Tesco Personal Finance Internet Saver

I seem to have had a totally different experience from most of the reviewers on this site - my account was opened in a couple of days and the paperwork I received was clear. I've only called tesco Personal Finance once, but got straight through to a really friendly adviser who was able to help me. The online access does take a while to sort out but I was told they will give you access via the telephone until this is sorted - qualified for points and I got these no bother too :)

I make the mistake of keying my security number incorrectly 3 times as a result I cannot get access to my money until Tesco decide to send me the re-registration details through the post - 3 days later and I'm still waiting.

Call centre couldn't tell me anything other than it gets sent 1st Class.

The reason I was logging in was because I neeeded to pay my credit card - I'm now incurring charges that far outway the money I made on the interest on this account.

Do not use this Bank if you want instant access to your money

I opened a Tesco Bank Internet Saver account here about a month ago, after moneysavingexpert.com had it listed as the best return at the time.

I filled in online application, sent my cheque off and about a week later received confirmation of the account being opened and account numbers etc. So far, so good.

The next step was to register online, as this account can only be managed online. When I tried to log on, I kept getting disconnected from the site, so I called customer support. They couldn't tell me why I couldn't access the site (I have since found that lots of other people have had the same problem, their servers have issues with various browsers like Firefox, but Tesco didn't tell me this). The call centre advisor set up a customer number and I chose a security number while I was on the phone, I was told a registration code had to be sent to me before I could go any further.

10 days later, nothing had arrived so I called again. They couldn't work out/tell me why I hadn't been sent this code, and assured me that it would be sent out straight away.

Another 10 days with nothing from them, I call the online helpdesk and explained the problem. Firstly, I was told to try logging in again later. I told him I'd been trying unsuccessfully for three weeks and a registration code, that should have been sent to me twice, hadn't arrived. He put me in hold then came back a few minutes later telling me my code hadn't been sent to me because I'd 'failed security' when I'd previously called. Seeing as no-one I'd spoken to, in the two previous phone calls I'd ever made to them, had told me that I'd failed security questions (the first time being when I actually set up my security details), I disagreed with the call centre advisor. I'd always had my various details to hand when I'd called for reference. He told me I was wrong and arrogantly would not accept any differing point of view.

At this point, I'd had enough and told him I wished to close the account. Instantly, I was put through to someone else, who told me 'because I'd failed security, I couldn't close the account over the phone'!

I tried to explain to her what had occured, she said I needed my registration code before I closed my account, the same registration code that I'd been trying to get Tesco Bank to send me since first contacting them.

Realising I wasn't happy with the service, she told me I could speak to their Customer Care dept, but they would have to call me 'sometime over the next 2 days'.

Up until now, there has been no contrition, no apology, no attempt at customer retention, just indifference.

If they do get in touch, I'll post again, but have a feeling this isn't going to be easily resolved.

So, good points - apart from one individual, the call centre staff answered quickly and mostly tried to help (I never have a go at the person on the phone, they're usually at the bottom rung of the ladder in these institutions, it's not their fault), though they didn't actually do any good for me.

Bad points - website doesn't allow me access, at least one very rude and arrogant call centre advisor, clearly there are serious problems with the IT at their end too, but they don't admit anything is wrong, and have comprehensively failed to help, to the point that I'm getting my money out as soon as possible.

In conclusion, avoid, avoid, avoid!

I have had nothing but problems operating this account, whether via FIREFOX or IE. The Tesco / BoS software is stone-age (the pages are marked 'copyright 2006-2008'!) and I frequently cannot access my account. Last time I contacted support and told them about pages not loading they elicited that I had upgraded to latest version of FireFox ie 3.06 and was told that was why I was having problems - they hadn't finished testing yet! This was weeks after FF3.06 was introduced and every other bank and credit card site I use works with no problem. Now, a month later, problems are even worse. Oh, and no on-line suppoirt you have to phone a National-rate number, hang-on for ages, to be told effectively 'tough-luck'! I'm binning the account as soon as interest is paid, ie end March.

This a very difficult bank to deal with and the level of customer service

on a scale of 1 to 10 is about -1. Be warned go to a proper bank.

