Ian
Everything you said about Lloyds is spot on. If you want a personal relationship with your business manager you have to pay more!! They scale their charges depending upon what service you require.
Also when I was with them I had same issues re contacting them and never getting called back. I complained at local branch and they suggested i had my account moved to them. What happened when I tried I got a phone call from my business manager (who is based in Birmingham) telling me that I can move my account but she will still be my business manager. I said I didnt want her as she was basically useless and she does not know my business and we would never meet. She said well unless I want to pay more thats the way it is. So that is when I closed my account. I may have been small fry to them but they just didnt care! The only positive thing I can say about Lloyds is that they have the deposit points open 24/7 and branches you can still pay money in after 5. Nat West you have to be in by 4.30 and no after hours services. I have overcome that by giving my banking to my MUM to do!
My Dad uses Alliance and Leicester, he finds their service apalling as you have to allow at least 7 days for your money to clear (by the time you have posted it and it gets their and then clears) however he earns more in interest than I pay in charges. He deals in much larger sums of money so waiting for it to clear is no hassle.
Nat West, my money clears within 2 days of me paying it it. I paid in £1000 on thursday and last night it was all available. They have been great like that although I dont need money that quickly anymore. They have differing acccounts (as they all do). My service charge has just gone up from £3.50 to £3.75 per month. I am on an automated tariff. I earn very little interest but all my automated transactions either people paying or me paying out are FREE! hence why I am trying to get more and more people paying online.
The reason my charges are capped is that I was regularly paying over £45 per month in charges. I went to see him and he tweaked my account slightly and capped it at £25 max. I am well happy with that.
To summarise, yes A & L are free, as are Abbey abd co-op and prob one or 2 others. But I personally like that pwersonal service, after all isn't that what we sell? I like the fact that someone takes an interest in me,my account and my business it makes me feel good.
I know others will feel differently or will have bad experiences of nat West and good experiences of Lloyds (unlikely my dad moved all his stuff from them after 30 years of business and 50 years of a personal account, mortgage 2, they never batted an eyelid) However my experiences are my own as are my opinions. Oh yes forget to mention call centres are BRITISH too and that is a massive bonus, Lloyds and many others are in Delhi or somewhere stupid like that.
