Heros wanted

At Times Money, we spend an awful lot of time telling you about poor service, rip-offs and other reasons to be generally unhappy with financial services in the UK. Add to that miserable macro-economic tales of property market downturns, rising living costs and debt problems, and you suddenly have a strong case for emigration.

But it can't all be that bad, can it?

Occasionally, just maybe, you might receive exceptional service that restores your faith in humanity. Maybe a fleeting sensation of kinship and understanding between you and a call centre assistant in Dundee made your day. Perhaps your bank graciously and quickly refunded a charge, and gave you a bit extra on top. Or what if you actually received an apology for something without having to badger some poor customer services lackey for months beforehand?

Whatever the reason, we want to know about the best service you have ever received, and give credit where credit is due. Tell us your good news, below.   

Image courtesy of GKYC

Comments

[cq]

Smile (the internet branch of the co-op) have never given me anything except plain English, prompt responses to my queries (however trivial), and speedy service.
Despite their rates being less attractive than the headline ones they offered when I signed up years ago, I have yet to meet such service in the Banking industry and as long as they continue to meet my needs I shall not be switching.

[James]

Another vote for smile.

[linda drake]

in February my husband took his very fit 88 year old mother on an antartic cruise. on the first night on the ship she fell and fractured her hip. there followed an amazingly stressful period of 4 weeks, where she required evacuation via zodiac dinghy, 2 air ambulances, major surgery, intensive care, and repatriation to the uk with a nurse escort sent out from England. obviously husband had to remain with her throughout. their return home was delayed, and international flights arranged. her travel insurance was arranged through the Post Office, via Fortis. they were absolutely fantastic, making all the arrangments, keeping us all constantly informed, inspite of great difficulty phoning very remote areas. nothing was too much troulble and they provided 24 hour support. on their return they then settled a relatively smal claim [compared to what must have been massive costs paid directly by them for care/ transport etc]for my husbands incidental costs relating to his hotel, e mails etc, and also reimbursed my mother in law for curtailment of her holiday. we cannot praise them hightly enough, and would always insure with Fortis in future. we are convinced that their swift and professional actions played a large part in saving my mother in laws life. linda drake

[Betsy]

First of all, kudos to you for trying to recognize the good stuff. Customer service is so scarce in England that when it does happen, it is a breath of fresh air and should be recognized and rewarded!

I think Ocado consistently gives excellent customer service which every consumer organization should learn from.

It makes no sense for organizations to treat customers badly- why do they do it? I have my thoughts but they are too lengthly to put here!

Thanks

[Arthur Brain]

Well, I can't think of the last time I received what I could describe as excellent service. However, easy to remember the bad. Last week, for example, my car broke down in the middle of an A road in London and it took the RAC more than two hours to arrive! Having said that the patrol man who did eventually arrive was very good indeed.

[Gilchro1]

Can't remember the name of the person I was dealing with but I had a bond coming out from Prudential that there were complications with. I first had to endure two calls to a call centre somewhere in the Far East and was told that my dead Grandmother's signature was required to release the bond (a little difficult, I'm sure you'll agree).
On the third attempt, I demanded to speak to somone in the UK and got a person in Stirling. Absolutely fantastic. Was given direct line for contact and the whole issue was resolved in a week.

[eric campbell]

I have received excellent service wherever Polish or other Eastern European staff are employed. It should now be compulsory for all businesses to display a sign outside their establishments saying 'British Staff' so we know not to bother going in. For those who cannot read a simple logo would suffice, a shaven-headed thug with a Union Flag tattooed on his forehead, or something similar.

[Jim Price]

My hearty congratulations to Ekornes, the Stressless chair people, for their customer service. I sent an e-mail late last Monday afternoon asking for the price/availabilty of some replacement clamps for our 20-year old chair. On Tuesday morning I was asked by e-mail for some details to clarify the model of the chair and on Wednesday morning the clamps arrived by post - all at no charge to me. If only British manufacturers were so eager to support their aging products!

