial Ombudsman a few months ago. The case is still under their consideration.
I continue to get harassing letters and phone calls (normally around 7pm in the evening ) even although they are aware that the matter is with the Financial Ombudsman. I have informed their collection Dept by phone and letter and still the harassing call and letters threatening my credit score continue!
The final Insult.
On 24th Dec 08 Abbey Credit Card deducted £32.96 from my Abbey Bank E-Saver account without any authority from me or notice to me.
This is fraudulent and amounts to theft!
I have written to Abbey Bank (copies to Financial ombudsman) lets see what happens.
Hopefully there are better banks than Abbey out there as their help line are useless even when you manage to get through to them.
Stephen
| Posted by Stephen Croft on the 26th December 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Carrie on the 22nd December 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by SandraF on the 19th December 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by john on the 15th December 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by VG, Lincoln on the 11th December 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by A H Williams on the 11th December 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by A H Williams on the 10th December 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Tom on the 8th December 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by David Lawrence on the 22nd November 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by will buckley on the 21st November 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Robert Birbeck on the 21st November 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Jay Coley on the 10th November 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Cheeky on the 6th November 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by ray bradbury on the 6th November 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by DH on the 3rd November 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Amazing service on the 3rd November 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by michael hyland on the 3rd November 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Curt Jergens on the 28th October 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by yf on the 25th October 2008 | ![]() |
In a nutshell I had a problem where a local company banked 3 cheques I had written to them over the course of a few months all in one day. They were only small amounts, under £15. I have been charged £95!!!!!! I cannot have these reversed because in June I was £3 for 24 hours and charged £40, they reversed these so I am not allowed anymore reversals... these are the only 2 times I have EVER been overdrawn and only by tiny amounts. The mistake wasn't even mine, granted it wasn't the banks either... but why should I pay? What makes me so angry is not only would they not reverse the charges, but they wouldn't offer me any alternative help either... no temporary overdraft so I don't lose £95 in one go just no help what so ever. To add insult to injury whilst trying to sort this I have spoken to an operator who gave me incorrect info, one who hung up on me, one who admitted he didn't understand me and one who was rude and told me I expect to much customer care. Nice.
No one there cares, I have never known such a hard-faced, arrogant, rude, incompetent organisation in my whole life. I will not let this lie... DO NOT OPEN AN ACCOUNT WITH THEM!!!!! I feel uncomfortable banking with a bank who do not have a limit on how much they can charge you in one month... it's ridiculous.
| Posted by DC on the 23rd October 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Justice Popplecarrot on the 22nd October 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by bill on the 21st October 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by jacqui on the 18th October 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Ryan on the 17th October 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Robert Wheeler on the 13th October 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Jon on the 5th October 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by robin alka on the 29th September 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by linda on the 25th September 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by des williams on the 24th September 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by will on the 24th September 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by David Howard on the 23rd September 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by sam scroggins on the 23rd September 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Kim on the 18th September 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Melanie on the 13th September 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Patricia Christianson on the 9th September 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Anthony on the 6th September 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by jamie on the 5th September 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by skint on the 1st September 2008 | ![]() |
They mistakenly stopped my card. Twice. They then mistakenly stopped my online access. They sent the wrong card out to me, and then handed me another incorrect one over the counter.
This all left me withoutt any access to my money for about a month.
They have then today apparently had a technical error meaning that my graduate account overdraft has been reduced by £900.
I have had varying degrees of success with customer services, and have been lucky enough to have been given direct lines to the best of them.
The whole bank is a shambles, though - the number of errors and clearly untrained staff is a disgrace.
Get out if you can!
| Posted by Liz on the 1st September 2008 | ![]() |
This may seem a minor issue, but it really isn't. Many students have to dip into their overdrafts during the academic year because they have no regular, monthly income. Abbey has removed mine, and at this present moment I am in a foriegn country, with a dwindling cash supply, and an account that cannot be accessed.
