Britannia Building Society Reviews

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Britannia Building Society
★☆☆☆☆
1.2
14.0% of users recommend this
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  • Customer Service

  • Telephone Banking

  • Internet Banking

  • Local Branch

  • Cash Point Facility

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Latest Reviews

“Rubbish”

★☆☆☆☆

written by PattiR on 08/07/2023

Have completely lost trust in the co-operative bank. Nothing to do with the co-operative society anymore and managed by a non ethical hedge fund. Brittania is just one of it's side lines. Took out an investment bond and made £10.03pence interest three years. Tried to get money transferred back to my co-operative bank account on maturity but they keep on asking for more proof of identity? Does the cooperative bank not even trust themselves!!! I will be moving all my accounts to a truly ethical bank/building society. DO NOT TRUST THE CO-OPERATIVE BANK.

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“Waiting time ”

★☆☆☆☆

written by JanessaRoy392 on 27/02/2023

Just spent over an hour waiting to talk to Britannia about my Isa. Need I say more a shambles

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“Awful Service”

★★☆☆☆

written by Vicenteb243 on 21/02/2020

Pulled out of savings and associate current account. 30 mins+ wait on phone to talk to an unhelpful set of 'advisors'seems to be the norm despite their apologies that 'at this time there is an abnormally high customer demand' More than likely. Irate customers trying to sort out thier accounts. There doesn't seem to be any coordination between phone 'advisors' and email operatives. Advice given by one team does not appear to be passed to the other, creating bank charges for me. Utter chaos. Awful service in my opinion.

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“WORST SERVICE OUT OF ANY BRITISH FINANICIAL INSTITUTION”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 04/08/2017

Do not go near them. Put your money anywhere else. ISA matured 31 jul, completed forms in plenty time to change to a different company, now 4th August and it's still not there. They will tell you anything on the phone to get rid of you, including sniggering at you then saying they have a sore throat. On a different note, the amount of papaerwork they send is ridiculous. Gives you all the options but of course the form is designed to make you stay with them so not easy to transfer.

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“Losing customers money”

★☆☆☆☆

written by usCombs497 on 29/07/2017

Tried to make a payment by debit card into savings account. They have messed up the transaction. The money is no longer in my bank account and they say they haven't got it. Not helpful at all.

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“hopeless administation”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Alexandergp9 on 24/07/2016

Tried to open a 3 yr fixed rate bond, all forms were returned with a cheque and then nothing heard for 2 weeks. Phoned them and after a long hold got an unbelievable amount of buck passing and requests for information they already had on the application forms including the interest rate on the account which you would imagine they might know! After all of this they tried to give me a load of flannel about the backlog of forms and how they were working through them. When I pointed out that I had opened a similar bond with Tesco bank and it had all been completed in 2 days they became very defensive and said they could not discuss their procedures - as though I has asked!. Upshot was I lost all confidence in them and cancelled the transaction. Do not deal with Britannia or their partner Co-op, you will regret it. The only reason they get 1 star is that no stars is not an option

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“lack of information ”

★☆☆☆☆

written by McMahan482 on 11/07/2016

When I phoned to ask how I could add to my newly opened ISA into which I had transferred my Isa from another supplier, I was told I couldn't because the interest rate had changed. I had not been given any information about this and had only received a letter from them that day to say that my account was opened. I will now have to open another isa with another supplier to save this years money. Very upset about the lack of service and will certainly never bank here again.

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“Try to get your money out of them - good luck!!”

★☆☆☆☆

written by CorneliusGunn on 01/12/2015

I needed to close 2 ISA accounts I had with them. I followed precisely their instructions for withdrawal. My letter to request return of my money was ignored for a week. They finally got in touch and told me they would charge me £20 to transfer the money to my bank account or I could have a cheque. They promised to send the cheque immediately. After a week nothing arrived, I called them, they claimed it had been sent - rubbish still nothing has arrived. As I need the money towards a house purchase it is now costing me money while I attempt to get what is mine out of Brittania. I will never use them again and nor should you!