[Martin Hodgson]

I've been with the Co-operative Bank for 38 years. They have never made a single mistake in that time with my current, savings or Visa accounts. Is that a record?

[Vicky Joynson]

I dashed into John Lewis Milton Keynes one lunchtime to buy a birthday card and stamp so I could post it in the nearby pillar box and hurry back to work. At the till I discovered to my annoyance that JLP don't sell stamps and I'd have to trek off to some other shop for that. As I paid for the birthday card the young assistant asked me if I'd wanted just the one stamp for that card, then took one out of his own wallet and offered it to me free of charge. Outstanding! JLP secured my long-standing customer loyalty for the price of a 1st class stamp.

[Graham Bennett]

I was having problems with my bank transfering money abroard and with no satisfactory solution in site. So I changed to Nationwide Building Society, what a difference. All my transactions go through without a hitch and customer services are a dream. Plus, they do NOT charge for using a Visa card abroad for ATM or other transactions.

[Jim Thomson]

Everton Football Club. A ticket I ordered over the internet hadn't arrived after over a week so I phoned the club. Instant response - no quibbles, couldn't have been more helpful. Checked all my contact details were correct and promised to put a replacement in the post, first class. It arrived next day.

The original ticket, postmarked 1 April,finally arrived on 12 April. So at least my worries about getting there and finding a burly Royal Mail employee in my seat were unfounded ...

Anyway, looking forward to seeing Everton put paid to Chelsea's faint hopes this Thursday.

[Major M A Everitt]

I put my debit card in the "hole in the wall" outside HSBC the only bank in this small Dorset country town, keyed in pin & amount £50, waited, removed card and walked away without collecting money !! Yes, old & dotty I admit. Nobody about at the time in immediate vicinity. Went in to shop next door and realised I had not collected the money. Dashed back, money not there,surprise!? 3 or 4 minutes had elapsed. HSBC advised me to contact my bank LLoydsTSB. Told local manager the sad story,admitting my stupidity, filled in a form and my £50 was returned to my a/c within 10days. Full marks to LloydsTSB!

[Andy]

I have banked with First Direct for around ten years. I have had consistently polite helpful service. The only bank to contact me and inform me of a problem with payments from a third party and how to correct the issue. The only bank I have had that, when due to a third party courier messing about I did not receive a credit card as arranged, took immediate action and the card was with me within 24 hours. They are one of the few instituions I find pleasant to deal with and vastly superior in service to any of my previous banks. Now about the interest rate...

[H]

Oh to be with another bank. Barclays bank have been a disaster from day 1. I had a 14 pound a charge put on my account for "pension protection" aged 17 - that took 5 months to recover. I've had it take 9 weeks to get a new replacement card, had the date set on my account instead of the sort code!, fined 70 pounds for going over my overdraft because some fraudster took all my money in Africa. Barclays is truly a circus. Count yourself lucky if you're not with them!

[M G Boulter]

It surprises me why people aren't more proactive in managing their bank accounts, having read so many horror stories in the media. As stated by CQ in "On the bright side" in last week's Times the service offered by "Smile" is second to none. I've been banking with them for about 8 years. Our accounts are easy to manage, they have an accessible UK call centre where staff are polite, helpful and informed. Also, money can be transferred immediately on-line between "Smile" accounts optimising interest rates. I just don't understand why people tolerate substandard service when such an alternative exists.

[Ali Khan]

Needed to provide my Birth Certificate to my employees so I can prove my existance and birth in the UK, searched everywhere bills mounting but no pay ... Looked everywhere :-( .. Contact UK Official Services for a birth certificate got it in a couple of days without faulting on outgoing bills .. Thanks Lisa for all your help!!

[Amanda, London]

Against the backdrop of extraordinary chaos, I had exceptional customer service from two British Airways staff who were tasked with managing the lost baggage fiasco for the last flight into Terminal 5 on the day it opened.

They were cheerful, empathetic, efficient and their manner, heroic given they had been on duty for hours, was certainly responsible for keeping several hundred people calm and pragmatic.

My baggage did turn up 4 days later.