Abbey promised to handle this problem 8 months ago. They did not. They promised me 3 weeks ago that they would sort the issue out in 2-3 days. they did not. And before I set off abroad I was given firm assurance that the account would be accessible within 72 hours. Two weeks later I still cannot access my account. I have emailed them stressing the urgency of my situation. they have promised to pass my problem on to my local branch, the pedigree of whose incompetence has been amply proven. I am at my wits end because I have been too trusting with what is by a country mile the worst bank or organisation I have ever had experience of. Definitely shall change banks as soon as (or if) I can get back to England.
| Posted by David Lewis on the 28th August 2008 | ![]() |
I give them no stars but the site won't let me.
| Posted by Sam on the 28th August 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Paul on the 28th August 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by not happy on the 15th August 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Emma on the 12th August 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by matt on the 11th August 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Stephen Geach on the 8th August 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Zoe on the 7th August 2008 | ![]() |
The catalogue of 'cock-ups' made with my current and savings accounts are numerous however the most recent 'cock-up' has been one of the best!. I married in May and was eager to have my name changed on my accounts. I contacted the abbey to enquire what was required, I was told to just 'pop in' to ANY branch with marriage certificate etc. and it could be sorted there and then. I duly 'popped in' to my local branch and was informed by a very surly and rude member of staff that I needed to make an appointment. I made an appointment, filled out all the necessary forms and was told that I would be issued with a new cheque book, debit card etc etc within 10 days - six weeks later they had not arrived. I contacted my local branch who said that they had been issued but as I had not received them they would have to report my card lost and have everything re-issued. What they failed to tell me was that in doing this my account would no longer be accessible through internet banking nor that in order to make any sort of transaction I would have to go into my local branch with id. My new card chq book etc have now arrived - hallelujah!! my pin number has been changed, my card number has been changed (I was very proud of the fact that I had memorised my last card number!) and my internet access to my account is still not available. I rang abbey this morning they have informed me that it will take a further 14 days for my new internet codes to come through!!!
I work in the service industry - if my level of incompetence was the same as the staff at abbey I would have lost my job years ago. In this day and age with rising interest rates etc more than ever people like to be in charge of their finances - I feel like I have no control over my accounts at all at the moment and everything depends on whether 'the abbey' are having a good day or not!! If you are a dissatisfied customer please tell as many people as possible of your experiences that way, hopefully, other people will not make the mistake of opening an account with abbey!!!!
| Posted by mrs steel on the 31st July 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by R Price on the 22nd July 2008 | ![]() |
I had an abbey current account, so when we went to buy or home we went to the abbey, they bent over backwards to act like they where helping...promised me a great package WE where getting all expenses including solictors fees paid and they even had their OWN house and home insurance which they talked us into taking. their surveyors had stated that the house was a GREAT BUY ( I had deceided that I would not buy it after they found minute traces of rising damp, but they had contacted me and insisted that we would be a fools to cancel the agreement and what they found was no problem and a damp proof course was all that was needed)
we moved in to our home on the 5th september 2004. had a lot of furniture stored in every room, when we started to move the furniture from the living-room (three days later) we found one metre high of thick white (fur like) damp had risen all around every wall in the room.
My brothers where builders, but where out of the country at that time but I had learnt a lot from them over the years and I knew this was not RISING DAMP.
green powder fell on everything and we started to feel sick with chest infections
on the fourth day I called into the Abbey and handed them back the keys I informed them of events and that THEY had broken the contract by selling us a dud property etc; they threw them back and stated that THEY would make sure that we never get another mortgage ever again if we did not contuine with their mortgage agreement.
At that time we did not know enough and stayed in the house,with no heat, the noise of water running and numerous plumbers later, it was not rising damp it was, MAJOR FLOOD the house was floating and had been for some time water was pouring somewhere and we had found it under the floor in the kitchen, the surveyors had surveyed it wrong.
Abbey's insurance should have kicked in, as we had paid for the heap, hotel the lot, except, it was not the ABBEY, it was NORWICH UNION they had told us another lie
Norwich union refused the hotel infact they refused to do anything and insisted that the surveyors had to pay us etc;!!
the surveyors hide their heads in the sand, as did the insurace, we got nothing
We lost approx twenty thousand pounds of electric items, clothes furniture not including bills to fix the house, enviormental health threatened to close the house stating it unfit.The Abbey begged us to stay with them stating it would never happen again WELL IT DID
They had our mortgage on three different interest rates which meant that we where paying the same amount on an interest only mortgage as someone paying a repayment mortgage.
On the internet I had been looking at mortgage rates for first time buyers, when I noticed that as a first time buyer with the Abbey I could buy my home on repayment for the same price as I was payiing for interest only
I rang them and inquired , I was informed, that it was for FIRST TIME BUYERS ONLY and because I was a REGULAR customer of theirs I could not have that rate,
I complained ,as to why, I should have to pay hundreds of pounds more for the same purchase price of house and for the same term, just because I was an old customer of theirs. The manager stated that he would give me the same deal as a one of!! all I need do is sign and return the forms he would send.
