Scottish Building Society Avis 

I am, or I should say was, a potential customer and saver with Scottish Building Society.

Today, on four separate occasions, I tried to register as a new member to apply to save through a 2 year bond.

Each time, having been told it would only take a few minutes, I got as far as I could completing all of my details, only to be met with the same message each time: "A problem has occurred with our systems. Please try again in 10 minutes." I actually tried four times over about four hours today, so I gave it plenty of time and effort.

I tried to put my savings your way as new customer, but your systems failed. It's disappointing, but thankfully I found a different new home for my savings.

As I already bank in Edinburgh, I decided to give the Scottish Building Society a go. Am delighted with the level of service and support I have received to date. The online medium to maintain my accounts is user friendly too. No hesitation in recommending to others.

I am a Mortgage Broker and my client previously had a decision in principle with another lender which had expired before she found a property. Long story short when she came back to me and we refreshed the DIP it declined as she had used some of her credit cards.
I wen to Scottish Building Society as they do not relay on credit scoring and instead a person looks at the case. Although my client did not fit their regular lending criteria an exception was made due to extinguishing circumstances and she was able to purchase her home. Without this personal approach her purchase could not have gone ahead and I know she is super grateful. Catherine Johnstone the Business Development Manager went above and beyond to assist with this application. 5 stars!!

I recently opened a new regular saver at Troon branch and the people working there have been professional and very friendly. It took only a couple of minutes and I saw some genuine enthusiasm from people clearly proud to be there. A nice experience

Phoned Scottish Building Society to ensure that my instructions for a maturing account had been received. Was put through to Katie McKnight in the Glasgow branch. Katie was courteous, polite and efficient and answered my initial query quickly. However, Katie was very thorough and even contacted the appropriate department to ensure that my instructions had been processed as instructed. I was very pleased with the customer service that I experienced and full marks to Katie for doing a good job.

Excellent service from sbs on difficult/complex case where other lenders would not consider sbs stepped up due to underwriting approach

We are an independent Mortgage Broker, based in Edinburgh & London. We specialise in circumstances where a clients circumstances are often complex and requires a lender that has the ability to individually underwrite the clients circumstances. The Scottish BS has regularly and consistently delivered on this. A lender we fully trust and who continue to support our clients borrowing requirements. Matthew Griffiths FOX Private Finance

Very happy with overall service, application was processed quickly and a really stress free process. Able to get though quickly on the phone and staff very helpful. Would definetly recommend.

The branch in Bank Street Galashiels got the most horrible staff . I now have a account with Nationwide.

Worst lender I have had the displeasure of dealing with, sending things to the wrong place of work and in turn delaying progress of the mortgage which took 4 weeks and over 40 documents to come to the conclusion they were declining and therefore jeopardising our home, despite knowing full credit background before hand, dinosaur approach to lending and requesting information. Utter shambles avoid!

Avoid at all costs. The most stressful and slow experience for a product transfer. Have never experienced such poor service since having my mortgage.

Interesting lots of the other reviews are similar!

We got a mortgage through Scottish Building Society a few months ago and have had an excellent experience with them. We've had to phone them numerous times about different issues and every time we get through quickly and have spoken with polite, friendly helpful people. We previous had a Halifax mortgage which was all fine, but because SBS are much smaller it all feels a lot more personal, which is unusual these days!

Opened an easy saver account online. Sent initial deposit 60 hours ago and still not showing on my account. Not acceptable. Not good enough. Tin pot financial institution living in the past. Money now elsewhere with instant access and deposits. Avoid Scottish building society at all costs

Have not received any paperwork or welcome pack with info post re-mortgage. No letters telling me our mortgage rate is increasing as they only send out paper letters - no emails. The letters have simply not turned up and SBS blame it on Royal Mail. No online account management. either.
Also, they don't tell you what their current SVR is as the the link on their website doesn't work.
Smoke and mirrors stuff.

After a few hiccups this company has managed to really turn things around and offer my husband and I a great mortgage deal. We are now looking forward to being first time home owners this year.

Thank you!

I contacted Mhari on a few occasions, and she was always incredibly helpful and diligent addressing all my concerns, which were resolved promptly.

PROs: Reasonable, but not industry leading, rates; online staff are always helpful and quick to respond.

CONs: Website is outdated and clunky; opening an account is a cumbersome process; deposits take days to show up in your account; can be problematic logging in on some devices.

SUMMARY: They need to update their online presence to keep up with the times.

Note, this review relates to using the building society online, I have never used a high street branch.

Took a valuation fee of £360 after mortgage being approved in principle. Underwriters then rejected mortgage application on basis of applicant "spending too much in last few months" on a particular innocent entertainment hobby, despite LTV of 60%, substantial savings and high salary. Avoid like the plague! CEO emailed and let's see if a response is forthcoming.

UPDATE: Valuation fee refunded after placing a formal complaint through CEO. Why would you charge a valuation fee if you don't wish to give out a mortgage offer? Shoddy, beware of this outfit. They will also leave a hard credit check on your report after they have messed you about.

Tried opening E ISA 2 days ago. The questions are insufferable. They ask for your occupation. Being retired is not on the list but you cannot proceed unless you put something down. I wanted to transfer an existing ISA to them but they dont ask for any details of the old provider. At the end of the process I get this email
"Thank you for registering for SBS Online from the Scottish Building Society.
Once we have processed your registration, we will confirm your User ID and unique Activation Key by post to your registered address. We may also get in touch with you to confirm details for any new accounts you applied for when you registered.
Kind regards,

Scottish Building Society"

My old ISA has just matured and I need the funds transferred asap within 14 days, but do I stand a chance whilst waiting for them to open, (they are not open at weekends), and read my application, send me activation keys and user ID. No mention of them wanting details of my old ISA.
What century do they operate in? I will see what happens today.