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“Fixed Rate Bond”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 13/08/2014

I took out a one year fixed rate bond which matured on 04.08.14. I returned a completed form instructing Britannia to close the account and forward the funds to my First Direct current account. This form clearly stated that funds would be forwarded within one working day of receiving instructions and my completed form arrived at Britannia on 08.08.14. After two working days had passed my funds had not been forwarded so I rang Britannia and was told that the funds would not arrive for another two days as the bank had so many maturing bonds to deal with. Two further working days passed and still no funds so I rang again and was told this time that my money would not arrive until the end of the following week, approximately another ten days! When I pointed out that this did not comply with the one working day policy the advisor implied that it was my fault for not returning the form before the maturity date and other policies would now take precedence over mine. I pointed out that this was my money and how long does it take to close an account and transfer the money into an account, on top of which there were serious financial implications for me if I did not receive the money. The advisor just repeated that my instructions had not arrived until 08.08.14 and therefore I only had myself to blame and there was nothing more she could do apart from lodge an official complaint! What an appalling way to run a bank, steer clear of Britannia and its parent Company the Co-op Bank, there was nothing co-operative about this bAnk or its staff! Wish I had read some of the reviews before investing my money, I wouldn't touch it again with a barge pole!

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“Disgraceful customer service”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Virginreviewer on 31/07/2014

I applied for a savings product, completing and posting the required paperwork together with the requested ID. Everything was checked and stamped by a local branch. Two weeks passed with no contact of any kind from the Britannia. I telephoned them for information, "We have returned your application together with your cheque sir", said the customer service, "because we require ID". What nonsense! Everything had been qualified by the branch which they then admitted was true. I cancelled my application and requested the return of my ID and cheque, to date nothing has been returned to me. They had not been posted back to me when as I was told and I have not received them to date. So my cheque and ID are presumably floating around in the ether in what is known as THE BRITANNIA BUILDING SOCIETY/CO-OP BANK. If my ID and cheque are misused I will be pursuing them vigorously. Consider carefully before your become involved with this company.

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“Service with attitude!”

★☆☆☆☆

written by 172Sutton on 07/03/2014

My husband and I had a similar experience.We popped into our local branch with the intention of moving our money from an existing Britannia ISA paying a miserable interest rate to one paying a bit more. There were counter assistants doing nothing yet we were told we had to make an appointment and come back another day because "there were things that by law had to be read out to us" before we could open a new account and the 'financial advisor' who could do that was apparently not available that day. So, reluctantly (we are busy people)we made an appointment and went back the following week. At the appointment in a side room we were asked whether we had already read and understood the terms and conditions of the new account and when we said yes, these were not read out to us, which suited us fine as we knew the most important details ie withdrawal terms and interest rate. However, before leaving, I just wanted to check on how we would be kept informed about the account and asked whether we would receive an annual statement. The 'financial advisor' was unhelpful,saying something along the line of "I thought you said you had read all the terms and conditions. If that isn't the case, then we'll have to start again and I'll have to delete everything I've just done." We found her attitude shocking. Then, when I asked whether the statement (which in the meantime I had established from the blurb already in my hand would be quarterly) would be sent out by post, she rather rudely responded "How else do you think it would it be sent?" In this age of electronic communication, it seemed a reasonable question that I had asked. We came very close to walking out and taking our money round the corner to the Nationwide, where the customer service is consistently excellent. Actually, we may still do that...

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Stanbutch's Comment

Written on: 09/05/2014

I had the same treatment at the Baddeley Green branch in Stoke on Trent this week, the advisor was unhelpful and didn't care if we continued banking with them or not. We have been with the Britannia for 30 years but won't be making it to 31 as we intend moving our money as soon as possible. Is it any wonder the bank is on its knees when they seem to be running the company with the same couldn't care less attitude.

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“no money in my account”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 03/06/2013

god,i dont know why i wanted my wages put in this account but halifax swallowed my debit card so i had no choice.2 times i rang to check my balance twice told no wages in on pay day went down to the place to see what was happening,still no joy.fuming by now as got no money for weekend and to pay my bills.rang sat morning,you guessed,no money in sir,sorry try on monday.good job i have a generous wife who paid for my car h.p.payment due that day.i see the co op are gradually taking over brittannia but was advised to try for their currant account and still got turned down.utterley useless always have been,dont know why they exsist,so buck up your ideas britannia,am leaving you as soon as i find a better bank.

