My father has been a Lloyds Bank customer since the early 1960s. He expected me to do likewise when I was older. But as part of my teenage rebellion I chose Barclays instead. My father’s bank manager was not pleased.
In 1987 when buying my flat, an adviser from Abbey Life who promised to set up a mortgage with Abbey National ripped me off and dealt with the Chelsea Building Society instead. This deal probably increased his commission. Anyway 3 years later I paid £2000 to transfer my mortgage to Lloyds Bank. By this time Lloyds had already acquired Abbey Life. God moves in mysterious ways.
Part of the mortgage deal was that I would have to transfer my current account from Barclays to Lloyds. Cancelling various direct debits and standing orders and setting up new ones was a pain. But at least the mortgage burden was reduced.
The Lloyds TSB Classic account is a very ordinary account. It pays gross interest of 0.1% annually. You are given a chequebook and a debit card, which also doubles as a cash card. Insurance benefits are also included eg protection against goods stolen within 30 days of purchase, accident or illness benefits and upto £10,000 accidental death benefit.
Telephone banking is also available. The customer service staff are very polite and efficient. The automated voice sounds almost human and is quite sexy to listen to. I once phoned my branch to cancel a standing order and was told to put it in writing. I then contacted the telephone bank and the cancellation was done immediately. So there is a little bit of discrepancy there.
The bad bits concern unauthorised overdrafts. Some money was due to be deposited in my account on Good Friday but was delayed by the Easter holiday. I immediately received a letter stating that my account was overdrawn. I was charged a £5 monthly-unauthorised overdraft usage fee, a hefty interest on the amount overdrawn and 50p per item on my statement. This is one way in which the big banks rip off their customers.
I have received various levels of service from different branches. The Hammersmith branch looked down on me. I was treated with a lot of respect by the High Street Kensington branch. The best service came from the Hull Silver Street branch.
The advertisement for the bank features the Corrs singing ‘What can I do to make you love me?’ I really do not see any connection. For the record my favourite is the drummer Caroline.
I feel that the shares of Lloyds TSB are worth investing in. In the past few years it has acquired the TSB bank, Cheltenham & Gloucester Building Society and Scottish Widows. At the end of 2000 it was considering making a bid for Abbey National.
If I were starting my life again I would bank over the Internet with Cahoot, Smile or Intelligent Finance.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I have been with Lloyds since the mid 1980's. I have had my high and lows, but the bank sticks with me. I sometimes wonder! I know that other have had problems and I have with the call centre, but I always complain and the problem is usually rectified. Very helpful opinion. Thank you. Louise
Advantages: Nice cash/cheque/debit card all in one Disadvantages: Poor organisation, different phone numbers for different services and it takes several calls or visits to branches to achieve simple tasks
fam6 16.05.2001 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Lloyds TSB
Advantages: Offers services you'd expect from a bank, high free overdraft limit for students Disadvantages: Confusion applying, no interest, little contact, constant changes, poor internet banking
a-true-ben 04.09.2001 (28.05.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of LloydsTSB Accounts
Advantages: Pay bills without visiting the bank, online statements, transfer money between your accounts Disadvantages: Statements sometimes a few days behind
Jan 26th, 2001
very helpful by (100%):
