Hi,
You can pay money in at the Post Office for free. Cheques are paid in using the free envelopes (no stamp required) and cash is paid over the counter (no fee).
Same goes for Barclays as well.
John

Hi, The cheques/envelopes are collected every afternoon (around 5.30) and delivered to a central point (I think it's Derby for my region) and then sent to the various Banks and Building Societies which belong to the Post Office Scheme. I think there are four banks/societies that belong to it. You can also cash cheques and use your debit card at the Post Office for (if you belong to one of the four banks) for free.

I've just been given a warning by A & L for using a geographic phone number. I dialled the quoted number for Internet Banking Enquiries when calling from abroad - 0113-220-1505 - and, when she answered (after at least 5 minutes), the representative said "Are you phoning from home?". When I said "yes" she told me they would refuse to answer my next call to this number because it was for customers from abroad only. I demanded to speak to her supervisor, who rang me back shortly afterwards. He told me that "we only have a limited number of lines to that number and by using it you are preventing customers from abroad from getting through"!

I asked for the name of someone to complain to and was given the following address:

Group MD's Office
Alliance & Leicester
Carlton Park
Leicester
LE19 5UF

I suggest everyone writes and complains at this profiteering at the expense of their customers.

Just had my debit card, and for the very first time, in all the banks that have issued debit or credit cards, the ACTIVATION ONLY number is not a freephone number, it was an 0845 number!!

Whilst the call was answered fairly promptly, the customer service agent then tried to sell some optional insurance, to which I declined on the grounds that it was on my paid for phone call.

As for cashing any cheques, I will save the postage, and help keep my local post office in business by depositing cash and cheques down there.  Surely the commission they pay the post office to act as a bank, must be more than the cost of receiving freepost mail.

Here's a long shot.

I think one might have a case to complain to the Banking Ombudsman since A&L's policy has caused one to lose money.

This would apply to ALL banks who have changed over to NGNs

What do others think?

As I found out when I opened an account with them briefly, you cannot actually pay in money via the post office (unless they have changed things since I had an account). Nor can you pay in via a normal bank giro to their accounts. They misrepresent this in their advertising. It is clear that the idea is to use as many tricks as possible, like using NGNs to grab revenue, which is how they have a higher interest rate than most of their competitors - but for how long I wonder?

What you actually have to do to "pay in via the post office" is to complete the same forms and put them in the same envelope as if you were going to post it, and then take it down to the post office and give it to them in the envelope instead of posting it! I don't consider that to be having the facility to pay in at the post office! I closed my account within 1 month when I discovered all of the tricks, but was able to keep the £50 they gave me to open it at that time on internet!

What a stupid and inept organization to determine whether or not you are based in the UK solely based upon CLIP. I live in the United States. I occasionally use VOIP to telephone the UK. The CLIP is often a UK number, depending upon which method used. A+L would therefore receive a UK CLIP but I would not be calling from the UK. I really wish I had an account with A+L so I could see whether they would make me call the extortion number.

Just activated the card on the 0845 number, but I'm puzzled as to why they only asked for the 16-digit number across the card, my name and address!  Anyone who'd nicked the envelope would have known that!

Also I was kept on for 5 mins while I was lectured about protecting my identity ???. Btw, the company who operates this is Card Protection Plan (CPP), not A&L.  I asked about a geo alternative and was told that although it costs more, this 0845 provides a "secure line" so nobody can tap in to the call. ???

Also, with regard to 01132 541 566 as the alternative to the Current Account 0870 number, they don't use CLI for determination. I guess calls through that number must go to a different department, because the moment my call was answered the other day (when I was trying to be cheeky and bypass the 0845 activation line ) she said I was calling an international number, and I said "um, I'm in Dublin".  Of course, this dug me into a big hole about how I'd received my card and why I wanted to activate it while on holiday!   The bottom line is that they don't seem to know whether you are calling from abroad - if you withold your number then they can't find out as it's a normal geo number.  With an 08x number it is possible to find out the CLI.  Although if you use the credit card enquiry number as Shiggaldi detailed above then you don't need to put up a fight with them