Alliance & Leicester Current Account Review

Good Points
Easy to view on the internet however so are many other accounts these days.

Bad Points
Excepionally poor customer services and general lack of interest in the customer, I moved from Barclays just over a year ago, I'm so glad I did not close my account entirely, I simply reduced the account down to a regular current account and I still have a higher overdraft facility with them despite have not used the account for the last 18 months.

General Comments
All the league tables recommend the Premier Direct account at Alliance & Leicester. This is very misleading, the charges are excessive and the customer service is appalling. I recently transferred my mortgage from one provider to another and had a little hiccup during the process, I requested an increase in the overdraft facility to cover the hiccup and was not allowed. The net result I went over the agreed overdraft facility and have incurred charges of £350 pounds in the last two months alone. This problem is due to continue until I manage to resolve the error with my first mortgage lender and we all know these things can take time, Alliance and Leicester have shown little understanding. Once I manage to resolve these issues I will certainly be CLOSING this account and moving back to barclays or another suitable provider. Just to give you an example, I paid in some money at lunchtime yesterday, to cover the cost of some direct debits and when I checked my account I had been charged a payment review fee of £25, when I called and finally got to speak to a customer adviser I was told that the direct debit went out of my account prior to the deposit and therefore my account went over by £3 for all of a couple of hours, hence the £25 charge.