I did as asked but when I phoned to ask why I had not heard from them they stated that the forms had been mis-laid and they could not send them out again and they would not honour the agreement etc; etc; I hung up in disgust!!
I had been talking to an financial advisor else where who had advised me to go to Abbey and have all my interest rates joined together
THIS IS PROBLEM NO THREE
I rang the mortgage retention centre and spoke to a girl called kimberely I asked her why they had not joined all my interest rates together and would they do so at once as I was paying to much for my house etc; she stated, yes!! they could do that for me at once for the total price of £75.00
I agreed to this stating that it would be worth £75.00 to have my mortgage reduced reduced.
I then asked for numerous repayment and early release mortgage prices (I had made arrangements to see another bank ref; a mortgage and thought these would be useful to have )
I explained to her that I was thinking of leaving them and moving house She stated that she would leave all of the quotes on the computer for a number of weeks and if I changed my mind and wanted one ,then I would get the same quote as she had given that day etc;
I never called her back to confirm any of them
later I got one of the few mortgage statements from them, on it there was a charge of £1000.00 extra ???
I rang them and asked what they thought they where doing etc; the so-called supervisor stated that she could see a mistake had been made and she would get the girl to phone me and have it corrected.
Kimberely did phone me, she stated that she was so sorry and she had made a mistake and put the interest only mortgage quote through, I told her to tell the company to refund me my money a.s.a.p. she begged me to go ahead with it as she would only loose her job, and I would save money , WHAT??
how could I save money she had charged me a £1000.00 for the benefit of the same mortgage that I have had for four years??
If I wanted to take another mortgage it would be a repayment one
as I had already explained previously
After numerous calls to them... hung up on ...insulted ...told there is no compliants dept and lied to, I received a letter stating that they had investigated the matter and they where not refunding me my money as I had agreed to it ?????
This is now with the ombudsman ,so we will see what happens and what lies they can come up with!!
PROBLEM NO FOUR
WE went to Canada last year and could not use my visa debit as they had stated I could, it nearly ruined our holiday,
So this year the bank manager stated that it would be wise to take out a credit card called the zero card and I could use it out there and on return I could pay it back within six months to get nil interest charges ,sounded a good idea so I did. I used £839.77 on it
when we returned I called the bank and arranged the direct debit payments where to start on the 27th June and cotuine for another five months, sounded great.
Then I get a letter stating that I have not paid my first payment, I push it aside thinking it to be a computer error, then today I receive a letter from their collections dept stating that I am a bad payer and my card is stoped etc;
I have just spent from 9am this morning until now, 3.00pm being transferred insulted and told that I must pay them five pounds to get my card opened again, as they have made a mistake they will waver the £12.00 charge for not paying on time, but, I need to pay them £5.00 or my name will have a black mark against it
their excuse was that the man Jonathan did not know what he was doing. she first stated that a d.debit was not set up then oh! yes! it is sorry about that!! we will take the next month ok .
When I asked to be transferred to the tel banking I was put through to numerous places and each one was ignorant ,useless, brainless
the so called managers could do nothing and because I could not remember the exact amount I spent in tesco's four days ago they stated I could not release any money to the credit card!!!!
CAN YOU REMEMBER THE EXACT AMOUNT YOU SPEND ON FOOD ETC;?
If they asked the amount I pay for mortgage or wages I can tell them
but my life is not that sad to remember silly things... approx; yes but not to the last pence!!
THIS IS STILL ONGOING... I DID RING the number the other people gave in previous compliants and I did talk with someone, but they are solictors for the Abbey and cannot give advise, except to agree that we should go to a solictor
they also give me a number of the Abbey compliants dept 08456006014 which the Abbey tell you does not exisist??
their e-mail address is compliants@abbey.com
| Posted by mrs cluney on the 18th July 2008 | ![]() |
After years of frustration dealing with what they laughingly call 'customer service' representatives, my wife and I decided to close our joint account at the end of April.
We spoke to someone in Abbey who told us exactly what we needed to do (including the fact that we were being charged £25 to make a transfer, to my daughter's account).
We got confirmation that the transfer had been made on 2 May and, about a week later, a statement showing that on the same day - but before making the transfer - they had charged us £6.23 interest. So now we were overdrawn.