The Internet Saver is the worst internet account that I have opened. You have to 'jump through so many hoops' to get access'. The online help is very difficult to follow. By the time I had opened the account the interest rate had dropped so it wasn't even competitive. As we also had a Tesco credit card we had been promised 1000 Tesco club card points if we had £1000 in the account on a particular date. We received our Tesco Clubcard vouchers today. Surprise, surprise we don't have the 1000 points!

Dreadful system makes it almost impossible to gain online access to your account. Complaints get you nowhere. Tesco Personal Finance Internet Saver is one of the worst and most badly designed systems encountered.

My wife and I started using Tescos as a savings bank because of the attractive rates last year.

We read the reviews and were unimpressed, though not put off, by people's experiences with the on-line service. We expected delays and we were not disappointed. It took weeks and weeks to get hold of a keypad so we could use the card, and in the end, after many calls, the Tesco operator said we could use any other banks' keypad! So we used the NatWest one to set up a payment in order to be able to get money back to our main bank if we wanted it.

Right from the word go, their site was clunky and sometimes displayed incorrect messages such as "You only have one password attempt left" even though it was the first try, but it still led us to enter all sort of security information yet again. Despite all this, and, much to my surprise at my own tenacity, we went ahead and both opened up accounts.

Then came the time that we really needed to get the money out and of course, it's only £10k at a time. Not their fault, we just forgot - and it is the same with Sainsburys.

Logging on was a real pain with conflicting messages which eventually led us to the main account page, showing the balance. However, we could not get past this. The support people were as helpful and friendly as they could be but they did try and suggest it was our computer. We tried another computer and reset the modem - we also tried two other browsers. All to no avail, except now, unexpectedly, it lost our regsitration which meant we would have to re-register - and we really needed the money quite quickly.

At the same time, we were able to log onto other banks and move money around so the problem was certainly not our end.

To their credit, they were brilliant the following day (a Saturday) and sent us by courier the entire balance. For that, we cannot thank them enough and I can't help feeling that the Tescos staff are as fed up with the service as their customers are.

At the end of the day though, we could not continue with an on-line banking service which was so unreliable, and I believe it is because of the link between Tescos and the RBS who manage their banking. It's that "hand-off" to the RBS computers that seemed to be the hold up, but I am guessing a bit there.

In conclusion, I could not recomend anyone to use their on-line banking and, since they are moving into full service banking, I would expect them to carry out a major review of their on-line service before they started marketing it. If they don't, then they are going to have a problem. For the time being then, I'd say stay away.

After setting up your Tesco Personal Finance Internet Saver account you need to register before getting your money out. I thought I was all done with my account after setting it up and so didn't try to access it until I needed the money.

1. I then tried to register and found out the site is coded in a poor way and since I don't allow pop-ups, my web browser wouldn't let the pop-up appear and after I let Tesco's use pop ups it refreshed the screen and the site thought that was a problem and throw me out.

2. So I phone and they register me manually which means I wait 2 weeks for a registration letter to complete the process.

They give you a customer number - which they never send to you - you get one chance to write it down when you register. You also select a PIN. For whatever reason my usual PIN was not allowed - even though it met their criteria. So I had to create another.

3. 2 weeks and the letter arrives and I need to complete the registration process. However I have no idea what my PIN is since my usual one was not allowed. Registration fails and you start again.

4. I registered again, chose a new PIN. And waited.

5. The new registration code arrives 2 weeks later and I go to register - I nearly blow it again since I use my usual PIN having forgotten that it wouldn't allow it. I find the written down PIN and registration is complete.

6. I log on to the site and go to transfers. Oh no, I need to set up my bank details to transfer the savings into.

7. OK set up new payee - no you can't set up a new payee without a card reader. A CARD READER! They say I need a physical piece of equipment attached to my PC so that I can set up a new payee.

I ask you - what's the point in internet banking accessible from any internet connection in the world if you need to carry not just your tesco's savings card with you, but a card reading device like you have at the supermarket.

Now I'm all for security and I have another internet bank account that has very sophisticated security - even avoids keyloggers and mouse tracking programs. So it's not necessary to turn my PC into a Tesco's checkout till. First thing tomorrow, I'm pulling all my money out to somewhere I can get to it instantly, not after 6 weeks.

Tesco Personal Finance Internet Saver is an absolutely dire service. After 6 months I still can't log in and access my account. The customer service is non existent and they do not respond to letters or emails.