The last straw: Moving away from Abbey National Business Banking

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 How about at least owning up to call it an outdated procedure that needs to be changed.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.

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