I rang and was advised to go in to a bank - difficult, because I life in France. I was told I could write, which i did. In June we got another statement, saying that we were now 8.45 overdrawn (although, bizarrely, they had paid us 31p interest!).
I wrote again to complain, and got no reply, and today I got the latest statement showing we are now 11.02 overdrawn.
I have just come off the phone from their complaints department, and left some poor sod with a pierced eardrum. They have promised to write, confirm that they have closed the account and that we owe them nothing. I am not holding my breath.
They are an absolute shower of the proverbial: stupid, useless, money-grubbing halfwits.
I have left one stat as a rating: only because this system will not allow me to leave no stars
The saddest thing is that Santander are now buying Alliance and Leicester, so we can expect another British bank to be ruined.
| Posted by LanguedocFox on the 14th July 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Lyndsay on the 9th July 2008 | ![]() |
As if that wasn't bad enough, Abbey National have been very unhelpful. My daughter cancelled her card early Monday morning when she discovered money was missing, later on that morning a further £250 was taken from her account. While we understand that Abbey have to investigate the money that was taken before she cancelled her card, they will not refund that £250 despite pointing out that it was their mistake. She spent a good part of the day on the phone & in the branch on Monday & over an hour on Tuesday morning being sent from dept to dept, being told different stories, with an implacable refusal by anyone to help or admit their mistake. Indeed, the supervisor in the fraud dept lied on Tuesday morning & told us there was no record of my daughter's call cancelling her card, despite the branch manager in Bedford having told her the previous day that the call was on record.
This has been reported to the police & to the ombudsman, but neither can help my daughter to get her money back any quicker. Meanwhile, they are sleeping on mattresses with bits of furniture we have been able to scrounge. Not exactly the great new start they were anticipating!
I hope the people who took my daughter's money read this & have the grace to feel ashamed of themselves. I also hope the Abbey read this & feel ashamed, too. But I doubt it! They, in their own fashion, have been as big crooks as the card cloners.
| Posted by Y.Evison on the 3rd July 2008 | ![]() |
They paid out 10 times the amount written on a cheque to my daughter (thank God it was her); we drew their attention to it within 2 days and nothing has yet been done. I have lodges formal complaints with complaints dept, Executive Director and Ombudsman. Incompetance and instransigence seem to be their new watchword. A very disappointed customer.
| Posted by Mrs. E. BEVAN on the 19th June 2008 | ![]() |
Good luck!!!
| Posted by theguyyouspoketo on the 14th June 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Jackie on the 21st April 2008 | ![]() |
It was the last straw last month when Abbey rejected my wages coming into my account. My wages had been paid successfully for 4 years. As a consequence, my direct debits took me overdrawn and I am being charged £125. This has been under investigation for 5 weeks and finally Abbey have had the courtesy to write back and say it is not their fault, they never rejected the money, and it is my responsibility to make sure there are funds in my account to cover direct debits at all times. Well, surely my responsibility is to go to work and earn money and trust that my bank won't reject my salary. The letter said to call the above number if I had any more queries. The 'above number' was their telephone banking number! And when I tried to fax them, their fax was busy all morning!
I wrote a complaint a few months back for something else and said that I was so disappointed in Abbey that I was considering closing my account. They wrote back with details of how to close my account! Do not bank with Abbey - it is not worth it!
(This site makes you give a rating so I have given a rating of 1 star, though I am finding it hard to think of anything I would give Abbey a star for - perhaps the little fluffy rabbits they use in their adverts?)
| Posted by Beverley Seddon on the 8th April 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Peter Lowe on the 8th April 2008 | ![]() |
In March 2007, my brother received my bank statement and my account was frozen by Abbey on the ground of frauds; including cash card and online access. I went into a branch; I was told that I need to go with my brother and with relevant ID’s to claim my accounts back. They can’t take my word for it because I might fraudulently claim my brother’s account. I produced historical statements to show when the name and address had change along with debit card, credit card and passport. The staff at the branch effectively told me they can’t trust what I say based on the evidence presented. They asked me to ring complaint department.
I called the complaint department, they looked at the issue and confirmed something had gone wrong while data was being transferred between their system, while my brother’s record were being updated. A compliant was logged and I was told it will take up to 4 weeks to deal with it. I asked how I keep up with my third party payments, like my mortgages, etc. while they are dealing with the problem. The person on phone spoke the Security and Fraud department and asked me send a fax, requesting to lift the block because there is no danger of fraud since it is my brother whose name is on the account. The following day I sent the fax, unfortunately I did obtain a confirmation of the fax transmission. At this point I had spent day seating and waiting on the calls and at the branch.
