# Does anyone have good experiences of Ulster Bank



## stargirl01 (18 Feb 2010)

Being one of the many having to switch due to Halifax leaving, I have been researching Ulster Bank.
I have heard a lot of negatives. Does anyone have good experiences of banking with them, or a comparison between Ulster Bank and Permanent TSB.


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## Bgirl (18 Feb 2010)

Yes I have always had a great relationship with Ulster Bank.  I have never had reason to complain.  Today I was in with loan officer and she couldn't have been more helpful.


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## ajapale (18 Feb 2010)

There is a recent thread here about UB and percieved "bad attitude" about their staff. 			 			 			 			 			Bad attitude at  Ulster Bank


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## Bgirl (18 Feb 2010)

I would think that thread will only show negatives though and not positives which the OP is looking for.


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## Capt. Beaky (18 Feb 2010)

Au contraire Bgirl. I for one found them quite friendly. Have set up an appointment for next Wednesday as posted.


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## Noilheart (18 Feb 2010)

I've been with them since 1993 and have no complaints at all.  Found them helpful and polite and had good service.  But I have never approached them about a loan of any kind so couldn't comment on them as regards loans.


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## k&d (18 Feb 2010)

No problems in 10 years (current/savings/loan/mortgage account) except with credit card - even now my card is often not accepted abroad (i travel a lot) even if i have notified UB i am going away (security issue or whatever but very very annoying). I have always had another CC as back up. 
Hope this helps!


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## Bgirl (18 Feb 2010)

Capt. Beaky said:


> Au contraire Bgirl. I for one found them quite friendly. Have set up an appointment for next Wednesday as posted.


 

I was referring to the thread that Ajapale links to in his post!


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## stargirl01 (19 Feb 2010)

Thanks everyone; and yes Bgirl I was looking for the positives as I had only read the negatives.


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## pixiebean22 (19 Feb 2010)

My dad has been with Ulster Bank forever and has done all his banking through them and never had any problems.  When his business went belly up last year and he was forced into early retirement they couldn't have been more helpful and were like personal financial advisors to him throughout the whole thing.  

In saying that though, as I'm sure you well know, you will want to get a complete look at them, both positives and negatives before switching.


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## redandblack (19 Feb 2010)

I have a mortgage with them - had awful trouble with them when setting it up. Correspondence and documents got "mislaid" on a number of occasions. Their customer service left a lot to be desired.  I am with Halifax and will probably switch to Postbank.


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## ManicPancake (19 Feb 2010)

StarGirl, I'm afraid I don't have anything positive to say about Ulster Bank but if you decide you want more negative experiences please feel free to PM me.


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## Bobby1 (19 Feb 2010)

Im with ManicPancake, stay away from Ulster Bank, their customer service is dire they do not know how to serve customers, PM me if you want a few nightmare stories, honestly I wouldnt touch them with a barge pole


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## WaterWater (20 Feb 2010)

Because of the amount of things that went wrong with them I contacted their head office and demanded to be compensated for all my phone calls to them. I said that I was no longer accepting apology letters from them, I had too many at this stage. They credited my account with €50.


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## mercman (20 Feb 2010)

Bobby1 said:


> a few nightmare stories, honestly I wouldnt touch them with a barge pole



If anybody thinks that any of the Banks are going to be any better, they has better wake up and smell the coffee. I moved back to UB very recently and don't have to much difficulties with them. The biggest problem is that these Banks forget whose money they have -- its not theirs, we have all chosen to let them mind it.

On the other hand I moved to BoI in 2006 and I'm not sure was it a horror story or just pure fraud. Being to the Ombudsman, the High Court on two cases and even though they lost, they simply refuse to settle with me. 
So Banks will be Banks and they contain a very special breed of people that work in them. Until heads roll in the Irish Banks the Public will never feel confident. These are the people that earned large bonuses for lending money and still held onto same even if the borrower went pearshaped. The counter staff are fine in all these institutions are fine -- just doing a simple job -- As for Management - well they couldn't manage a P up in Guinesses. What a waste of space.


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## ManicPancake (3 Mar 2010)

mercman said:


> If anybody thinks that any of the Banks are going to be any better, they has better wake up and smell the coffee.



They opened my bank account under a wrong name. They sent me an ATM card, chequebook and lodgement book all with someone else's name on them. And charged me for it. 

