Abbey are complete &*$!!

[ina]

21 days without access to money, jebus, I just don't really know what I would do, I just don't have much folding cash these days, it is all plastic and all with Abbey.

Time for you to find a new bank, too? Maybe they'll at least start thinking about getting their act together if enough people leave...

[Millymollymandy]

Never put all your eggs in one basket! We have accounts in different banks in several different countries and if one lot got closed for some reason, we could use another. I don't understand quite how Stonehead can't access money from another bank because he uses internet banking , we have internet banking for many of our accounts but each bank is different so I can't see how one could block the other.

[red]

yeh we use more than one banking institution, and when my card was stolen and my account frozen (although that only lasted a week or so)I was able to get by using my other account.

[Masco&Bongo]

Never put all your eggs in one basket! We have accounts in different banks in several different countries and if one lot got closed for some reason, we could use another. I don't understand quite how Stonehead can't access money from another bank because he uses internet banking , we have internet banking for many of our accounts but each bank is different so I can't see how one could block the other.

I assumd that if Abbey accounts are blocked, you can't transfer money into or out of them. If he has internet banking with RBS (for example), although he can access it, he might not be able to draw money out, and he certainly can't transfer it into the Abbey account, which is where the bills come from?

[red]

Never put all your eggs in one basket! We have accounts in different banks in several different countries and if one lot got closed for some reason, we could use another. I don't understand quite how Stonehead can't access money from another bank because he uses internet banking , we have internet banking for many of our accounts but each bank is different so I can't see how one could block the other.

I assumd that if Abbey accounts are blocked, you can't transfer money into or out of them. If he has internet banking with RBS (for example), although he can access it, he might not be able to draw money out, and he certainly can't transfer it into the Abbey account, which is where the bills come from?

but with a different account at least salary and other income can be diverted there.

[MuddyWitch]

Not if SH's accounts, like my S-in-L's, are with Allience & Leicester, Bradford & Bingley & Abbey...they're ALL Santander now!

MW

[red]

Not if SH's accounts, like my S-in-L's, are with Allience & Leicester, Bradford & Bingley & Abbey...they're ALL Santander now!

MW

very true - its hard to keep up with it thse days - but the how safe is your moneywebsite is good for pointing out who is who

[Millymollymandy]

It doesn't have First Direct on it, and they've been around for 20 odd years!!! They've got all sorts of banks I've never heard of.

Edit - it's been added on to the end not in alphabetical order, yet they have bloody T***o Bank whatever the hell that is!!!

[Stonehead]

We do have e-banking, but it is blocked. We do have phone banking, but it is blocked. We have a savings account, but as it's linked to the current account it is blocked. We have a credit card, but as it's linked to the current account it is blocked. (We have money elsewhere, but it can take up to four weeks to access it, it's withdrawn electronically or via cheque, and we need a working current account to draw it out once transferred.)

The current account is the one that the OH's salary is paid into and that all our direct debits/standing orders/regular payments come from. If we divert her salary into a new account—and that takes a while to do—then the direct debits will go unpaid unless they are shifted too. The whole thing snowballs very, very quickly.

On top of that, while it's relatively straightforward to simply switch accounts from one bank to another using their switching services, it's rather more complicated to open accounts from scratch as you need a lot more ID and there's a lot more verification involved. (And we can't switch because, you guessed it, our accounts are blocked.)

People might also remember that Experian's computer systems no longer recognise our address and can't automatically match it when it is held correctly on other computer systems. That means manual verification, which takes a long, long time. It took six months for us to be verified when we re-mortgaged this year, even though we're in the same house, have copious financial records with the correct address, have very good credit histories going back more than 15 years, and son.

So when we open a new account from scratch, our new bank will run a credit check with Experian. Experian's computers won't accept our address and so they reject the automatic check. The bank then does a manual check—if, in fact, they do manual checks. Many don't.

As a result of our experiences, it's become clear that a lot of people simply don't understand how difficult life becomes when you fall foul of the technology and it pushes you out of the system. When it works, life is easy and convenient. When it doesn't, your stuffed—and to make matters worse, many people can't grasp how it can be stuffed because it's all so easy:

Just use e-banking
Just use phone banking
Just use a different account
Just pop into a branch
Just switch accounts
Just switch banks
Just open new accounts
Just get cash
Just use cash

Simple.