The access to my online account became available; I was able transfer money from savings account to the current account, so I assume things were back to normal. I tried to set up online payment to alternative bank account just in case, it failed so I wrote a cheque to transfer the funds. Few days later, I got a letter confirming the failure of online payment because on “certain restrictions” on my account. The cheque did not clear either. So I called the complaint department, they told me to send the fax as requested and the block will be lifted. So this time I went to a branch and asked them send the fax on my behalf and got fax transmission confirmation to prove. A week later, on sign of any progress; account is still frozen. I called customer service, they told me to go a branch with my ID’s to claim my accounts. In the meantime, I missed a payment on mortgage, incurring charges and possible damage to my A1 credit history.
In between countless phone call, 1.5 days of time off and a lot of stress! Customer service is non-existent. I feel completely powerless here.
| Posted by Atit on the 5th April 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by jim on the 26th March 2008 | ![]() |
Incident 1. I arranged an appointment with one of their advisors as to where best to invest some money I had come into. He advised an e-saver direct account. Two weeks later after no word on my application, I received a letter saying this account wasn't available for Abbey customers! Great advice, not...
Incident 2. I went into a branch and made a capital repayment on my mortgage. It was processed as an overpayment, which on an interest only mortgage is plainly nonsensical. Only after several phone calls was I told a letter of apology had been sent out. Amazing that it took ten days to arrive, I mean I knew the mail was bad... or maybe they were lying....
Incident 3. Middle of Australia on holiday. ATM card is refused. I have no cash. I called them at 7 am UK time. Was told that it was because the fraud department had put a hold on the card. I was told they would call me back within the hour. 12 phone calls later, or 8.5 hours later, $AS130 later, I finally spoke to someone who reset my card.
When I get back to the UK, the first thing I will do is close down my 25 year old history with this pathetic outfit.
| Posted by Michael Collins on the 20th March 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by mrsmorris on the 20th March 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Katharine on the 14th March 2008 | ![]() |
:( : (: (: (: (: (: (:
| Posted by jason clark on the 19th February 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Laura Gilroy on the 14th February 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by David Norwell on the 13th February 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Mike Bird on the 4th February 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Mark Zuto on the 26th January 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Dave Norwell on the 25th January 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Tab Brown on the 9th January 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Khan on the 8th January 2008 | ![]() |
| Posted by Pauly on the 26th December 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Rajveen Gill on the 15th December 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Janet Haddock on the 15th December 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Symon Fergus on the 10th December 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Chelsea Silkstone on the 26th November 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by M. Carr on the 22nd November 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Andrew Parkin on the 16th November 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Simon Evans on the 12th November 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Jonathan Tanner on the 4th November 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Donna Jones on the 1st November 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Emma Williams on the 31st October 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Spyridon Tsotoglou on the 30th October 2007 | ![]() |
Also asked if he could link his eSaver account to his current account to transfer money either via ATM or online. Again a month of issues and chasing, only to be told there is an unresolved system error for which they currently have no solution!
Submitted a formal complaint to the customer services department. Received a letter saying they would investigate, but it could take four weeks!!!!
Customer service is non-existent. Constantly passed to helpdesk, branch, esaver team, web team... all with different numbers and all with contradictory answers. General couldn't care less attitude, and it seems that no one is willing to take on these sorts of problems and own them to completion. Lost count of how many times they said they would call back - they never do. I think the only answer now is to give up on Abbey and go to another bank.
| Posted by David Upcott on the 29th October 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by David on the 25th October 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Bernice Rubenstein on the 19th October 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Marion Benson on the 18th October 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Alexander Macleod on the 17th October 2007 | ![]() |
Another week goes by, I call them again on Saturday (6th Oct 07) to make sure no other mistakes have been made, then they tell me the card will not be issued until the 10th of October! "What was the reason for this?" I said, "It's the postal strike maybe?" she said. On the following Monday I pay a visit too my local branch because I had too pay an ebay purchase another way due to the fact that the card I have been so patient in waiting for is linked to my paypal account. I asked why is my card taking so long in turning up? I was told another new reason, he says it's to do with the company who emboss the cards, there is some kind of dispute and this is causing a delay. How many different excuses are there? Floods, postal strikes, embossing companies, or maybe a take over by a Spanish bank who have bitten off more than they can chew. They also need to employ new staff who are a bit more polite and understanding, maybe a smile every now and then would be nice, if they don't enjoy working there, then don't work there! Or maybe it's just company policy. I'm still waiting...