[Ann]

Morphy Richards spares Dept.Prompt service.

[Ronnie Jackson Tanner]

I'd like to support all the positive comments about smile. They've been my bank for over 7 years, and in that time they've been nothing but helpful and charming; they reply to secure messages very promptly and in plain English; they spotted that my card had been cloned and sourced the payments made, refunded them and issued me with another with minimum fuss.
I trust that they will extend such courtesies to my trustees when that time arrives; my sister and I as trustess of our mother's estate had some really horrendous times with banks (esp. NatWest) and Building Societies who lost papers, disregarded instructions and were unnecessarily hostile and ill-mannered.

I'd also like to nominate John lewis staff as heroes. My mother was about to move into sheltered accommodation. We spent a great day in John Lewis picking out and ordering furniture - staff really positive and helpful. Then she became ill and had to go into hospital so the moving date was postponed; John Lewis said it was no problem to change the delivery date for the furniture. Unfortunately, within 7 weeks she died; so accommodation and furniture was superfluous. One phone call to John lewis achieved the amazing result of the furniture delivery being cancelled, and a total refund made into her estate. They didn't even ask for a copy of her death certificate. What a brilliant service at a very difficult time.

[Gaynor Thomas]

I have recently received excellent customer service from both LV car insurance and Marks and Spencer travel insurance. Both have helped make stressful situations less difficult with prompt and efficient service and their willingness to go out of their way to help. They stand out as shining lights amongst the truly awful telephone call centres that are out there - so many of which seem to be located abroad. I am not in the least xenophobic but when I am discussing details of my accounts or difficulties I am having, it helps if I can understand what the person on the other end of the phone is saying and they can understand me!

[Hugh]

The commercial section of the HSBC bank in Derby are excellent. Even in these difficult times they are always there to help. They actually telephone you if you are going overdrawn/ over limit so you can avoid any nasty charges. They are also seemingly unaffected by the credit crunch. Fantastic. You also get the number to telephone them direct, so you only need to explain yourself once- heaven!

[bilbo baggins]

In February08 I purchased an Acer data projector from Dabs.com, which was 'dead on arrival'. The vendor-company was close to useless when I sought guidance.

I contacted AcerUk, whose repair staff in Plymouth were immediately helpful; they had a courier company collect it that very day. The following day I had an email, sent at 1109, informing that the product had arrived and was receiving attention. At 1149 they sent another email, telling me the fault had been fixed and the product was 'booked out for return'. It arrived by courier the following morning....

Impressive.

[Realist]

Abel & Cole, the organic delivery comapny, today offered the waive the charge on my next veg box because we suspect the last one was stolen on delivery. I didn't ask for a waiver - they just offered. Remarkable. I love them.

[Phil Watson]

Primus broadband (Planet talk)
We had broadband with this Company for 6 years, service was always excellent (and rarely required)
I had to transfer as their upload speeds were not suitable for my requirement, again they made the process very easy, provided my Migration code, over the phone within 24 hours.
Would definitely recommend if they
suit your requirements.

[Judith Bone]

I cannot praise highly enough the staff at the Leamington Spa branch of the Nationwide BS. They are efficient and effective, courteous and always willing. On a number of occasions in the last ten years they have gone out of their way to try to help with something however impossible it seemed at the time.

[Iain]

I bought a freeview recorder from Amazon that turned out the be faulty on arrival. I emailed Amazon on the Saturday and a replacement arrived before 9am on Monday. The faulty devise was collected a few days later. This was outstanding customer service.

[GREG COOPER]

I nominate FOSTER-GRANT for superlative customer service.
Twelve months ago I bought a pair of their 'Drivers' sunglasses which cost £15.I twice had to visit an opticians when the screw on one hinge came loose; on the second occasion they were unable to fix it, so I complained to Foster-Grant via their website. On the next day I received a courteous reply stating that they would send me pre-paid packaging in which to return the glasses and that they would replace them without charge. This they also did with speed and courtesy, including a new case! As a result they have gained a loyal customer.
This of course begs the question as to why other companies can't act in a similar manner.....!