I too have had my overdraft limit reduced without explanation even though I am rarely overdrawn. I've tried to discuss this with customer service, but it always seems to be a case of the computer says NO. Other issues I've had recently lead me to believe that the Coop doesn't want my custom. I too am looking to move my account. Are they in trouble?

Posted by janet ashdown on the 16th June 2008

I should never have switched to Co-op business banking, it's been a huge mistake. The internet service is practically useless and is frequently down. Personally, I think FSB has a lot to answer for endorsing them

Posted by Hugh on the 28th May 2008

Terrible service, never get back to you when promised. Have moved on to another bank and it's the best thing I've done. Would like to leave 0 stars.

Posted by Michael Moneypenny on the 20th April 2008

Lots of gripes with 0845 numbers, quite agree morally wrong; they mess up and then charge you when you phone up to sort it.
Best wheeze I've discovered is say no to 0870 website gives all the free 0800 and geographical numbers equivalent to 0845 and 0870 numbers. That's www.saynoto0870.com. Brilliant, small victories do you good!!

Posted by phil manley on the 6th April 2008

Internet banking is SO POOR it is unusable.

Posted by B Benster on the 25th March 2008

Online business banking is appalling. Completely unreliable, and painfully slow and inflexible during the time it is available. I deeply regret joining them. Only the hassle of uprooting keeps me there, and that may well change...

Posted by Chris Collison on the 5th March 2008

I have been with the Co op bank since 1980 and I have had a number of loans over the years which all included PP (which I never ever claimed on). When I changed jobs after 15 years I continued making the loan payments plus PP, no one queried my change of work payment from monthly to weekly salary payments into my account. As soon as I applied to make a PP claim (2005 due to severe arthritis) nearly two years into a 3 year as I couldn't work due to awaiting a knee replacement I was informed that it was nothing to do with Co op. and you need to speak to insurance company who then informed in their jargon I had changed job and I wasn't covered (after leaving permanent job after 15 years taking a temp job for 3 months that lasted 17 months, then taking a job which only lasted 10 weeks due to my poor mobility). I ended up with £57.50p Incapacity allowance a week to live on still paying my bills loans etc. (not hb or c. tax). I then had to have a knee replacement for which I received an extra £50 DLA a week for a few months, which helped keep me a float, pay my bills and loan until I returned to work. What happened to the caring sharing Coop. I'm still with the Coop only because I'm shaking hands with the devil and don't want to go through hassle of changing bank account.
I did inform Coop that on no account should they ever try to contact me regarding loans in future as the comments I would make would not be repeatable. Ethical my eye. Staff star 3. Ethic -0. I have to give star rating before this is processed so will give it one star.

Posted by colin- slightly bitter on the 21st February 2008

I was given three weeks' notice by auto-letter that my £500 overdraft would not be renewed (I had to phone to get the news). The only times I exceeded it were due to charges which I vigorously disputed and had refunded. All the Coop call centre say is my account has adverse information on the computer screen. As for finding a real person to complain to, that's a joke.

Posted by luke on the 16th February 2008

Never had any problem in twenty years with the bank and have always found the call centre staff helpful. Recently my credit card was cloned and they refunded the money lost to my account promptly.

Posted by John Barrett on the 3rd February 2008

Online Banking is so unreliable, it's virtually useless!

Posted by Shaun Leonard on the 23rd January 2008

Banked with them for years, they made a mistake and I suffered; it went on for 6 months. Nobody phoned when they said they would never a supervisor on hand all the crap you know happens at the coop, finally the woman from the bank phones me and says "we couldn't phone you in the 48 hrs, we said we would but we will give you £15." I said "but you charge me a minimum of £30 if I mess up", she hung up!!!!!! I'm gone from the Ethical bank went to an unethical bank, wish I had done it years ago.

Posted by Fake Idee on the 18th January 2008

After about 40 years I can't fault the branch staff - excellent personal service in Southampton for about 30 years, familiar faces for many years recently. Online banking works quickly and efficiently, call centre staff helpful and efficient. Maybe some products not as cheap as other banks, but a better ethos. 'Top' Managers need to remember that, and not succumb to profit at all costs (to customers of course) approach of competitors.

Posted by Mr T B Moore on the 9th January 2008

I was told that my account had been flagged, when I asked them why, they said they didn't know then asked me to send my credit report by post to them. I said do you think that's wise? They said it's was the only way and that was it, Iim leaving after 25 yrs with them.

Posted by David Line on the 28th December 2007

I think the difference here is personal banking not business banking. The personal banking seems to get good reviews. The business banking is another matter altogether!

The business banking at the Co-op is awful. Our company took up the offer of free banking through the FSB. What a mistake. I don’t think I have ever got through to their business customer service department in less the 30 minutes. It’s usually more like 45 minutes.

The web site is down 1 out of every 5 times I need to use it. The other times it is really slow and intermittent. I can spend sometimes up to an hour to make a single payment as the web site takes so long to respond. The sessions time out and I get the errors detailed above. Then you try to log back in and it won't let you because you already have an active session. So you need to delete all your cookies and try again. I manage the payments at my company and I think I can save about a day a month by transferring to another bank. Luckily, we are in the process of doing this. I can’t wait.

My advice. DO NOT USE THE CO_OP business banking. They are rubbish!

Posted by Simon Clark on the 20th December 2007

The Co-op's business internet banking service has been unavailable for a week, occasionally comes back to life but is so slow it is unworkable. I'm unable to pay my staff and suppliers before Christmas causing massive inconvenience to all concerned. The internet banking service is useless and unreliable when you need it to be reliable - month end, quarter end, year end, VAT return due dates. I'm switching bank in the New Year.

