Aaaargh bloody Halifax and children's bank accounts

[weblette]

All I want to do is open an account for 12 yo dd's pocket money to go into so she can start looking after her own money.

Easy you would think, except this is with twunting Halifax where we have our main account and savings.

To open any children's a/c, including their Junior ISA, you have to make an appointment with a special advisor. Our lovely local branch was closed eighteen months ago so it's a trip to either of the bigger local town branches. Except they don't do Saturday appointments, so it has to be a visit to a much larger town 11 miles away but they don't have anything until mid-June.

You would think they would want to encourage children to look after and get interested in their personal finances.

Since the Lloyds takeover the service has slid further and further down the pan. Think this is the final straw which will see me move everything.

And breathe....

Oh I sympathise - we have a local branch, and two of our three kids had accounts so I wanted to open one for our baby. I noticed new accounts had a better rate of interest than my first two, so said I'd like to change them to the new one. We had to go through the biggest faff in the world with closing their old accounts (which they couldn't find on their system for ages), then opening the new ones. We needed all sorts of documents and papers and I was sat in their miserable little office for well over an hour, just to open a stupid account earning 1p a year

Even then, you're no longer issued with books or anything helpful. Their acc. No.s are scribbled down on a bit of paper because that's all I have.Grumpy harrumpy grump!

Dd1 has one with the nationwide. They are easy to deal with.

I keep meaning to write a letter of complaint about my 'local' branch of Halifax as they were so rude.

Had to make an appointment, three members of staff told me the wrong information, then the man just kept insisting that I was being unreasonable expecting him to know about the products his bank provides. Oh and all their problems are down to a new computer system. New last September. Great.

I second the Nationwide - I opened a Junior Isa there last week .
All done by post - new book back to me in the post within a week.

The staff at the branch are lovely, it's just that all the power they had to do the most simple things is being taken away from them and given to 'super branches'.

Will look into the Nationwide, thanks!

I've had no end of hassle with standing orders into my DC's savings accounts with Halifax lately. The staff in branch are lovely but on the phone are useless. Their computer systems seem to be to blame, because of the Lloyds changeover.

I already have Junior ISAs/CTFs elsewhere. What other good non-ISA child savings are there? If Halifax refuse my standing order once more, I'm closing their accounts!

That's interesting poppy, I was about to try and set up standing orders for their accounts but don't think I'll bother now. Really need to move acc.s too.

Northern Rock offer a good children savings account, see here:
www.northernrock.co.uk/savings/find/results/Childrens-Accounts

I believe you can open it online.

Thanks Duende. I did close one account today, and they are on borrowed time with the others.

Typical fab in-branch service!

I opened Halifax regular saver accounts for the children a few years ago because the rate of interest was really good but the appointment thing was annoying. Half of which was spent trying to sell me insurance I don't want or need and trying to persuade me to switch my mortgage.

A friend and her teenage dd tried to open one recently and the only appointments avsilable were in the middle of the day during the week. No weekend or after school ones at all.

Halifax are pants, we had to wait 3 weeks for our appointment to open their 6% childrens saving account.

Opened the account, told we have to open an account for one of us as the Parents too as we are not Halifax customers, got sent an ATM card and a cheque book (for DD who was 7 weeks at the time!). Ranted on the phone - didn't work as the call centre were idiots. Went in to branch and ranted. Turns out we didn't need all the other accounts and crap they had given us so a nice lady closed all but the 6% account.

Wrote a complaint letter to branch, got a phone call offering £75 compensation . So worth the MASSIVE annoyance in the end. Definitely wrote putting pen to paper.

DD has an ISA with The Share Centre, they are very good customer service wise.

I will never go near the Haifax again - in the last year they have messed up opening 2 kids accounts for me, messed up transfering money out of an ISA I had with them and, despite going into branch with my passport to prove it is me have stil not managed to change my address on my account (oddly my husband had no problems!). My friends has had a nightmare with them with kids accounts as well.

Bloody Halifax ... I put lots of my DSs' money in there and they just couldn't manage to give me a receipt. Went in and made big fuss ... standing at counter telling other customers how hideous they were ... and they gave me £200 as an apology (ie, to go away). Now at war with stupid Nat West ... apparently their business advisor has 700 customers and is far too busy to deal with me and my money.