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ShotgunEd · Oct 19, 2005, 05:54 AM

This is a dual action topic, a poll and a rant.

I called into the bank yesterday, I wanted to move branches, I live full time in belfast now and my account was set up in a town 30 miles from here.

I enquired and the woman was helpful, stating that it wouldn't be a problem but that I'd need photo id and a proof of address to change branches, and that i could make an appointment and bring them along.

No problem i said, I have them both here.

She said great we'll process this now, let me fetch a colleague.

The colleague takes me into the office, asks me a few questions, where I'm working, income, etc, then starts on this crap about a premium account that will cost me £7 per month.

I say no thanks, just the standard account for me, she then says, oh actually, I've got appointments right now, can you come back later?

It was clear if I was signing up for a premium account then she would have processed me then and there.

I have an appointment with her tomorrow morning, I'm going to make a formal complaint and close my account.

This is the second time in about a month, last time i was in I wanted to close my account and they said I'd have to go to my own branch, 30 miles away to do it.

The bank is open from 9-5 mon-fri, i work those hours, what the **** am i supposed to do?

So, rant over, who here hates banks?!?!

Randman · Oct 19, 2005, 06:22 AM

Originally Posted by ShotgunEd

I have an appointment with her tomorrow morning, I'm going to make a formal complaint and close my account.

Cubeoid · Oct 19, 2005, 06:32 AM

Banks are evil.

Mastrap · Oct 19, 2005, 06:45 AM

Bank with First Direct. They rock.

Doofy · Oct 19, 2005, 06:46 AM

Originally Posted by ShotgunEd

This is a dual action topic, a poll and a rant.

I called into the bank yesterday, I wanted to move branches, I live full time in belfast now and my account was set up in a town 30 miles from here.

C'mon, spill. Who was it? Barclays?

Eriamjh · Oct 19, 2005, 07:00 AM

What do you mean "move branches"? Are you saying you can't access your account from a branch closer to your house? I can access my account from any branch anywhere in the country. Is yours different?

nbnz · Oct 19, 2005, 07:09 AM

Yes, banks do suck. Especially (in my experience anyway) in the UK. One thing going for UK banks is they don't charge the outrageous fees that they do in Australia. I left my account dormant for 2 years while I was living in Sydney and not one penny was charged in fees. In Australia it cost me AU$15 per month for my account.

ShotgunEd · Oct 19, 2005, 07:14 AM

Originally Posted by Eriamjh

What do you mean "move branches"? Are you saying you can't access your account from a branch closer to your house? I can access my account from any branch anywhere in the country. Is yours different?

There are certain things you can only do at your own branch, like you can't withdraw more than £250 per day unless its your own branch.

Plus you must have an address local to the branch.

At least thats the rules with this particular branch.

The bank is the Ulster Bank, a bank local to N.Ireland.

After the Northern Bank being robbed for 25million and the Bank of Ireland being crap I'm running out of local banks.

I have a Cooperative Bank joint account with the g/f but i want a personal current account seperate from that.

Doofy · Oct 19, 2005, 07:16 AM

Originally Posted by ShotgunEd

The bank is the Ulster Bank, a bank local to N.Ireland.

After the Northern Bank being robbed for 25million and the Bank of Ireland being crap I'm running out of local banks.

I have a Cooperative Bank joint account with the g/f but i want a personal current account seperate from that.

Got a Lloyds TSB or Natwest up there? Both pretty good.

ShotgunEd · Oct 19, 2005, 07:19 AM

Originally Posted by Doofy

Got a Lloyds TSB or Natwest up there? Both pretty good.

Ulster Bank is a subsidiary of Natwest.

Doofy · Oct 19, 2005, 07:32 AM

Originally Posted by ShotgunEd

Ulster Bank is a subsidiary of Natwest.

Natwest are pretty good on the "mainland". Maybe their policies didn't filter down to the subsidiary?

Mediaman_12 · Oct 19, 2005, 07:53 AM

Banks seam to have forgotten they are public service. They are mostly run for the convienience of the banks themselves.
My local Bank has decide it can compleately do without a cashier service on a Saturday. Want to withdraw a large amount of cash out for some reason (the ATM's have a £250 limit), you better book a day off work and come in on a weekday, nake sure it's not at lunch or to late on though.

Mastrap · Oct 19, 2005, 08:04 AM

Originally Posted by Mediaman_12

Banks seam to have forgotten they are public service.

That's because they aren't one. Banks are businesses.

The best way to find a good bank is to find one that realizes that happy customers make loyal, profitable customers.

ReggieX · Oct 19, 2005, 09:24 AM

The biggest scam I ran into here in Canada was moving branches. They close the old account and open a new one at the new location, and you have to start over from zero. eg. my old account I could withdraw $400/day through the ATM and have no hold on cheque deposits, but suddenly the new account had all sorts of limits on it. It's bull****, I'm the same person, same job, same address, but suddenly I'm a "new" customer?!