| Posted by Lee Jones on the 15th October 2007 | ![]() |
Earlier she had had a similar experience when presenting a copy of an enduring power of attorney. If this bank is ever going to get the investment it needs to survive, it will need to re-educate or fire some its incompetent staff especially those with an anti-customer attitude problem. They are there for our convenience NOT vice-versa. If I could give them a zero.... I would !!
| Posted by M. J. Valiant on the 11th October 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Mufassil Islam on the 4th October 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Pat Fallon on the 25th September 2007 | ![]() |
I'm still waiting for a credit to my account from a online betting account; I won a lot of cash so was very pleased, but to my surprise it's been over 10 days now.
And Visa debit is supposed to take 3 to 5 working days!
I'm told the money will be in soon.
As soon as it is, I'm probably going back to HSBC.
I can't believe a bank could be so useless, 9 times out of 10 if you have a problem they can't sort it in the local branch. Instead you're given a support number to speak to a faceless person. grrrrrrr
| Posted by James on the 20th September 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by J Berry on the 18th September 2007 | ![]() |
I duly picked up card, used it in the UK, flew back home and used it here. Yesterday I tried to use it again and it said "refer to bank". I duly called on my mobile and spent 1 hour and 20 minutes trying to get some sense out of somebody.
My new card has been cancelled as I had not informed them that I would be using it in Kuwait but they have sent me another one to Kuwait as my address is in Kuwait.
Does the address not give some hint as to where I live and where I will be using the card!! Needless to say the new card will never arrive, I have no access to my UK account, and there is absolutely nothing they can do about this, other than I have to board a flight and go into my branch in the UK and pick up a new one and then fly home to Kuwait and inform them I will be using it here.
Who picks up the bill? Who will explain to the locals that I cannot pay the rent!?! Abbey are, as far as I am concerned, totally incompetent, and will not even acknowledge they have made a huge error by cancelling my card.
| Posted by Sally Ferbuyt on the 11th September 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Kane Osman on the 30th August 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Steven Sim on the 27th August 2007 | ![]() |
My partner finally decided that enough was enough and moved to Ulster Bank which said it would move all of the standing orders and direct debits over. Last month, guess what, the standing order hadn't bee moved over and our rent went unpaid. Abbey had not given Ulster Bank all of the required information.
So fast forward to earlier this week and the rent comes out of BOTH accounts. Another 2 branch visits were fruitless, the manager was frankly rude to my partner and when he asked if she intended to help him, she said "no". Outstanding Abbey, well done. Basically it seems that because he has moved to a different bank, they have dropped any tiny notion of customer service they may have had before.
They have charged him £35 both times for the pleasure of wasted time and inconvenience and are refusing to give him the money back. Because the rent has been deducted twice, we cannot go away for the weekend trip we were planning for my birthday. Thanks a bunch Abbey!
Their argument is that Ulster Bank never attempted to take over the standing order. So how, one may ask, did Ulster Bank also take manage to the money? We didn't give the details to them.
Next stop is a letter to Abbey. If the problem is not sorted, then the consumer press. And then we will take it to the Financial Ombudsman and then the Small Claims Court if necessary. They will not get away with it! Steer clear.
| Posted by Izzy on the 23rd August 2007 | ![]() |
As Abbey's computer systems were down on 15/8/07, I was concerned that the cash paid into my account at the Wigan branch would not show on their systems, as I had 3 direct debits being presented.
I rang and spoke to customer services, who stated that as Abbey was at fault due to systems being down, I would not be charged if the direct debits were returned. I asked them to contact the clearance deptartment and explain the situation, which they did, but frustratingly, they could not tell me the outcome as their system also went down.
I then rang the Chief exec's office and spoke to a lady who said she would look into the situation and gave me a case number. She said she would call me back, she didn't. I then rang at 4.45pm as I knew the clearance dept closed at 5pm and spoke to another lady who promised to ring me back this the following morning by 9.30am, she didn't.
I checked my account online on 16/8/07 and the money I had paid in on the 15/8/07, showed as being paid in on the 15/8/07, but the direct debit swere refused, with funds available??
I rang this morning at 10am and spoke to the same lady again and she informed me that I would have to wait for the charges to be pending on my account before she could do anything about them, she said they may take 10 days to show.
