Aral Balkan

Buyer beware: Stay away from Abbey National Business!

I've written about Abbey National Business before and tonight all the little drops of discontent added up and the glass finally spilled. I'm moving away from these people ASAP.

Why? Because they can't even manage to change my address without having me write them an old-fashioned letter on letterhead or fax one to them. And then apparently they have a back-log and it takes them "a couple of days" to get to them.

The Co-operative Bank had no trouble doing the exact same thing in two minutes over the phone but not Abbey. Apparently, it's for "added security". You see, you can answer all your security questions on the phone and do any manner of phone banking but you can't change your address because of "additional security." So I can log into my online account and clean out my account but I cannot change my address online. This is not "additional security". In fact, it's less security -- the letter I fax them doesn't have answers to any of my security questions and someone could easily have forged my signature on it. It really riles me up how security is used as the excuse for every manner of deficiency these days. How about at least owning up to call it an outdated procedure that needs to be changed. But that would require them to acknowledge that there is a problem. Quite the contrary, their position is to defend the policy.

So, Aral, why can't you write them a letter and wait a week for your address to be changed? The only reason, really, is because I can't use my card online until they change the address as many places will only ship items to the billing address and I've just moved. And I'm buying stuff for the new place. Well, I'd *like* to be buying stuff for the new place but, thanks to Abbey National Business, I can't.

I called them tonight about this and the guy on the phone basically told me that he could care less. When I asked if I could talk to a manager, I was told that there were none and that no one could help me anyway and that they wouldn't change their rules and procedures just because their customers didn't like them and that if I didn't like it, I could leave. Well, that was really all I needed to hear. If Abbey National doesn't care what its customers think, they don't deserve customers.

I'm leaving this sorry excuse for a bank and I'd strongly encourage you to stay away from Abbey National Business.

Comments

• oh crap, I just opened a business account with them! :-( Did the guy really say if you didn't like it you can leave? That's just ridiculous! F***ing banks!!

  by Thom Shannon on 2006-11-28 09:34:30

• Yep, he was quite blunt about it. What really gets me is that he didn't even provide me with a way to complain about the policy -- it was basically, "love it or leave it!"

  by aral on 2006-11-29 01:10:05

• [...] Yes, I’m still with Abbey National Business. For the backstory on my hassles with them, see Abbey National Business and Vodafone: Two companies that just don’t “get it” and The last straw: Moving away from Abbey National Business Banking. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to move away because of the hassle it involves. Today, they reminded me why I hate them so much yet again, and why I should make the extra effort to change banks. [...]

  by Abbey National Business: How I hate thee at Aral Balkan on 2007-02-01 09:54:49

• I had the same trouble and much more (a litany of ineptitude and unprofessionalism I can't be bothered to go into). The most shambolic joke of a bank I've ever had the misery to experience. They are free, however, which explains why I've stuck with the shower, but I've recently had enough when I was advsied they're website doesn't work I was told when trying for a third time to order stationery (payinhg in envelopes), then requested half a dozen times by phone, had enough, C&G are free but only have a face-to-face debit card, but RBS are free and have a credit card (not debit VISA like abbey). I've heard of many issues with Abbey and since hearing about RBS I'm gone, they don't deserve customers...

  by Frank Parry on 2007-02-04 18:50:31

• I am glad to hear I am not the only person having problems with Abbey Business Banking. I set up my account with them in November 06. It is now Feb 07 and I am still not able to access my account online. I have sent in my security details three times and each time, they claim they have not arrived (despite being faxed from an Abbey Branch as well as posted). When I tried to complain about this, I was told to phone Royal Mail as it was obviously their fault. Abbey have failed to respond to any of my requests and I was told by customer services that they will read a complaint and then decide whether it is worthy of response!! Clearly, my complaint is not worthy as they have ignored it (or perhaps that is "lost in the post" too). If you are reading this because you are thinking of banking with Abbey business, I would thoroughly recommend you NOT to. I don't know which business banks are better, but I will switch as soon as I have found that out. Any suggestions for who to switch to?

  by Ed Moreton on 2007-02-19 13:55:36

• I've been using Abbey for last two years for several companies. Yes, they're rubbish -- they "lost" many of my letters. Until I started sending them recorded delivery, then strangely enough, they started receiving them. You get what you pay for: and I pay them ZERO. Their online banking is down pretty much 50% of mondays. God knows what they do over the w/end to bugger it up quite so much, but there you go. I would still use them for new business, because I know the game now. All correspondence to go recorded to them, chase them daily on new accounts (get a new account ref# ASAP from them, then quote this on all further calls).

