[northstar161]

If so; I would love to hear your thoughts on what they are like?

How long have you been with them?
Do they show the name of the customer when you get a bacs from them?
is it true that they have improved their customer service?
Charges?

Hope to benefit from you experience soon!

[Rogue Trader]

all good

since the changeover from a and l

yes

yes

decent - better than a and l

[matty72]

there rubbish

[g.brookes]

you cant pay in coins.
the cash machines that you have to use to pay in cheques and cash break a lot.
they take 6 working days rather than 5 to pay in a cheque.
the only reason im still with them is cos its free

[SunShineCleaning]

There fine, pay in at any post office, low charges.
Can't see any reason to change.

[LWC Ltd]

I use them. They are good. I shopped around and for business banking they seemed the best.

[j timms]

worst customer service I've ever had
can't go into branch to talk about anything
have to pay coins in to exact figures
get passed from pillar to post on phone theres no set business manager u can talk too
in my experience don't do it

try hsbc set everything up and had me online banking set up same day

[PureClean Window Cleaning Ltd]

went with them for about 2 years, but gone back to lloyds because of the time it takes to clear chqs, and transfer to main account. ive got my custies to put my chqs in my name to get around not having a biz account.

[Frankybadboy]

had a little bit of aproblem which started as my fault,but because of a co-ck up by the branch,left me without a card for 2/3weeks.

now been on the phone and the customer service as been excellent,even so that i been ablle to pay me money in over the counter by arrangement and been credited a £30 cause of the cock up


all in all happy with the service

has with paying money in only though the cash machine,a lot quicker than waiting in a que and only takes  minute.

[bad trippy]

We have just signed up with em, watch this space.
Up to now, i gotta say very impressed, got my business advisers mobby number, and also a direct land line number to my local branch, that in itself speaks volumes, no 0845 numbers, with 15 options, a password and the pleasure of speaking to a person you cant understand from delhi

[traps7]

No, you get to speak to a scouser you can't understand instead!

[Scoop]

Always been fine for my modest needs. I change coins for notes at my personal bank which is just across the road.

Cheques could clear a bit quicker, but for free banking it works very well.

[alanwilson]

Would never bank with them again, they have lost near on 30 cheques of ours and over 3k in cash. Won't refund anything until they do a full investigation which takes 3 weeks.

Not a real bank if you ask me

[mlscontractcleaner]

Been with them for a lot of years. Never had a problem with them. Can't imagine I'll be changing to another bank as these do just what I want them to do.

[Paul Coleman]

If so; I would love to hear your thoughts on what they are like?

How long have you been with them?
Do they show the name of the customer when you get a bacs from them?
is it true that they have improved their customer service?
Charges?

Hope to benefit from you experience soon!

I've had problems with them in the past but none recently.
As for incoming BACS transfers, they do now show any reference that you get the customer to supply.  Do ensure that you give customers a reference so that you can track who has paid (I use house number/or house name PLUS the postcode).  This is because not all sending banks supply the customer's name but just a meaningless stream of characters.  This is so with the IF bank - though there may be others.  This is not a fault with Santander as they can only display what the sending bank gives them.
I deposit cash and cheques with Santander as I live near a branch so can deposit them 24/7.  I have the BACS payments to a Co-op account as they were showing the references during the 18 months that Santander wouldn't couldn't.
Cheque your banking charges.  Occasionally Santander's software throws a wobbly.

[northstar161]

It sounds a bit mixed. According to my accountant the way round (in the books) of having to pay in the notes (and not coins!) is to put a 'cash not banked' column into the spreadsheet / books

[Rogue Trader]

pay in the post office notes and coins , you could go in with money bags stuffed with 2p's if you want.

[4Taz]

you cant pay in coins.
the cash machines that you have to use to pay in cheques and cash break a lot.
they take 6 working days rather than 5 to pay in a cheque.
the only reason im still with them is cos its free

you cant pay in coins. - No it's an online account so not unreasonable that cheques or bacs accepted

they take 6 working days rather than 5 to pay in a cheque. - doesn't take 6 days to pay in! Where do you get that from? What they actually do is to show the payment online within a day of receiving it. Then when cheque fully cleared it shows up in the cleared funds total. This isn't any different to any other bank. If you haven't got an overdraft facility they won't let you draw on uncleared funds.

the cash machines that you have to use to pay in cheques and cash break a lot. - pay in at any post office or sub post office, what could be more convenient?

People knock Santander but I have used them for years. Never had a problem. Their online account lets you see exactly what you can & can't draw on, which is a more honest way of displaying it than letting you think everything is ok & then clawing it back at a later date

[4Taz]

went with them for about 2 years, but gone back to lloyds because of the time it takes to clear chqs, and transfer to main account. ive got my custies to put my chqs in my name to get around not having a biz account.

It's a common misconception that you have to have a business account. If you stick to your guns  their is nothing the bank can do!