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“Mortgage terms and conditions on fixed rate deals”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 27/04/2013

Expensive fixed rate mortgages may be sold making you believe it comes fixed rates charges. The reality is Britannia make up new charging rates once you are tied in to the deal.

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“Poor service”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 11/04/2013

I have an ISA with Britannia. When set up got lost between Smile Bank and Britannia but eventually sorted out and I was told I was compensated, I cannot check as interest added at year end. This year I was offered option of rolling over to the 2.3% 1 year product, I went into West Bromwich branch in March and was told should come back after April 5th. I rang yesterday saying I wanted to come in and rollover ISA but take out £5000. I was told to come in today. At branch only myself and 1 other customer, I waited while tow counter assistants dealt with the same customer. After some 3 minutes assistant indicated she was free, I explained what I wanted to do and she said I had to make an appointment which I have now done. My point is that I should have been told I needed to make an appointment.

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“Not a Portable Mortgage”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 26/03/2013

I have a 5-year fixed Britannia portable mortgage that I wanted to move to another property. I was not borrowing any more money, nor was I changing the length of the term. Britannia have refused to port my mortgage due to the fact that the property I'm purchasing is in a 14-floor block of flats, which are less than 10 years old. It seems that one of the mortgage conditions that Britannia don't tell you about is that they will not mortgage any property that has more than 10 floors. As far as I'm concerned, this is absolutely disgraceful,and feel Britiannia has sold me a portable mortage that isn't portable. With the amount of people currently living in blocks of flats requiring a mortgage I don't understand why Britainnia have this regulation, especially when it seems that other mortgage lenders don't. I have had to take out another mortgage with a different lender to purchase my new property; and will be out of pocket to the tune of £4500 which I have lost in both arrangement fees and early repayment charges.

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“Service refused”

★☆☆☆☆

written by miles957 on 23/02/2013

My parents visited the Blackpool branch yesterday to buy an investment product and were refused service on the grounds that they did not have an appointment. The place was virtually empty at the time and did not get busier in the half hour that my mother waited there for my father to fetch their car. My parents are in their early 80s, are nobody's fools, and were putting money into the building society, yet were turned way. The website says "pop into your local branch". Even if there was an appointment rule, would it have done any harm to waive it at a quiet time? Disgusting

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“In general, the Britannia Building Society has a good...”

★★★☆☆

written by piriepirie on 30/07/2008

In general, the Britannia Building Society has a good mutual ethic - but this is shared by all other building societies, so it is not in a class of its own in this regard. It does however provide a membership bonus scheme - which pays out every year after a qualifying period - and is dependant on how high your account balance is and how many accounts you hold.
The customer service is exceptional, I have never suffered a problem with it and would recommed them on this point alone - however, they could do with a greater branch presence on the high street.

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“The Britannia Building Society offer simple,...”

★★★☆☆

written by blemtroot on 19/02/2008

The Britannia Building Society offer simple, old-fashioned service in the main, with accessible branches and enough choice of products. They are a cautious lender, which can be good or bad depending on your circumstances, but at least they are unlikely to go bust!

Their in-house financial advisor's, however, seem to be completely unskilled/hopelessly naive at best or just picking products that give them the best commission at worst. Most of the investments I have made with them have either lost money (for me at least!) or just broken even. Some of this was down to the vagaries of the Market, but I still feel I could have been better advised. Their insurance products ( eg. home/contents, income protection) and charges for setting up accounts etc. are very expensive compared to other providers in the market. In short, they are good for mortgages & savings (their traditional market), but not really competitive for much else.

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“Absolutely useless firm. Start to finish of our...”

☆☆☆☆☆

written by davyboy11 on 21/01/2008

Absolutely useless firm. Start to finish of our mortgage application was poor with Britannia Building Society.

Firstly, failed to instruct their surveyor to check the property against their own lending criteria and then the same surveyor failed to notice subsidence. Refused any responsibility.

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“I operated my Britannia Building Society savings...”

★★★☆☆

written by pinknsparkly on 04/03/2005

I operated my Britannia Building Society savings account by post and never had any problems paying in cheques. However, when I wanted to close my childs savings accounts (to release the money for uni!), they decided that I either had to pay £20 to get the money paid into my current account or get my money sent to me as a cheque. I also had a savings account with another building society who responded to my letters much faster and were quite willing to pay my money straight into my current account, no faffing around!

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