Abbey is shit!

I hate Abbey. They have the worst customer service bar none. Loyal readers will recall previous problems with Abbey that resulted in them sending me a letter and giving me £160 as an apology. Well you would think that was the end of the sorry story but no, they seek new and innovative ways to piss customers off and they always manage to succeed!

There was a dodgy transaction on my card (no not porn, how dare you!) and Abbey called and said, do you recognise this, which I didn’t. So at least we know the fraud dept earn their pay cheque. They immediately cancelled my card and are sending me a new one. But what, said I, if I need money in the meantime? Go into a branch with your card or cheque book and one other form of ID and you can withdraw money said they.

So I did that today and they said, no you can’t!

The Sydenham branch of Abbey is the worst. There’s a woman in there that practically sucks her teeth at me every time I walk in because I had the audacity to be annoyed and say the service was appalling*. I queued up today, gave a bright and breezy hello, handed over my card and driving licence and asked to withdraw some money. The cashier told me I would need my cheque book, not my card because the card is cancelled. My response was, yes I know it’s cancelled, I just told you that! I pointed out that Abbey had told me that this would be ok, that I had valid ID – I also had other ID if they wanted to see that too – and previously when my card had been hit by fraud I had gone into a branch with the card and my driving licence and had had no problems withdrawing money...

But no, this time the rules had changed and no one could help. I would have to go all the way back home to get my cheque book.

The thing with Abbey is that I genuinely believe they don’t care. They are one of the biggest banks in the world and with banks and building societies going under left, right and centre, they know people will stay with them in the belief that customers, if faced with a choice, would opt for financial security rather than a decent service...

I can’t even change the account yet because of the mortgage being processed.

You know when you thought old people were a bit nuts for keeping their savings under the bed? Well actually they’re proving to be smarter than all of us put together!

*We tried to make an appointment, they told us they didn't make appointments, you just had to walk in. We walked in and they told us on two different occasions they couldn't see us they were (a) too busy (b) didn't have enough staff to serve us! We got so fed up with this that we called Abbey two months ago frustrated that we couldn't get an appointment at the local branch, and expplained we wanted to open up a joint account. They were delighted and said they would call us right back with appointment details. We're still waiting...

Worm turning

Not one to shy aware from controversy I thought I would list the top five companies with the WORST customer service. The criteria are:

1. It has to be either a personal experience, or the experience of someone very close to me to qualify. No friend of a friend stuff…

2. The company in question has to have been written to (not email) and given the opportunity to respond. Because like it or not, mistakes do happen and sometimes when a company finds out that something has gone wrong, they do do their utmost to put it right.

And my top five are…

CARPHONE WAREHOUSE (truly the worst customer experience I have ever come across)
COOPERATIVE BANK (ethics don’t extend to customer care)
ABBEY (they don’t even pretend to care and I’m sorry but I do object to phoning India when I have a query)
LEWISHAM COUNCIL (inefficiency and misinformation a go-go)
BRITISH GAS (it took over 6 months to send a replacement bill, each time they gave the wrong information and they've just increased their prices by 15%)

But do you agree? You might think the companies I’ve mentioned are actually fantastic – let me know! Or do you have any companies or organisations you want to add? All replies printed, even the ones that disagree with me.

Boycott Carphone Warehouse

My phone keeps getting cut off: Carphone Warehouse's (CPW) fault, not mine. They have lost a payment I made on January 16 (for my January bill). They want me to pay again. Not unreasonably I said no and faxed over my bank statement to prove that I had indeed paid the bill and that the money had left my account. I have since paid my February bill (which they managed to not lose, I suppose I should be grateful) but are still insisting I pay January's bill again. Despite them now knowing I paid for it already. Confused?! For a communication company, they really aren't very good at communicating - see below...

Dear Mr Dunstone (Chief Executive)
I am writing again – and incidentally will continue to write until this is sorted out – because my phone has been cut off again. I have just spoken to XXX; seemingly the only efficient and organised member of staff in your entire organisation who has apologised for everything that has happened to me and who seemed quite embarrassed at the situation. But to be fair, I don’t care anymore. I will be changing my contract because I want nothing more to do with CPW or O2.

- It turns out no one ever filled out a missing payments form, XXX has just done this now two months after the payment apparently went missing
- My phone, for the third time, has been cut off
- Despite my two letters, one fax, three phone calls and one email, no one has ever bothered to contact me, either to update me or to explain that my phone would be cut off
- Each time I phone I have to explain everything all over again because it appears no one is (a) taking notes and (b) following up on the investigation – in fact to all intents and purposes, the investigation is only now starting and everything I’ve been told before was a lie
- XXX can’t tell me what happened to my fax – a fax containing my bank statement with highly confidential and personal information on it

It would almost just be easier to pay twice and I’m sure that would help pay for someone’s bonus, but I won’t and I won’t let this rest either. You should be very ashamed of your company right now.

This was sent to Mr Charles Dunstone by registered post today. You see, I know they want you to shut the fuck up and put up with lousy service but I'm afraid I don't shut and do nothing very well...

If you're looking to buy something at CPW - don't. It really is more trouble than it's worth.