That's just the begining, it got much, much worse from there.


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## Yeager (3 Mar 2010)

With them a good while noew for current account etc and never had any troubles i'd go as far as recommend them. Compared to BofI.......well don't get me started on them or ill be done for defamation. Hate them.


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## ericsson (3 Mar 2010)

I have been with Ulster Bank since 1989 and have never had any problems as such with them. Have my current account, savings account and credit card with them and have always found them good. I have however lived in various parts of Ireland since 1989 and have found that their branches differ completely with regard to competence. I am originally from Mayo and that is where my branch is and I find them fantastic. Now I deal mainly with the Walkinstown branch or the Terenure branch and have found them excellent. I wont mention a different branch with which I had dealings with in the past however that had the WORST customer service in the world... rude, incompetent, and messed up my account (their fault) however following a quick phone call to my main branch in Mayo my main branch put everythin in order not before reading the riot act to the offending branch... if you live near walkinstown or terenure I could not recommend those branches more 

Ericsson


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## jambo.ie (4 Mar 2010)

As I am posting on the other thread: I was in with ulster Bank over Christmas to move my First Active account over. The staff were getting dog's abuse from idiots who didn't seem to understand what was going on. The branch staff are not to blame for the bank's troubles and they have enough worries of their own without being subjected to daily abuse from small people with an axe to grind. I can't blame them for not being exactly happy in their work.


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## porterbray (4 Mar 2010)

Been with UB for 20 years, never had a major problem, any minor issues sorted out rapidly and always found them very courteous and friendly to deal with


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## suemoo1 (4 Mar 2010)

Dont switch to postbank as they are going also


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## Willy Fogg (4 Mar 2010)

These threads are about as much use as "how long is a piece of string" - every large organisation will have good and bad in it. There is very little way of telling beforehand because everyone's definition of good and bad will vary, and everyone has a different tolerance of "bad" behaviour, or a higher standard to reach before they consider it "good". People will queue up to tell you bad things because it's human nature to moan about stuff. People tend to be less forthcoming about the good stuff, and the day to day stuff that just works in the background, which tends to be pretty much everything.

The only way to tell, is to give the organisation a try if the product fits your needs. If it fails to impress, then move away. However, don't take someone on the Internet's word simply because they had a bad experience with one girl in one branch on one day in one year etc. While it was obviously awful for them, it means nothing in the greater scheme of things as it may not reflect on that persons performance as a whole (bad days, we all have them), that branch or that company.


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## Bronte (4 Mar 2010)

mercman said:


> If anybody thinks that any of the Banks are going to be any better, they has better wake up and smell the coffee.  -- just doing a simple job -- As for Management - well they couldn't manage a P up in Guinesses. What a waste of space.


 
That pretty much sums up the banks operating in Ireland.

I'm with Ulster for years, currently in dispute with them on various issues, but I'm not moving to AIB or BofI ever. 

Op why don't you do the same post on AIB and BofI etc.  You'll get exactly the same replies.


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## roker (4 Mar 2010)

I left Ulster bank years ago when they lost my documents for a bridging loan. I found the problem is the head office, the counter staff where very helpful.


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## WaterWater (4 Mar 2010)

jambo.ie said:


> The branch staff are not to blame for the bank's troubles and they have enough worries of their own without being subjected to daily abuse from small people with an axe to grind. I can't blame them for not being exactly happy in their work.


 
Well maybe if the tellers put the right codes on the lodgments/withdrawals in my local branch instead of taking the easy approach and just inputting the sorting code on it, it would help matters. Nothing worse than getting a statement and nothing but a list of sorting codes beside the transactions. The codes are there use them!


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## stargirl01 (4 Mar 2010)

Bronte I am switching banks and detest AIB, have OK experience with BOI; hence I'm choosing between PTSB and UB and I only found negative comments on UB on AAM, hence I was hoping to find some good experiences out there, which I have.


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## ariidae (5 Mar 2010)

I've been using UB for years, personal and business accounts and am very happy with them. 

I think that the best bet with any bank is to open an account in a small branch (if you can). You get better attention and they are more willing to post you out forms rather than you having to go collect them.


