I live in the Surrey countryside and look after a house, a lurcher, a yellow Labrador and a husband!...
I live in the Surrey countryside and look after a house, a lurcher, a yellow Labrador and a husband! When I'm not busy with the dogs, house or husband, I work in IT.
Member since:14.03.2005
Reviews:14
Members who trust:2
I was attracted to the Alliance and Leicester's 'Online Saver' account because of the relatively high interest rate offered. Today when I checked, the interest rate is 5.35% which is higher than most of the mainstream competition.
I applied for this account online via their website. I find their home page almost assaults the eye; it's as though they want to shout about every link on there and ultimately it's just too much and in my opinion it looks 'cheap'. It didn't take too long to complete the application form and about seven days later the account was set up.
To notify me that my new account was ready, I received two letters through the post, one letter had a pin number and the other letter a username so that I could login. There was a minimal amount of detail in the letter, just barely enough instructions to get you logged in. There was no friendly leaflet informing you about the Online Saver account to help get the most out of the account. I was disappointed with the literature.
When you log into your new Online saver account, you change the pin number for security and complete other security questions. The username is a long number which is not easy to remember, if you lock yourself out, you have to call the computer helpdesk and ask them to reset the pin number. A new letter is sent several days later allowing you to log back in.
During the application process, you are asked to nominate a third party bank account to allow you to transfer money in and out of your Online Saver account. Choose carefully because there is no facility to change this online once the account is set up.
I have successfully used a couple of other online banking websites with no problems at all. However I did not find the Alliance and Leicester's website easy to use at all. From what I can gather, they have one interface for several accounts and therefore there are options listed there that are not applicable to each account. I became so unhappy with using the website because I was experiencing difficulty transferring money from the account I decided to close the account.
I would certainly not recommend this account for online banking beginners (or even intermediates!).
I could not close the account online and so I phoned customer services. Alliance and Leicester have an enormously complicated telephone system! There are an alarmingly high number of options and it's not always easy to be sure you have picked the right one. I have found after making your keypad choices, it takes at least 12 minutes to speak to a person.
I confirmed I wanted to close my account and asked if the balance of my account could be sent to me. I was advised the person I was speaking to could not help me with this, even though they were the 'Online Saver helpdesk'. They said they had to put me through to Leeds. Unfortunately, this resulted in me being put back into a queue and waiting for another 10 minutes before getting through.
Leeds helpdesk advised me they would send me a cheque with my balance and they would close my account. In fact it took them 7 days to close the account. However I did not receive a cheque. I called Alliance and Leicester and once again they put me through to Leeds, after a total of about 20 minutes I was told that in fact they did not send out cheques, they had transferred the balance into my 'nominated account' which in fact I was no longer using! I asked Leeds for their telephone number in case I needed to speak to them again, they refused to give it to me.
I have not had an Alliance and Leicester account before and I can say with confidence that I will not have another one! There is nothing about their service or online account that was beneficial. A high interest is not everything!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: A hard copy statement can be printed out. Disadvantages: No identification of who has been paid, or paid you, although this information is provided in the normal monthly statement sent by post.
Advantages: Efficient service, reliable, good range of services available, easy to use online banking facility Disadvantages: There's nothing that really comes to mind. Apart from the occasional down-time online, the service is really good
Advantages: Efficient service, reliable, good range of services available, easy to use online banking facility Disadvantages: There's nothing that really comes to mind. Apart from the occasional down-time online, the service is really good
Advantages: A hard copy statement can be printed out. Disadvantages: No identification of who has been paid, or paid you, although this information is provided in the normal monthly statement sent by post.
Advantages: Good interest if you keep on-top of their offers Disadvantages: churning: lowering interest & changing account names. Avoid Commercial Bank.
Apr 8th, 2005
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