“The security protocols are Draconian. We tried to withdraw a large amount from my Mom's savings. We spoke to them at length on the phone to organise taking the money out.
When we got to HSBC they asked what we wanted the money for which we told them. Nearly half hour later we were told First Direct wouldn't allow the withdrawal.
What we spend our money on is our business. We shouldn't have to jump through hoops and such inconvenience to withdraw OUR money. It is not any of your business what we want to use it for.”
“Customer for 30 years , looking for a short term extension to my overdraft of £500 for one week , apparently this is classed as lending , I would need to complete forms stating income and expenditure even though that is all viewable in my Current Account , apparently as responsible lenders they might refuse and I had to agree to a credit search that would appear on my credit record. As you might expect I went ballistic , pointing out the essential trivialness of my request , my length of time as a customer with a clean record and what about those magic words Customer Service , I received over and over a droning Scottish robotic mantra that we are responsible lenders , no you are verging on insane. Will be leaving this worthless outfit presently.”
“Trying to get back into the app when you can't access it is a joke.
Telling you to open the app and scan a barcode, why would I need access to account if I can open it already??
Staff telling you to do the same thing over and over even tho told them the same thing is happening
Patronising my mother talking to her like she's stupid then hanging up when they can't be bothered anymore”
“Couldn’t do a switch because I struggled to get on this god awful excuse for a banking app. One of the worst banks I’ve come across. Even though I’ve contacted customer service so it’s on record that I struggled with it, they did nothing. Bullet dodged and happily staying with my old bank. Best customer service becuase you can’t do anything with it without having to call 🤣.
What an actual waste of my time.”
“Appalling, useless bank. Switched to them on Friday, my account was IMMEDIATELY blocked. Nobody bothered to let me know, I had to call and ask why my brand new card was declining. Nobody could discuss the reason with me, would tell me how long it will take for them to do whatever ridiculous investigation it is they are doing, or when I’ll be allowed access to my own money.
I’ll be off to wait in a cave until the incompetent ‘people’ decided I can have my money back……oh wait, it’s 2024 and I can’t do that because I still have bills to pay!!!!!!
Would love to give less than 1*, but sadly that’s not possible.”
“Awful experience, moved across for the switch. Card took ages to arrive, ages to switch and now I’m told we don’t even get the incentive. Which is the only reason I don’t cancel. Wish we had never moved our accounts across.”
“Absolute worst customer service I have ever encountered. The only thing their agents excel in is making their customers' lives difficult - they shine in that respect. Totally incompetent in every other respect. I have literally spent hours on the phone for identification of my mother's account (who has been banking with First Direct for over 30 years). None of the many people I have spoken to have any idea what they are talking about. I have received so much false information that I don't know how they can be in operation at all. Whenever they need any documentation, their strategy is to freeze the account, stop sending account statements and wait for me to notice and call them. I have already lodged a formal complaint, but have been told it will take up to eight weeks for me to receive an answer. I wonder why...”
“Refusing to drop a pending charge of 120 from tesco even though tesco have already taken there money
Get told different things from different people about it”
“They froze my account and temporarily stole my money for no good reason. They have given me years of bad service. First direct good bank? A myth I have been with them 30 years.”
“Absolute trash banking service tried to switch over for the switch & save asked me to do 100 different things didn’t mind however when it came to email verification was an absolute nightmare didn’t send me any emails to my inbox and whenever I would try to resend would only send the old previous code which would then be expired would ask 100 security questions Everytime I tried to login and I would misspell or lowercase one letter of the answer to my security questions because I didn’t know it was case sensitive since every normal banking app just asks for a PIN code instead of asking me 178 questions like it’s my maths test. End of the day annoyijg service to switch over to, way to complex and annoying for standard consumers and slow verification services that don’t work. Just be simple and maybe people will like ur services, stop trying to be so different t.w.a.t.s”
“I applied for a balance transfer card and was rejected because I did not meet the relevant criteria. I asked what criteria I had not met and a few days later was sent a letter saying that the wrong letter had been sent to me and my application was still being declined because of my lack of affordability. I have a monthly income, after tax, well in excess of that quoted for eligibility. After querying this I was told that the usual practice is that no checks are made at the branch but the applications are sent to the underwriters and, as is normal practice, no investigation is made by them and that is why they failed to contact me to ascertain my affordability but the rejection remains.. I have tried to contact the Chief Executive who writes that People should come before Processes and the customer is key but have received no reply. Clearly his message has not reached his staff who would rather refuse a request by a loyal customer who has a Good credit score and has never defaulted on any loan in her life. First Direct your "processes" are a disgrace.”
“I asked why I had not received my Tax Certificate after three weeks of asking for one. Told it could take up to ten days. They said they would send a request again. I am still waiting. I joined in 1999, but feel they have lost the plot. Time to look else where for good service unfortunately.”
“I was trying to transfer £900 to my landlord today using FIRST DIRECT'S mobile app but when everything was ready, on the confirmation page the amount was changed from £900 to £200, and the name of the payee was different!!! I almost clicked confirm and noticed the difference and stopped. When I went through the same process again, this time it was ok on the confirmation page. I had to transfer the money on FD website using the PC because I am afraid now to do it using their app. I chatted with FD agent and she said it happens sometimes but gave me no explanation!!! I've been using various bank apps but never experienced anything like that!”
“Absolutely shocking service. After 10 years I’ll be leaving them as soon as they unlock my account! Which they locked for no reason!
Awful customer service on the phone, no one will give you a proper, and correct for that matter, answer! I’m surprised that they are voted as one of the best banks. Not in my books! Shame I can’t score them 0.”
“I have banked with first direct for 19 years and year by year the service is getting worse with customer service not a priority, if you are considering joining first direct I would strongly advise you join another bank.
I will be moving my banking to another provider”
“What is going on with First Direct? I have been waiting for 5 months to get a large amount of money deposited into my current account. I was told the "platform" was changing and I needed to open a new account where MY money would be deposited. I had to wait for a new code which would allow me to access MY money. I have been told by customer services, with of course many apologies, that I would receive my code imminently!! It has been over 4 weeks and I still have not received any code. It is a total shambles and this is now impacting my life as I have NO money!!!”
“Absolutely shocking experience either first direct from the day i.opened the account! Account was locked as I had had fraud which they let go out of my account, then it happens again they send a message to authorize this payment which I obviously didn't authorize, they let it go anyway when I couldn't even use the funds in the account myself!!”
