Allied Irish Bank Reviews 17

I am writing this to warn others about the appalling level of service and sheer clerical incompetence at the AIB Westport branch.
On Monday, 9th February, I drove an hour to this branch specifically to close all my accounts. Despite the bank being empty, I was kept waiting for OVER AN HOUR to complete a simple request. I followed every instruction given by the staff member at the customer desk: I cleared the remaining balances (€22.50 and €4.75) in cash on the spot because they "couldn't accept a transfer," and I handed over my physical bank cards. I was explicitly reassured that my accounts would be closed the moment I walked out the door.
I have now discovered that none of my accounts were closed.
To make matters worse, AIB is now slapping me with additional bank charges on accounts that should not exist. It is entirely unacceptable that a customer is penalized for the gross negligence of staff who failed to process a simple closure after an in-person visit.
I live an hour away and have already fulfilled my "in-person" obligations. I will not be driving back to fix a mistake made by your team without seeking full compensation for my fuel and time.
I expect an immediate reversal of all accrued charges and written confirmation that these accounts are closed. The lack of professional accountability here is staggering. Save yourself the headache and bank elsewhere.
I am with Revolut now and WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

Unreliable information. Good telephone service with one call handler and terrible with the next. Went through the process online today as to why the account I was paying into came up continuously as 'not a match'. After a lot of 'I don't know' etc and trying to get me to fill in a request manually and email it(!) inorder to get me off the phone as soon as possible, the call handler admitted that there were other customers who reported that they could not make payments and she herself was having technical problems with her system. The call handler knew nothing about recent changes in AIBs technical software (which had been sent out to customers) and made no effort to find out.

Insidious price (percentage) increases and unnecessary monthly fees/charges... when about a year into a 2 year contract to use them as the host bank for my shop's debit/credit card machine.
They hide behind Ts and Cs, which are presented in a 64 page A4, small print book, which in turn will never be read by customers or anyone at AIB!!!

My monthly costs were suddenly multiplied by 4, as I imagine most people's were, mid-contract. By way of big hikes in percantage take from every transaction, added to a monthly "maintenance fee", to add to a monthly fee which was in place in case we have a quite (not busy) month.
All in the name of extra profit.

Avoid doing business with this greedy, profiteering sham of an organisation.

In case of doubt, I have copious correspondence with both the bank and the ombudsman.

I have been a loyal AIB customer for nearly a decade, originally banking with AIB Northern Ireland. Despite relocating to London, I maintained a savings account with AIB GB for convenience.

I recently encountered significant difficulties transferring funds from my AIB savings account to another UK bank. I called their customer services and they clearly didn't know how to advise me.

The first customer service told me to use their paylink form (which I have to print, fill in the information, and post to them) and I will pay £25 for the transaction to be made. I downloaded the form and quickly realised that this is a form for international transfer.

I called them again to speak with another customer service. She advised me to use the paylink form again. When I questioned that this form should be used for international transfer, she said that Northern Ireland and England are two countries, hence why this form should be used. I questioned her again to affirm it, also stating that technically it is still one country (the United Kingdom). She then transferred me to another customer service agent who said that perhaps it would be best for me to use a different form.

I talked to the third agent who promised to send me a different form. He asked me for my details including my email address (I am sure they have those details stored in the bank account). He promised to send me the form but he hasn't done that.

These experiences highlight a serious lack of knowledge and efficiency within AIB GB’s customer service department. The bank’s outdated systems and processes are clearly inadequate to meet the needs of its customers. I urge AIB GB to prioritize improving customer service by investing in employee training and modernizing its digital banking services.

A bit of a crazy waste of time! AIB GB are listed on various mainstream comparison sites with competitive rates for fixed term bonds. I tried very hard to open one - to eventually be told that you can't unless you are an existing customer, and you can't become a customer now. So this (widely listed) product is ring-fenced to a small group of folk and nobody else can join on any terms.
I asked what sort of new business strategy is that, to be told "we don't know either". I asked why it was being listed to be told "yes, we are trying to get that changed". Sounds like I might have had a lucky escape - there are plenty of proper banks queuing up for my business.

Good experience
Good

Absolutely shocking service, deliberately make it as difficult as possible to pay lump sums on your mortgage, the form they expect you to send a cheque or bank draft in the post to them for large sum and when you email them about it.... well you'd be better off asking a 10 yr old. Staff are untrained and hevent got a clue...it really is a complete joke dealing with them

AIB and their only real competitor Bank or Ireland have not passed on the higher interest rates to their customers and instead greedily have taken the additional income to boost their earnings.
The Central Bank of Ireland has a duty to fix this as well as getting rid of the duopoly which removes the competition -shameful that the CBI has allowed this to happen. Your managenent should be fired

AIB (GB) Private Banking encouraged its clients to open offshore trust's in 2000. The people who worked for this offshore trust were inadequately trained. Mis-sold services, overcharging, failure to comply to compliant issues are but a few of the items flagged to their HQ, who to this day refuse to respond to a legitimate complaint. WERE YOU A PB Client?

I have banked with AIB GB for decades and my experience with the bank has always been positive.
Whenever I ring the bank they always answer the phone promptly.
A few weeks ago the bank contacted me to say that their systems had blocked one of my cards due to a suspected payment to a Scam company. I was not aware that I had been scammed, and Allied Bank promptly refunded my £69 after my conversation with AIB. The scammer's' had illegally obtained my details from a 'reputable' mail order company that I have dealt with on occasion.

Allied Irish Bank quickly provided me with a new card.
AIB staff are all very helpful and patient as well!Bravo

AIB keep blocking my card. This is the second time in a week. The first time i was nearly out of petrol lucky i just had enough to get home this time trying to transfer money to revolute. Now i have to wait untill monday to contact the bank. I have no access to my money

Machine failed to lodge my cash but did not return it
Now waiting in branch in Swords for two hours for the matter to be resolved
Less than useless service from the staff
The service is called quick banking joke

Shocking customer service -- now well over an hour to contact AIB.ie where my account is.

And cannot access my accounts on the AIB app !!

Absolutely horrendous phone service. The call charges are 10p per min so the 3 hour average wait is £18
Really unprofessional service offering nearly all the numbers go to the same message and the options dont accept key presses. I am closing my accounts and just cannot get through and cannot do it on line. will try again perhaps in 2023

AIB won't let me access my account on my laptop for the past month.I can access it through my phone but I find this difficult and inconvenient for me. I go through all their rigamarole entering numbers repeatedly. I am informed everything has been done correctly and then get an error notice that technical difficulties prevent me getting in.
Calling for support is a nightmare. Before getting to a help menu have to listen to endless messages on security. It is always 'higher no. of calls than usual and 'a member of staff will be with you shortly'
UPDATE July 2021
I am increasing the stars to two stars as I did get a partial solution to the problem when I went to the bank for the third time. They told me there had been a 'problem for some accounts' that they were trying to fix.
It still is not great and I dread having to transfer funds online. ( This is after 43 years living abroad and in the US and dealing with numerous different banks. There is something about Irish banking that is utterly shambolic, incompetent, non-transparent and disrespectful of customers.)
I am Irish born and bred. Many times I am ashamed and embarrassed by our lack of effort to do things right.