  by dominic morris on 2007-02-19 15:37:39

• On a positive note, I switched from Alliance and lecester- because of the problems that are posted above. my point being that all banks are pretty much the same now.. So vote with your feet. I was also with lloyds - good service - but not free any more - Vote with your feet. however Abbey I have had no problems with yet. Thier web site is rubbish. incorrect styles, missing buttons and rubbish formating. But it allows me to do what I want for free - pays a bit of interested. But then I dont use it as a normal business bank. Effectively you take your pick and take a chance. But you can always move the bank. Takes a couple of weeks but if you keep doing it maybe the banks will think more about customer service - but I dont think so..

  by nick on 2007-03-12 17:00:28

• Well they are indeed a joke. 25 minutes plus a time to get thru on their phone system.. To talk to incompetants, then if you try and complain they just shrug it off. Fill in the contact us by email form and you get an 'out of the office' reply... Thats just the beginning of it Bank with these guys at your peril..!!!

  by dB on 2007-05-15 15:55:40

• I have to say that I have never had a serious problem with Abbey. Yes, they can be a bit naff on occasion but they've yet to incur my wrath. I don't whether it's becuase I've been a personal customer for 10 years before opening my business account that helps. For the cost of running the account, it's not a bad service overall. I am generally sceptical of all banks and would very much vote with my feet if I felt I was getting bad service.

  by LMA on 2007-05-21 14:29:14

• Well, the problem with Abbey is that a few years back there were going to merge with Bank of Scotland who were renowned for their Business Banking Accounts and supporting systems. In anticipation of this merger Abbey went fall steam ahead and launched its Business Banking Account neither having the systems to support it or the knowledege or the experienced staff. Running it 'on the back of a fag packet' is a term that springs to mind. Of course Abbey then had serious financial problems on the back of its association with Enron and other dodgy USA loan markets which almost caused its collapse. So the Halifax jumped on the opportunity to tie up with BoS and Abbey was left to fester until Santander came along. Abbey is still running its Business Banking accounts on it's original 'system' . They would dearly love to off load it hence why you really will not and cannot expect any sort of service from them. Their systems are woeful in terms of security anyway (remember the got fined several million pounds by the FSA as they were unable to comply with anti money laundering legislation in terms of identifying their customers properly when opening accounts)... So what would you expect from this company?

  by HitMan on 2007-09-11 09:03:21

• There's nothing I can disagree with from what I've just read apart from the woman that thinks they're OK. Only thing stopping me from changing is the inconvenience but it's only a matter of time. They are unbelievably appallingly BAD. Stay away-you have been warned.

  by Ken Joy on 2007-09-19 13:39:38

• I actually work for Abbey an by god i've seen some s**t here. The place really is in a state. Please take not from someone who works here avoid Abbey like the plague!

  by Kev on 2007-09-27 09:54:26

• aarrrrrrggghhhhh! I have been on the phone to them now for nearly 1 hour to try and get my internet banking access sorted out. I have spoken to more than 10 people and despite explaining to each that I have a BUSINESS ACCOUNT each person manages to transfer me to someone in personal banking that surprise surprise cannot help me. Well after more than 1 hour on the phone I have finally given up. The last guy told me that I should try loggin on again after 6pm as everyday between 4.30 and 6pm their internet systems reboot and update and therefore no online business banking can take place during these times. I did ask him if he was having a laugh and said c'mon you're not being serious but he said yes I am being very serious. well at least that gave me a laugh!! Obviously this can't be true but imagine staff telling customers that! So I have failed to speak to anyone about my problems - well OK I DID get through to one person in support, she put me on hold and a couple of minutes later my call was answered by another guy......from personal banking. I have to admit to swearing to him which wasn't fair ( I apologised before I ranted ) then he put me on hold. I am now going to find a new business bank account. Does anyone have any suggestions. To add insult to injury at some point during this painful process they decided to change my password even though it didn't need changing. Now I am getting the message that my account has been suspended. I gave up smoking 2 months ago - I am now off out to buy a pack of fags - either that or I'm going to kill someone!

  by liz on 2007-10-09 15:30:36

• I opened one of their 50 saver accounts. Opened fine -everything ok for a few weeks then I got a second card and second pin number for the same account - spoke to various people all over Abbey Dept! Told to keep both cards just in case! Then this week I get a notification if they don't get my ID through the post they are going to 'restrict' the account. I know they got the ID cos the account was opened with the precise amount I wrote on the form that went with the ID. People kept telling me to send ID. I have been on to them for hours and in the end told them that I wanted the complaints department. They promised to ring back and didn't. So I rang again and had a shouting match with one man who told me just to 'send some ID. I asked to be put onto the complaints dept. as if they had indeed lost my ID that it was a case for the police as someone may indeed right now be using those details to forge a passport..Finally I was put through to the money laundering people who contacted the 'opening accounts dept'. and they sorted it out. Lo and behold they found my ID and have now taken the threat of restrictions off my account. INDEED I too would change but like someone else said - it's the incovenience that causes and what happens if that gets messed up and wages money doesn't go into the account. I tell you at one point one person couldn't even see my accounts - I was beginning to wonder how many people have had their accounts accidentally wiped.

