Banks
When I first moved to Spain, I was with Bankinter, through Atlas.
Unfortunately, their charges eventually peed me off so I changed to Bancaja who then changed to Bankia, they shut up shop and moved to Guardamar, rather inconvenient eh ? then they introduced bank charges, even though my Pension was paid in there.
So, off I went to Deutche Bank in La Marina to open an account....easy, yeah....easy NO.
Half way through procedures, (I had all the relevant documents) I was told there was a problem ! I was told that because there were quite a few people with the same name as me, they needed to "check" me out ! Now i've never been in trouble, never owed money, not even had as much as a parking ticket in 50 yrs of driving.
TWO weeks later, still nothing, so I went to Santander, next door, and hey presto, they had a new client in less than an hour !
It gave me great pleasure to go back into Deutche bank and tell them, they've missed out on many thousands of Euros, especially when my girlfriend sends over the proceeds from her house sale !
Ha ha, oh yeah, and I get a free tablet thingy, as well as FREE Banking.
Thanks Alan, i'll have to go early morning, then go across the road for my cafe con leche y tostada y tomate. mmm,
Just a little note regarding my original post.
In no way do I blame the staff at Deutche bank in La Marina for the delay in me obtaining an Account.
Antonio the Manager, explained to me, that in all his time in the banking business, this had never happened before, and the delay was from Head Office, nothing to do with this Branch.
So what am I supposed to do ? wait and wait ? I'd already waited 2 weeks and still no sign of an account. Time was getting short, I needed to open an account so I could pay my standing orders, you do know if you miss a payment, you get cut off !
So if i've upset anybody, tough ! I've not told any lies, so get over it !
I made the move to Santander a couple of months ago, after Lloyds sold out to Sabadell, and my running costs quadrupled overnight, Asked people on this Forum for Banks that gave good service etc. spoke to staff in most of them, before settling with Santender, as yet completely satisfied with the service I receive, also enjoy free banking, and talking to helpful friendly staff.
Just one word of warning don't try and use the ATM outside the La Marina office in the afternoon or early evening (the screen is in direct sunlight and almost impossible to read)