MoneySaving Poll: How do you rate your bank account's service?

A question about : MoneySaving Poll: How do you rate your bank account's service?

Poll started 16 February 2015

How do you rate your bank account's service?

We run this poll on big banks' current accounts every six months to see how the experience changes. We’d love your feedback...

Please rate based on CUSTOMER SERVICE for your main CURRENT account over the last SIX MONTHS.

Vote in this week's poll

Did you vote? Are you surprised at the results so far? Have your say below. To see the results from last time, click here.

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Best answers:

• I am always in credit and never had to use customer service at my bank so I can't rate them on your poll.
• Yes, it's one of those tick box things that doesn't allow you to anything other than "tick a box". Speaking as a total cynic about banks and most other institutions, I've been wanting to share for ages my admiration for Barclays - no, wait a moment, I mean it - in terms of their log in system to personal banking. On the one hand it seems secure, but the secret is in how easy and quick it is for me to log in to my account, check out my statement, make payments, anything. Just want I need and in sharp contrast to other financial sites I use. I should add that I've banked with them for 40+ years and wouldn't have praised them for anything before internet banking took off.
  I used to save with Nationwide, and as they started to lose their focus as a mutual and be just like the rest in pushing Flex Accounts, they reserved their best ISA rates not for long-standing savings customers but rather for any customer, old or new opening a Flex Account. My local manager persuaded me to open separate accounts for my wife and myself, complete with cheque books, debit cards and all the paraphenalia (which I understood though I told him honestly I would never use either account or pay any more than the minimum in, then changed a few weeks later to joint account, with more cards, cheque books, and signing up for internet banking. Within 6 months I was so exasperated by the complexity of logging in, finding the promised info about my ISAs and current account status that I determined to leave as soon as my fixed term ISAs matured - which I've done. Nothing would make me go back. Just my opinion.
• Why restrict us to voting on just one 'main' current account? I have a number of current accounts, each used for a specific purpose. I can give sensible comments on many of the banks listed.
• It never ceases to amaze me how First Direct receive such good scores, as I have had nothing but trouble with them. We switched to them eighteen months ago. They moved the switching date three times, so what should have taken a week, took nearly three. Each person we spoke to told us something different and denied what the previous person had said and had or hadn't done.
  We recently had a savings account with another bank come to the end of its term, so we needed to move a considerable amount of money quicky to another bank. The money was transferred into our First direct account all in one go, but we could only transfer it at a rate ofЈ10,000 per day, so it took several days and we lost interest. It could have been worse, we could have lost the good rate of interest on this new account. We could, of course, have paid to transfer it by CHAPS, but would have lost even more!! (Other banks have higher limits, e.g. Halifax is Ј25,000)
  The latest in a long line of problems occurred when I went away. I normally 'phone banks before I go, to ensure I don't encounter problems using cards while abroad. This time I forgot, until I was at the airport. Unfortunately my husband could not remember all his security passwords etc., so they kept him waiting over five mns while they transferred him to another department. They then asked him detailed personal security questions which he was able to answer. They then asked to speak to me, took me through security then asked me to verify my husband was who he said he was. I did that and they asked to speak to him again. They then asked him yet more questions about direct debit amounts, frequency, etc. Well, standing in a noisy airport gate lounge, with all other passengers boarding the plane is not the easiest place to recall all that detail! In the end, despite all the checks he had passed and my verification they said I could use his card, but not him!! Quite how they would know, we have no idea! All this (15-20mns) on a pay as you go 'phone!! We did, just, make it onto the plane!
  So far I have not had one good encounter with this bank and we are now looking to switch away from them.
• I'm amazed that there are 13 people without a bank a/c - how on earth do they do it in this day and age?!
• I've been with Nationwide for 14 years now and rate them highly on customer service. I like being able to go into a branch and speak to someone, and their phone service is good too. Savings rates are poor, but I use flexaccount and get their 0.5% cashback credit card (wish it was contactless though)and free European Travel Insurance for meeting minimum paying in requirements on the flexaccount. I also highly rate their internet banking system.
  We also bank with the Halifax reward account for our bills account, this was a bit of a faff to set up (told I could do it online, then needed to go into branch and give all the info again), but now it's up and running it's been no problem and the Ј5 each month is a nice bonus.
  I also have an ISA with Virgin Money and again no problems, use the VM Lounge in Manchester quite often which is nice.
  I agree with others, you should be able to have multiple votes in this poll. The only banks I wouldn't go to are Barclays (poor rates on everything) and Natwest (no end of trouble with my student account). Santander I have used and while they weren't amazing they did nothing wrong.
• Why does anyone need customer service for a bank account?
• Torbrex, if you don't have to SPEAK to your bank then that probably means you have good customer service.
• Im with Metro and cant fault them. Always smiling people when I go in the branch to sort out a new card or something