  by bron on 2007-10-18 12:29:39

• More about the security 1: If you're asked a security question that you don't know the answer to, then just press F5 until you get one that you do know! 2: You're expected to know your memorable answer without being prompted with your memorable question! 3: Even if you pass the security tests on the phone they can't tell you your memorable question. You have to have the password reset, login and change it yourself. I work in IT and if there's ever a security breach on my account I will be all over them...

  by Stuart on 2007-12-13 14:15:25

• I have been with Abbey for nearly seven years now & I cannot believe just how bad they are, in fact you have to have an account with them to appreciate their incompetence & total disregard for their customers. No other business would get away with it & the frightening thing is they are a bank, their mission statement must be" Tell em anything". They use "security" as their excuse for anything that goes wrong & have absolutely no regard, or so much as a care in the world for their customers. For this reason I today changed banks which is indeed an inconvenience I could do without but at least I'll be rid of them. As a bank they know most of their customers don't want the inconvenience of changing banks but if people just took the time to do this maybe Abbey would have had to address their incompetence & appalling service by now. Anyway getting away from Abbey is like escaping stepping in a massive dog turd. . . . . . .

  by Matthew on 2007-11-15 21:49:10

• I am having so many problems with them also - THEY ARE TERRIBLE! Please read here: http://www.jonstarbuck.co.uk/archives/82 Jon.

  by Jon on 2008-01-01 01:14:49

• can i set up online banking

  by tracey roberts on 2008-10-10 16:54:37

• I would like to say not only buisness banking, Abbey is the worst in personel banking also, compared to HSBC, LLoyds and Halifax which I have had acconts with. Only rason I wanted to shift my current account from HSBC was Abbey's appealing 8% interest rate for one year for a £2500 credit balance.I visited my local branch to open the above account on 29/09/07. After going through all the criteria for eligibility,my application was accepted. About a week later I received a letter, requesting me to call upon to my branch with my HSBC card. No explanation,no apology they just wrote down my card details and said thankyou. I received the debit card but even after one month my account has not been shifted. I have made 2 calls, requesting to talk to the branch manager. Both occasions I was told the manager would speak to me as she was busy at that time. Since I didn't hear from the local branch today I spoke to the complaint department, after a long hold Iwas told that I need to go back to the local branch, because my application for the switching service is misplaced. I am telling you, all these talks about "HASSEL FREE" , "DEDICATED SERVICE", PEACE OF MIND" are rubbish. How can this be a free switching service when alredy I have been spending money to talk to Abbey on a 0845 number? Above all I felt the way Abbey's officer treated me on the first day was not good compared to the others. It was like indirectly saying,"this is not the wright place for you"

  by chrishantha on 2007-11-06 12:55:17

• I am seriously losing the will to live with the ABBEY NATIONAL BUSINESS BANK. It is bordering on criminal and will be writing to complain - I have such trouble trying to access my business bank account and if I ran my business in the same way i'd be bankrupt. Accessing the online service is near impossible most days - today it locked me out again and I have been on the phone for nearly an hour trying to get it reset. I was asked ridiculous security questions about transactions on my account which I couldnt have know the answers to without looking at my most recent statement {what was your last transaction??) - which is online and I couldnt see due to being locked out. I then called back to get my account unlocked and password reset (although this password has worked for 3 years) and got cut off twice. Previously we had problems transferring money on the account as they said that as a single user I couldnt do this although full access had been given. On the 3rd call - guess what their systems wet down (again) and someone is supposed to be calling me back but cant say when - so I cant get access to our money online or on the phone. We have opened a new account with co-op and all I wanted to do today was transfer the money across and close the account and I cant even do that! I cant begin to describe how angry this bank makes me - absolutely bloody useless and the customer service along with the useless service makes you want to smash the phone and cry. I strongely erge people not to bank with these people and move your account as it really disrupts your business. Lorraine Bell East Communications

  by Lorraine Bell on 2008-04-07 10:54:47

• Abbey, The worst crappiest bank i have ever known

  by Paul on 2008-08-07 14:00:25

• EVERYONE PLEASE! Write to this guy... antonio.osorio@abbey.com He is the head of Abbey, he deserves to know what a shitty bank he is running.