I asked her to check the pending charges now as I had no way of checking (she said I could check online, but I informed her they don't show as pending online and she said she was unaware of this!). She then informed me that they were already there (after saying it would take 10 days!). She rang the charges dept and then informed me that as I had had some charges refunded in the past, they would not refund these charges, even though Customer Services stated clearly to me that it was Abbey's error.
I cannot believe that their staff make false promises and all tell you different information.'
| Posted by Laura Bent on the 16th August 2007 | ![]() |
On June 18th I requested internet banking. On June 29th I was advised to get a replacement debit card as my current card stopped doing bill payments at the ATM's - no problems, they said, all will be with you within 7-10 working days of request.
Over 30 telephone calls later - I am waiting for the transcripts to go to the banking ombudsman with them (since the advice always seemed to contradict itself) - still no internet banking details and still no replacement card. I have been a customer of over 30 years with what used to be a lovely little building society called the Abbey National.
It is now a foreign owned and distinctly uncaring corporate monster with absolutely appalling customer service.
I will be presenting my complaint to the ombudsman and then I will, rather sadly as my first ever savings were placedwith Abbey as a child, be changing banks immediately.
A tragedy for what was once a great British business.
| Posted by Anthony Hall on the 13th August 2007 | ![]() |
They are now telling me that my claim for £3000 pound bank charges has now been put on hold and in the last week have charged me over £100 pound in bank charges again. They are a disgrace and are making billions off pounds out of people who are finding it hard enough to live without them robbing them of thousands to line their pockets. If i could give them a rating of zero, I would.
| Posted by Anita Ferguson on the 31st July 2007 | ![]() |
Recently my employers changed my pay date and due to this my direct debits were affected slightly. Following this I called Abbey to check that all my direct debits had left my account okay to which they replied 'yes'.
Then I withdrew the remaining balance of my account to sort out a few things only to get a letter from Abbey saying they had bounced a direct debit and they were charging me £35! I couldn't believe it, I wouldn't mind but they waited a month to take this charge then just took it out of my account again causing another direct debit to bounce, only this time it was my mortgage. I can safely say I have now closed my account and moved it to First Direct, who I have to say have been brilliant!!
| Posted by Phil Capper on the 24th July 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Duncan Sibbald on the 24th July 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by P G Jennings on the 18th July 2007 | ![]() |
Now I've been charged for a direct debit that didn't go through because funds were not available because of their incompetence!!!
As well as that latest incident their banking systems go down about 1-2 times a month since Santandeer took it over.
Avoid Abbey! I will be closing my account today!
| Posted by Karl B on the 16th July 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Tom Davies on the 12th July 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Mrs Rebecca Mason on the 3rd July 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Sally on the 2nd July 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Mohammed Hussain on the 30th June 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Melinda Knight on the 26th June 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Phil Hodges on the 7th June 2007 | ![]() |
Do not use this bank, they are dire.
My husband set up an account in January and then on the 10th of Feb this year we went into the branch to convert it to a joint account. I took about 7 forms of ID with me including marriage certificate, bank statements, my birth certificate and passport. The lady in the branch took the details and said it would be a week... We are still waiting. They lost all of my ID (thank God it was all copies) and asked for it all again, we took it to the branch (this is 3 weeks after the initial request to add me to the account) who made copies again and sent it off. Five days later my husband got a letter saying that they could not set up a joint account because they hadn't had ID. Understandably upset, he rang Customer Service who told him to ring the branch, which he did and was then ping ponged between the two for over 30 minutes. When he finally managed to get through he had to go through the process of taking all the ID again. We where then told it would be sorted within 4 weeks... It is now 5th June and it has still not been sorted. Both our wages go into this account now and my husband works away, I dread to think what will happen if something happens to the one of us that doesn't have the card to access our money.
We have made numerous calls and logged at least 3 complaints over the phone, the first two took at least an hour on the phone because we where told that we could not log a complaint over the phone despite their own literature (and the FOS) saying that you can! We finally got a complaint logged with the complaints department in April.... and surprisingly we are still waiting for this to be dealt with. We had a letter today saying that it will be at least another 4 weeks before we are going to get this sorted out. It's a joke.
If they can't manage to do something as basic as this, I dread to think what would happen if we wanted to do anything slightly more complicated like change address.