NOT!

[Stonehead]

Oh, and I'm spending several hours a day working the phones, internet and local branch trying to get the system working for us again. Believe me, I'm not just sitting back, throwing my hands in the air, and saying "Oh! No money, what shall I do?"

I'm working my butt off, employing all manner of strategies and exploring all manner of possibilities to regain access to our money, pay bills and do all the things that money facilitates. Fortunately, we're much less dependent on money, especially electronic money, than most but even being as self-sufficient as we are we're still part of modern, technologically dependent, consumer society.

[Flo]

Nope it's not easy is it?

You have problems with one bank and they all line up against you. If one says you've done something wrong none of the others will entertain you. And that's even if you are innocent.

It's not even as if Stonehead can work cash in hand as all the world and HMRC knows about him.

You can't claim any benefits without a bank now unless you are living on the streets. And if you have been working cash in hand you don't exist so can't claim benefits if you need to do so.

Most of the utilities won't accept payment in cash without ridiculous charges because they are no longer set up to handle real money.

Join a few others of us who have been on mean street Stonehead. There is no fast or easy answer except to continue to fight the good fight. And there's no promise that you will easily be able to regain your status with suppliers once you have done. You've had problems with the bank so you must be an unreliable bet.

You got 15 years?

[Thurston Garden]

I binned Abbey a few years back after poor service within the branch. Previous to this they had been fab.

I moved to smile which is part of the Co-op. Stoney you spoke about the Co-op on your blog not having any branches locally but every Post Office is a sub branch of the Co-op/smile. Of course there's no manager to hound that way, but any queries I have had with smile have been dealt with quickly and efficiently via thier on line messaging system which shows the query and andswer like a conversation in writing, so it's always clear exaclty who has said what.

I hope things get sorted soon!

[Stonehead]

I hope things get sorted soon!

One of our suppliers is demanding cash on delivery next week. I just opened their email.

I'd already explained the situation to them—hence the demand—but unlike almost everyone else they want cash up front and we can't do that. Our emergency credit card provider, the feed merchant, the vet, ANM (auctioneers), the knacker, the abattoir etc etc have all been fine. We told them in advance of bills coming due and as I've scraped up spare cash/sold pigs I've paid what I can.

But not this supplier. We've used them for several years, always paid in full in advance of delivery, and now we have a problem they send a terse email saying only COD is acceptable.

I started to reply at length but, having had another long hard day on top of all the bank hassle, I eventually told them to sod off and we'll find another supplier.

I now have a contact at Abbey who will explain the situation to creditors and suppliers, and who will put it in writing that we have money that we can't access. But some people just think "oh, you must be dodgy".

Well, I don't need that attitude on top of everything else.

[citizentwiglet]

Get out get out get out of there!

Just after they were taken over by Santander, my overdraft facility was immediately stopped, and all details of conversations on the phone approving the overdraft (I was on extended maternity leave and was very ill with PND) went missing. They threatened to sell my debt (a staggering £600) over to a debt agency - I readily agreed, as an independent agency CANNOT charge you interest; but the attitude I got from Abbey was absolutely appauling. Had I not been so ill, I would have kicked up the biggest stink, but at the time it was grief I could do without.

I understand what it's like being in Scotland. My 'usual' bank was the NatWest - we only have one branch - in Glasgow - and that is shut on a Saturday which is the only time I can feasibly get into town. Plus I have fallen out with them about their insistence on holding back tranfers until they know I will go overdrawn for what can be a matter of minutes (I don't have an O/D facility) so they can charge me daft amounts.

They've got their bad points, but I now predominantly gather my pennies with HBOS. I'll tell you what - their call-centre staff are so lovely, transactions between savings and current accounts are really simple and they don't hassle you with upselling every minute they can.

[the.fee.fairy]

I;ve switched from Nationwide because of poor service - they found every excuse possible to stop me getting to my own money!

I'm with HSBC now - they couldn't have helped me more if they'd tried!! I pay for my account, but it means that i'll get free withdrawals while i'm abroad, and in the UK, and they have really easy to understand internet banking too.