  by yasmeen ismail on 2008-12-19 13:37:23

• This is truly the shittest bank I have ever encountered. I have just spent an hour on the phone with various people trying to get my internet logon details which they forced me to change in the first place. When I did phone security they said my details were incorrect... MY DETAILS ARE INCORRECT??????? I only have one name and only have one birthdate, WHAT IS EFFING INCORRECT? I F**king hate them... I hate their so-called system, I hate their 7-10 working day slowness, I hate their shitty phonelines, I hate their nonchalance, I hate their policies, I hate their lies, I hate the way the patronizing hold message that says "i'm sorry, but we are busy serving other customers right now". F*** THEM!! OTher customers? EVEn the bloody recorded message is trying to give me a guilt trip. Should I bother wasting my energy to change bank? YES... I think so. These guys are a bunch of c**ks.

  by yasmeen ismail on 2008-12-19 12:17:40

• this year in October i opened a business account with the abbey, i still havent to this day been send though a card, after ringing them over 10 times every time having to wait to get throught to an operator no less then 20 minutes. i have had pins codes constandly beening send to me but never a card. whenever i ring there 'help' line they fop me off with a line of 'it is coming to you,it takes 10 days and remember to take out the weekends' it has now been 9 weeks and still nothing. So i lost my nice guy attitude towards it all last week and asked to be put through to a manager, they said he will call me back, he never did. So i rang him and i did get through after and 22 minute heated talk with the lady at the end of the phone. Chris Cassidy the highest manager in the business department was not one bit sorry for the inconvenience this has caused me and my business. He looked into my account records and found ive never been pulished a card, thats why it hasnt turned up. i have now arranged to pick it up at my local abbey bank tomorrow. if it's not there i will be taking this much further. i would never recommend this bank, there customer service is the worst ive ever come across!!!!!

  by amy jennings on 2008-12-18 15:04:32

• [...] The last straw: Moving away from Abbey National Business Banking “I’ve written about Abbey National Business before and tonight all the little drops of discontent added up and the glass finally spilled. I’m moving away from these people ASAP” [...]

  by Don’t use Abbey Business at JonStarbuck.co.uk on 2009-01-21 19:21:49

• oH YES THEYVE DRIVEN ME TO DISTRACTION. In 2008 they had a problem which meant that although they completes a transaction for paying bills etc online and gave you a receipt it never did it. I did all my monthly banking and then found out nothing had happened. Even went into a branch and theysaid they had desperate problems with it yet when you phoned the online people they denied there was a problem. I paid a fortune in charges for not paying bills but couldnt claim it back because Abbey basically had no records - the system had just eaten them. Then after the new upgrade one day an account appeared that id never registered online because id been told i couldnt link it. Great i had both my accounts online and could move money around. Out of the blue one of the accounts disappeared(the one i had registered) One chap actually told me it was probably something id done to make it disappear - what could i have done to make a whole account disappear. Ive had transactions made. all to legitimate people but ive never actioned them. But they say theylll refer to fraud but that will mean that for 10 days i cant action my account -HOW DO I RUN MY BUSINESS FOR 10 DAYS WITHOUT ACCESS TO MY ACCOUNT? No one ther takes responsibility - talk to 3 different epople and you get three different reasons and excuses. And i cant blame it on south east asia cos the poeple you deal with are in scotland. I find the best customer service you get is from Alliance and Leicester - i bet they become crap now theyve teamed up with abbey

  by CAROLINE on 2009-02-08 17:38:48

• This is without doubt the worst financial institution I've ever had the misfortune to deal with. They 'lost' a transferred-in ISA in May 2008 (yes, two thousand and EIGHT), and are STILL dragging their feet over reimbursing me. They claim they never received the cheque from the other institution. Six weeks ago I gave them the cheque number, and the date it was cashed (info provided to me by the other bank within 24 hours of my asking, but which Abbey appears to have been incapable of finding out for themselves), and I've heard diddly-squit from them since. I really feel for any poor sod who has a business-critical account with bunch of cowboys. Don't touch them with a bargepole. Your money's safer under the mattress, with the front door wide open and a flashing neon sign telling the burglers where it is. Thanks for Antonio Osorio's email address, Yasmeen. I'll certainly be telling him a few home truths.

  by Ann on 2009-10-11 17:07:41

• Had both Business and Personal counts - the amount of cockups was incredible - security on their website is comical - at one point they "linked" business and personal accounts without asking... when they changed the it system they simply merged accounts and passwords/usernames - if you used the same username on business and private the results were comical..their security is wide open to fraud. Inept lying staff that just simply lie on a daily basis ... cheques that go missing - cheques that take extra time to clear... makes me think that Santander may have hidden cash-flow or debt problems Remember, they are a Spanish Bank heavily exposed to Spanish, Argentinian and Brazilian bad-debts, they are offering relatively high deposit rates...

  by Tony on 2009-10-23 15:18:26