They also won't allow my husband to set up a direct debit of anything over £300 for no reason other than they probably just don't want to. So to pay our mortgage he has to go into the branch to get the money out and to do even that he has to phone the day before to make sure that they have got enough money in the branch! I've never heard anything like it before with any other bank, it's ridiculously shoddy, and I can honestly say that the quicker we have another bank account after this mess is sorted out the better... I think I'll go back to the HSBC or LLoyds, they're not perfect but at least they can do admin!
| Posted by Debbie Cahill on the 5th June 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Outofoffice on the 25th May 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Lynda Jordan on the 24th May 2007 | ![]() |
Despite writing to Abbey and emailing Pam Speed we have never had the courtesy of a reply. Various people in Abbey have also emailed her and todate no reply.
I am beginning to think what an awful bank and administration it is when they insult you by not replying to emails or correspondence.
By the way the telephone number for Pamela Speed is mentioned above, if you think that is her telephone number, think again, I have tried it and it is impossible to speak to her, I was put through to someone in sales in Glasgow!!!!!
When I ran my own company trading in many countries around the world, anyone who did not answer correspondence the next day, would have been fired by me immediately, Now it is a well know phrase "Your'e Fired" there certainly needs to be some firing in Abbey to teach staff a lesson!!!
| Posted by George Staples, on the 22nd May 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Harry Ford on the 27th April 2007 | ![]() |
If you want to recover bank/penalty charges fast then don't bother writing it takes months, telephone
02077 564332
and speak to a semi human
| Posted by John Dawson on the 25th April 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by David Cosgrave on the 24th April 2007 | ![]() |
Get Your Money Back
Telephone Direct and claim your bank charges back
MR TOM JERRED
SENIOR CUSTOMER RELATION MANAGER
0845 600 6014
Ask to Speak to him direct
PAM SPEED
BANKING SERVICING
08457 654321
Ask to Speak to her direct
MR RICHARD JONES
SENIOR MANAGER
0870 607 6000
Ask to speak to him direct
| Posted by Neil on the 20th April 2007 | ![]() |
If you have no joy in your contact with the bank, just pop along to your county court offices and fill in a short form with 2 proof of id, and proof that you are getting benefit, then after filling in that form, fill in the county court form to issue the summons at the same time and that's it. Get the ball rolling, get those charges back. Show them you are not messing about, it's easy,and if you were worried about the cost, don't be, provided you fall in the category above, it won't cost you anything...nothing to lose, everything to gain....
Good luck to you all banks don't want ccj's
Get your money back !
This problem arises from the banks using poverty as a source of profit—a great deal of profit. The bank commission of BBC 2's "The Money Programme", which included eminent business academics and a former senior NatWest executive, concluded that the absolute maximum administrative cost to a bank of processing a bounced cheque—the most labour-intensive of the processes in question—is £4.50. For all other items, such as unauthorised overdrafts or bounced direct debits, the commission concluded that the absolute maximum, in this electronic age where everything is done automatically through a computer, is £2.50. However, the average charge is approximately £30. Some are as high as £38, and they are charged every time people make what the banks consider to be an unauthorised transaction. That is a substantial profit for the banks, which rake in some £4.5 billion, without even taking account of the similar examples that the Federation of Small Businesses found in business banking accounts.
Almost all of what is charged is profit, not costs. It is profit at the expense of hard-up customers. It is the biggest bank robbery in Britain, and it involves the banks robbing their own customers, especially their poorest ones. A common response when the practice is described is that there should be a law against it; but there is a law, or there are laws. First, under common law, disproportionate and punitive charges have always been illegal. In layman's terms, if a consumer breaks the contract the other party—the bank, in this case—cannot impose a charge greater than the reasonable estimate of its loss. That common law has been unchanged for 100 years, and numerous cases in the higher courts have confirmed it. However, we can go further. The rights in question are protected by statutory instrument. The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 made that clear.
THE ABBEY IS NOT A UK BANK ANY MORE AND IS RATED AS THE WORST BANK, 2 OUT OF 10 RATING ON THE INTERNET.
IF THEY HAVE CHARGED YOU PENALTY CHARGES, GET THEM BACK, EMAIL THEM AT;
customerservices@abbey.com
and voice your opinion and express your disgust at them.
| Posted by Harry on the 19th April 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Elaine Mcguinness on the 15th April 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Neil Moorcraft on the 2nd April 2007 | ![]() |
| Posted by Gina Compton on the 20th January 2007 | ![]() |





