Are first direct any good?

[HeadFairy]

I'm getting a bit hacked off with Santander and I'm thinking of changing my current account after 20 years (with Abbey initially). Are first direct any good, I hear good reports but what are the bad points about them?

They are brilliant - got thoroughly hacked off with HSBC and moved our account to First Direct (on recommendation of a colleague) and they made it as easy as possible for us to do so.

Downside I guess is you still have to use HSBC branches to pay in cheques etc.

First Direct are absolutely fab. I have been with them for around 20 years.

Its so nice to talk to someone friendly on the other end of the phone. They have always helped me if my account has gone overdrawn/got into problems. I have never been kept hanging on or moved from pillar to post. The person who answers the phone generally deals with the problem.

Also if you move your account to First Direct you get £100 paid into your account - not a bad incentive!

It sounds really awful but I'm so fed up of foreign call centres. I've just finised my mat leave and I'm stony broke and just calling up Santander to sort out my overdraft and basically inform them of my circs was a pain in the neck. Just getting someone to speak to me was a nightmare, then the man's accent was soooo strong, I feel awful saying it but it just made the process really difficult.

Oh and they've levied £120 in charges against me this month because I went over my overdraft limit this month and didn't realise and carried on using my card.

We've also been with them for about 20 years. Never done telephone banking with anyone else so nothing to compare to, but over the years I've felt able to ask even the most basic, dumb questions (often ones I could find out the answer to myself) but have never been made to feel stupid or an irritation.

I would say I could count on the fingers of one hand the operators who've been a bit tetchy or not particularly helpful (although this has only been in the last couple of years, when they seem to have become more keen on Internet banking).

I have to say, financially I don't think we've necessarily done ourselves any favours by sticking with them, as their rates are appalling.

Yabu for using Santander -- their branch tellers are rude and ignorant ime.

Totally understand what your saying HeadFairy, its a pain.

When I went overdrawn with FD they sent a letter telling me how much the charges would be and when they would be taken from my account. I went £4 over my overdraft so was totally mad at myself. Anyway I rang them and they waived the charge as a goodwill gesture. It's that personal service that makes the difference.

I think First Direct are great. You always get a real person on the phone. And you can say something like "can you move £100 from my joint account to my personal account" and they get what you mean, without having to quote loads of account numbers.

Have no idea where call centres are, but often Scottish accents on phone?

Their internet banking is great - MUCH better site than others I've used (eg Santander, Barclays)

Their mortgages are also good - we used to have an offset with them which was really easy to set up & manage. They refused us recently though as we were a bit sub-prime for their profile... Despite that, I'm still very brand loyal.

Downside is posting cheques if you have no HSBC branch. I hardly ever have cheques, but might think twice if I wanted to pay in physical cash/cheques often.

Much better personal service from FD and I LOVE not having to press lots of numbers on the phone before I get to speak to a person.

I think they might charge for having an account if you don't pay in at least £1000/month though? In other words they only really want people who are earning and use it as their main account.

You can get around that minipie by opening a basic savings account and sticking a penny in it.

Another fan of First Direct now. Tend to only use their online banking but if I ever do have to phone them it's so nice to always get decent customer service.

FD are fantastic -when you ring up you actully get to speak to a real person - 24/7. No annoying menus or long waits. A person actually answers the phone more or less straight away and they are friendly and helpful too.
Santander are garbage we switched from Abbey a few years ago due to their customer service being so awful

They are fab, mainly use online banking but whenever i have called them they are polite, helpful, friendly and efficient.

Have had FD accounts for nearly 20 years (mainly dormant while overseas for a while though) and have no complaints at all - these days I mainly do everything online, it's really easy to move money between savings/current accounts, pay bills (you can set things up in advance as soon as you get a bill to go out on the correct date), and so on.

The call centres are also really good - you rarely have to wait more than a few rings, they can usually deal with whatever you want straight away, and they are all in the UK so as long as you aren't fazed by Scottish or Yorkshire accents, you'll be fine.

Their savings rates are not the highest, but that's true of most banks/building societies - you need to keep checking rates and moving things around every few months to get more than 0.5 per cent most places these days....

Another vote for First Direct, been with them about 18 years and they are very good. They have a call centre just outside Glasgow and the quality of the staff is very high. Took us 20 minutes to apply and get our last mortgage approved.

first direct for 20 years they do phone banking the way it should be done and online inrenetplus is great too can linkin ecvery bank account you have and keep track of it all but they wont take everyone there is a minimum income each month unless you have multiple products their offset mortgage is fab too is in best lists every week

I think first direct are great. But I have worked there for 15 years.

Another fan here - I've bee with them since they first started, which is over 20 years now. I have never had a problem with them in all that time, which I think is a fantastic achievement!

But - I don't they pay the best rates, and you will be charged for a current account if you don't bank a certain amount of money each month. This is waived if you have more than one account, however.

First Direct are fab. They did all the account transfer stuff for us (from Natwest) - the only hiccup was outside of FD's control and they did everything they could to help us sort it out. Really good.

They are brilliant. I've been with them for 20 odd years. Very friendly, always willing to help with problems.

Agree with everyone here, especially alfabetty, with regards to hiccup through no fault of theirs. Fab service, always a real person at the end of the phone, rates not always great but these days you shop around for those if you have anything worth saving, current account with FD is brilliant.

I was with First Direct for many years and would agree with everyone about the level of customer service, it is second to none. I left them at the point where they introduced the 1000/month charge as I felt this was unwarranted and inappropriate to long-standing customers like my DH who is chronically ill and unable to work. Yes, there is the loop-hole but in which case why have the stupid policy in the first place? It smacks of a high-up decision being made that goes against the very strong customer loyalty which FD otherwise completely deserves.

I moved to Smile, i.e. the online Co-op Bank, and I would equally recommend them I think. UK call centres, excellent online banking, same minor blips if you have a lot of cheques, although you can pay them in at the Post Office. They are members of the Faster Payments Service, which I assume FD are as well as part of HSBC, and they offer a degree of ethical banking as well.