Thank goodness I did the smart thing when I had to move branches again: demanded all the same accesses and services I had before or I'd take my business elsewhere. It worked.

bad_quote · Oct 19, 2005, 09:28 AM

I hate bankers hours. It doesn't make sense. Average joe works til 5. most banks are only open til 5:30 or 6. Average person might like to sleep in a bit on saturday. Average bank closes at noon. Average person might have time to do bank stuff on sunday since they realize christianity was ******** and they dont go to church. Average bank is closed on sundays.

Stupid stupid stupid.

typoon · Oct 19, 2005, 09:35 AM

Finally up in my area here in NJ they have Commerce bank. So far I've had a great experience with them. They are also open late and all the time. They open 7 days a week, Mon-wed til 9am- 5pm and Thurs-Fri 9am-8pm, Then on Sat they open 10-6 and Sunday 11-4. They are even open on the holidays. Can't beat that for banking.

TheMosco · Oct 19, 2005, 09:52 AM

Originally Posted by typoon

Finally up in my area here in NJ they have Commerce bank. So far I've had a great experience with them. They are also open late and all the time. They open 7 days a week, Mon-wed til 9am- 5pm and Thurs-Fri 9am-8pm, Then on Sat they open 10-6 and Sunday 11-4. They are even open on the holidays. Can't beat that for banking.

Yeah, I love my bank. They have a ton of branches in the area with great hours:

Branch closest to me:

Mon. - Fri.: 10 am to 7 pm
Saturday: 10 am to 6 pm
Sunday: 12 noon to 4 pm

Branch a little farther away but still close:

Mon. - Fri.: 7 am to 7 pm
Saturday: 9 am to 1 pm
Sunday: 10 am to 2 pm

They have a bunch of other branches too. All of them have great hours.

wdlove · Oct 19, 2005, 10:51 AM

I'm sorry for all the difficulties that you are having with your bank. Hope that you can equitably resolve he problem.

My bank is awesome.

ghporter · Oct 19, 2005, 11:31 AM

Personal banking here in the U.S. is a retail operation. I don't mean "retail" in terms of dealing with Joe Average Customer, but in terms of how the banks themselves consider them. A "bank branch" is a retail establishment that just happens to have a vault, and usually a fairly small one. It's hard to rob a bank productively if they never have more than a few thousand dollars on hand...

My own banking issue is very local. When we moved to San Antonio, we opened an account with a local bank. Very local-it was entirely in San Antonio, and only had about four offices anywhere. After a few years, the bank was bought by a large national banking company and renamed. Renaming was no problem for us, and the new owning company had more branches, so that was cool. THEN the owning company bought another banking company: Wells Fargo. They changed the name of everything to Wells Fargo (ok-in Texas don't plan on your bank having the same name for more than about 12 months at a time), and then they closed and demolished the branch nearest our house. The location is a large drugstore now. The original branch where we opened our account is now just a drive through location.

Now here's the thing: we live in a part of San Antonio that is "growing" (as in being built up faster than the utilities can even keep up with sometimes), and is relatively well off-the northwest part of town from around Seaworld to Hwy 151 and Loop 1604. So why does a large bank like Wells Fargo act so that they DO NOT have any branches in this part of town? Go where the customers are!

Mediaman_12 · Oct 19, 2005, 07:30 PM

Originally Posted by bad_quote

I hate bankers hours. It doesn't make sense. Average joe works til 5. most banks are only open til 5:30 or 6. Average person might like to sleep in a bit on saturday. Average bank closes at noon. Average person might have time to do bank stuff on sunday since they realize christianity was ******** and they dont go to church. Average bank is closed on sundays.

Stupid stupid stupid.

Banks open till 6 in the evening??? IMHO out banks mostly close at 5pm (usual working hours are 9 to 5:30pm), and you will be real lucky to get any 'banking' done after about 4pm.

What I meant in the earlier post is that lost of banks seam to have forgotten that they should be run for the convenience of the customers coming in and out of the door (how long would a sandwich bar stay open if the owner decided to close from 12:30 till 1:30 because that's when he wanted to eat His lunch).

bad_quote · Oct 19, 2005, 09:28 PM

I used to have an account at guarantee bank, located in grocery stores. They were open til 7pm everyday except sundays, they were only open til 5pm. It ruled.

- Rob

paul w · Oct 19, 2005, 09:31 PM

I hate money, actually.

SirCastor · Oct 19, 2005, 10:01 PM

I bank with a Credit Union. They like me.

macroy · Oct 19, 2005, 10:26 PM

I use Citibank - open till 6. But I usually do my banking online anyways. I also use a local bank called Chevy Chase, they pretty much have ATM's on every damn corner in the DC area. Between those two, I'm pretty much covered all over the world (or at least to the very few parts I've been to...).

I think those banking hours are just a bit outdated... I guess they haven't changed since way back when you had a breadwinner of the house that worked - and the spouse would be a homemaker and can run to the bank during the day. Definitely need to catch up to the times.

Sealobo · Oct 19, 2005, 10:52 PM

I work for a bank. Don't have much feeling.

MacMan4000 · 11:20 PM

withdraw 250 a day until the whole account is empty... then ignore it and more to the new bank. problem solved!

edit:
better idea, rob them blind! buy a gun at Wal*Mart and rob em blind... then use the money to move to an Island in the Bahamas.