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## searchten (7 Mar 2010)

I use the Walkinstown branch of UB on average 3 times  a week and al i can say is that the servive they provide is mediocre,if i go in around 3.30 there is usually a q of 8-10 people and usually only 2 tellers operating, 4 weeks ago i made a cash lodgement of € 550 and when i looked it up on the internet ,i found they had only credited € 150 to my account,i rang them immediately and they asked me was i sure that i lodged €550,they said that they would check it out and ring me back in 20 mins, about 2 hours later i got a call to tell me that they had discovered their mistake,no apology just told "these things happen" lately i made a lodgement of  1620.00 and when i checked on the internet i discovered that they had credited my account with 2 separated amounts of 1620 and 1630 and the following day bebited my a account as a cheque for 1630.00


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## Joody1 (12 Mar 2010)

I have got an elderly auntie that lives in the UK she was born in Ireland but moved to the Uk in 60's she had some saving with BoI but moved to UB.  Now she advised these people in the bank that she is not resident in the Ireland.  She was told that she would be excempt from DIRT.  

She wrote to the bank for a certificate of interest for the revenue in the UK.  These bank sent her a certificate of interest but it had irish taxes deducted for ireland on the certificate.  She emailed the bank and worte to asking what was happening.  She got back a form relating to Ireland to claim back the tax as she should not have been deducted as she was over 65 and also her income was less that 20k a year.  She therefore had to write to this bank again stating that she does not reside in ireland and has never worked in ireland and had no PP1 which was a requirement on the form.  To date she have not got an answered from them since that letter and email stating that it was urgent.  Do they take urgent cases seriously I expect they just bin the ones that they are unable to deal with.

Joody


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## Towger (12 Mar 2010)

Joody1 said:


> I expect they just bin the ones that they are unable to deal with.


 
From my experances, I expect that you are correct!


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## BOXtheFOX (12 Mar 2010)

Paid my credit card bill recently by debiting my Ulster Bank current account. When I got my current account statement I noticed that the teller had input my credit card *number* so that it would appear on my bank statement in place of the wording "visa payment".  If anyone had access to my statement they would have been given lots of additional information that they shoudn't have.


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## Bgirl (12 Mar 2010)

Surely the chances of someone haveing access to your bank statement is the same as having access to the actual Visa bill!


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## BOXtheFOX (12 Mar 2010)

Bgirl said:


> Surely the chances of someone haveing access to your bank statement is the same as having access to the actual Visa bill!


 
Can you clarify what you mean?


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## krattapopov (12 Mar 2010)

porterbray said:


> Been with UB for 20 years, never had a major problem, any minor issues sorted out rapidly and always found them very courteous and friendly to deal with



Have to agree completley with the above - have been with them for 12 years myself, anytime I need to talk to someone about my personal finances some body within the branch is quite happy to help out.


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## nediaaa (12 Mar 2010)

hi. 
we have been with ulster bank for 4 years and i have a business account with them and i cannot fault them. I was probably one of the few that got a substantial loan from them. 
 I changed over from Bank of Ireland. What a load of rubbish they are. They are the worst company i have ever dealt with.


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## stargirl01 (12 Mar 2010)

To BoxtheFox, I think what BGirl means is your credit card statement contains your name, address and credit card number, hence if someone has your credit card statement they have the same information as was contained on your bank statement.

And thanks to everyone who replied to my query about UB


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## Bgirl (13 Mar 2010)

That's exactly what I meant.  All that is on your bank statement is 16 random numbers, without the expiry date and the security code or the actual card itself very little can be done with those numbers.


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## cian8 (13 Mar 2010)

I find Ulster Bank the most awkward bank to deal with, everything they do seems to be tedious and involve ten times the paperwork it should. Also their internet banking platform is pretty poor. I have had bad experiences with them in relation to my mortgage and personal loan. I would NOT recommend them.


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## BOXtheFOX (13 Mar 2010)

stargirl01 said:


> To BoxtheFox, I think what BGirl means is your credit card statement contains your name, address and credit card number, hence if someone has your credit card statement they have the same information as was contained on your bank statement.
> 
> And thanks to everyone who replied to my query about UB


 
...and my bank statement contains my name, my wife's name, my address, my current account number, my branch location, plus details of recent transactions on my current account. This information is not on my credit card statement.  I would prefer to keep both pieces of information separate from each other.


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