Posted by Paul Robson on the 19th December 2007

I moved my business account to the Co Operative bank earlier this year. This was due to the deal being offered by the bank and FSB. The time it took to process the paper work should have been a warning. They just cannot cope. The internet banking of down more hours than it operates.
As a manager said the get a time when you can not put band aids on band aids. I regret having made the move. I would rather pay for the service that have this so called "free banking". What really gets to me is there is no explanations or apologies from the top. Rated -1

Posted by Ian Hill on the 18th December 2007

I refer to an account that had been running for over 20 years. The bank made an error and closed which they have now admitted was an error, the staff have lied continually since February this year! refused to deal with the matter and caused us to issue court proceedings in which they have continued to lie!!

Posted by Paul Harris on the 12th December 2007

1. I resent having to use an 0845 contact number at around 4p min when our system normally costs only 1p per min
2. Why don't they tell you when you phone that instead of going through all the options you can just press ## and get straight through to an operator.
3. They are NOT ethical! They charge double what other high street banks charge for a CHAPS payment.
4. Neither is what they are doing with outsourcing in Manchester very ethical!
5. The people that work there are great, the senior managers, those right at the top are in the dark ages!
6. No, I don't work for them and never have.
7. Otherwise they are great!!

Posted by B. Burgum on the 4th December 2007

Are the Coop another Northern Rock, about to tumble?
With no warning they reduced my Credit Card limit by 90%. When I spoke to the call centre, all I got was "very sorry", but they could not give any reason for this action. Time close the account perhaps?

Posted by Allan Beeby on the 28th November 2007

I like the ethics and staff are friendly when you call. But they have made repeated mistakes on my mortgage account and seem disappointingly inefficient.

Posted by James Price on the 18th November 2007

I opened an account at the coop because I thought they put customers before profit. Not the case any more. Lots of customers have had their credit limits and overdraft facilities reduced without notice. What sort of customer service is that?

Posted by Jean Lonsdale on the 9th November 2007

Is the coop going down the northern rock route? Loads of managers made redundant, top brass in chaos, call centres running accounts. No straight answers from managers when you track one down. Answers on a post card please to the chief executive, whoever he or she is?

Posted by Greg Grant on the 9th November 2007

What is going on at the coop bank. Credit limits cut without warning, no satisfaction from customer services, even when you manage to speak to someone who seems to know what they are talking about. Is the bank going into meltdown?

Posted by Mary Walker on the 9th November 2007

Don't customers have a right to be informed of changes to their credit limits before the coop refuses their credit card and causes embarrassment? Lots of my friends pissed off with the arrogance of the hierarchy at Balloon Street...

Posted by Steve Cooper on the 9th November 2007

Credit limits reduced, overdraft facilities taken away without any consultation. Is this the ethical bank? Is the banks policy to treat customers like that? Time for a change me thinks....

Posted by Ginny Edwards on the 9th November 2007

Even sending a letter special delivery to the chief executive failed to get a response to my complaint. Customer service is awful. Now trying the banking ombudsman.

Posted by Tony Callaghan on the 9th November 2007

In the last year the Coop has become the pits. Had an account since 1986 but recently trying to get satisfaction from customer services or the 'call centre' has become a nightmare. Time for a change. Ethical my foot!

Posted by A. J. Callaghan on the 8th November 2007

Many colleagues tell me that credit card limits have been reduced without consultation, overdraft limits cut, again without a by your leave. What s going on?

Posted by Anthony Callaghan on the 8th November 2007

Banked with them for 22 years, utilise their credit card, current account and home insurance. Absolutely excellent service - cannot speak highly enough.

Posted by Phil Basten on the 7th November 2007

The online business banking system has been an ongoing disaster for the last few years.

Love the principles - but without a working online system it is useless for me.

Am changing to another bank.

Posted by Kevin Bailey on the 18th October 2007

I have had a credit card with the coop since 1993 until recently with a limit of £3650, never exceeded and always paid off in full. The limit was reduced in July to £500 without consultation and repeated calls and lately letters have produced only a statement that they think it a suitable limit since I have not exceeded this amount recently. What is going on?

Posted by Alex Mackenzie on the 12th October 2007

I have banked with The Co-operative Bank (business) and Smile (personal) for over 7 years. Whilst I have no issues with Smile, the service I get from the Co-operative Bank is very poor. The internet banking is slow and unpredictable - not been able to log on, there is a constant problem even with high-speed broadband. I have also had problems sending them letters with written instructions. It takes them 3 weeks to respond and on the last instance they carried out the wrong action with no apology! I originally went with the Co-op because of their "ethics" but they clearly don't seem to have any ethics of customer service so I'm taking my business elsewhere.

Posted by C Mark on the 9th July 2007

I have banked with the co-op since 1989 whilst a student in Manchester. They have always been very efficient and the online service works well, in fact my kids also bank with them as they share my ethical concerns about 'dirty money'. The staff are helpful and knowledgeable on the phone, so would recommend them.

Posted by Mr Holt on the 14th April 2007

I've banked with Cooperative Bank for a considerable number of years and also online fairly recently. Excellent in every way. No problems. Friendly,helpful staff. No 'pushy' sales. Can take a while to get through on the 'phone but no different to other call centres - at least Coop Bank are in UK.

Posted by Mrs A Peacock on the 25th March 2007