12 years of pain

We run a relatively small business (turnover approx £3million). We trade both in the UK and overseas mainly US & Ireland. We have had our business account with Lloyds since our start up 12 years ago.

For issues that we can deal with ourselves such as the online banking system etc it works well once you understand the mechanisms. Unfortunately, the minute you need the bank's intervention it all goes to hell in a hand cart. We sometimes need Bank Guarantees which they have to sign up for and we continually have issues with them delaying payments for no reason other than they can't contact our Relationship Manager for approval....... They give you a Relationship Manager (this person changes with the wind) and they appear to have little or no knowledge of how a business operates but they can go on constantly about how the bank works!!!!!! Do I care - I just want them to get on with it. Basically they are not encouraged to get close enough to you to be of any help - they are deliberately moved on regularly. Consequently you find yourselves having to deal with new people on a regular basis resulting in a great deal of frustration because you have to keep re-visiting subjects that you thought were dealt with years ago. For instance, I have had discussions with 5 separate relationship managers regarding our automated BACS approval system. The same conversation, dealing with the same issues repeatedly..... It gets very tedious. Fortunately we are very solvent and can pretty much dictate how we want things done but I would hate to be in a situation where a business was on overdraft and relying on these people....

I would vote with my feet and change but, having explored my options I find that there are none. So we are going to have to put up with it. This is one of the reasons I am posting this review. I would like a Trip Advisor type site for Business Banking to keep them on their toes and provide information for new businesses and potential switchers alike.