Having spent the best part of two months trying to open a simple current account with no credit or borrowing facilities, as a non resident of the UK ,I can safely state that the Coop Bank is the worst bank I have ever had the misfortune of wasting my time trying to deal with.The bank advertise current accounts for non residents on the internet making the claim that the procedure to open an account is simple.Once the process starts,only then are the mindless cretins in the bank's so-called security and vetting department in Skelmersdale revealed.The documentation demands from the aforementioned department go far beyond supplying a copy of one's paasport and copy proof of a residential address.No, the bank must have either "certified" copies or original documents.Bearing in mind that the person ,in this case, is applying from outside the country it is impossible to pop along to a branch in the UK and show original documentation.Certification means a written statement on the copy documentation from a notary public or the like ,which is not only an expensive exercise in the country where I am resident as well as being impossible during a lockdown.Correspondence from Skelmersdale to the Netherlands took three full weeks to arrive .One letter said that if I did not reply within 28 days my application would be rejected.I managed to reply within 28 days using expensive couriered post.To no avail -we must have certified documentation.Remember,I was trying to deposit money with this bank not borrow from them.I complained.I receieved an email telling me my complaint had been dealt with.Two weeks after that,again with a three week delay I received a letter telling me my complaint about lousy service,uncontactable telephone numbers and postal delays was not the fault of the bank but the peopkle delivering the letters and the Covid crisis.In short don't touch this bank with the proverbial barge pole.The whole organisation ,including the management and complaints team based in Manchester are totally useless and not fit for purpose.
Reviewed on: 21st May 2020
