Hanley Economic Building Society Avis 

Excellent customer service. I have a postal branch saver account, but I needed to get the money out quickly. Yes I had to send in my passbook, but was able to it out using get a CHAPS payment, yes there was a fee but that’s my fault for not being more organised. Great to be able to deal with a real person, not a chat bot, who sorted the issue for me. Many thanks.

Opened a Branch Saver account back in 2018 which tracks the Bank of England base rates for savers, Hanley were happy to take my money while interest rates were at a all time low but as soon
as interest rates start to recover for savers they introduce new terms and conditions which now restricts the amount in your account and freezing any future deposits.
Not a great way to keep loyal customers.

Like some other reviewers on here it took several weeks to open my account which was very frustrating. During this process I was assured on the phone that this was due to exceptional circumstances and that closing the account would not be subject to the same delays.

I now need the money I deposited in this account so that I can complete the purchase of a house. I called them about this and was told that in they charge a fee for transferring out when you close the account, but this can be avoided if you write to them and enclose your passbook, upon receipt they will then send you a cheque.
It has now been over a week since I did this and I have heard nothing from them. Their online chat is not responding and when I call on the phone it just drops.
I am hoping that they read their trust pilot reviews and will now contact me, otherwise I guess my only option is the FCA. I just want my money back.

They take far too long to open an account by post .
I sent them a cheque on the 31 May . It is now 15 June
and still my account has not been opened . Meanwhile , I have lost any potential interest I may have earned elsewhere . I shall close it, when it is opened and put my money elsewhere

The Hanley launched a high interest product in May which obviously proved very popular - far too popular for this little company to deal with.
16 days after I posted my cheque I have no word from them & the money is still sitting in my bank earning 0% interest. That's a lot of lost interest so not a great start.
Website says 'Don't bother calling because we can't answer any queries'.
What idiot chief exec came up with this plan ???

Excellent service at their Stone branch. I had almost forgotten what good professional service is like. Really good to rediscover it again.

I initially contacted Hanley because I was attracted by their mortgage products which were very competitive at the time I applied. I received excellent customer service from start to finish with the processing of my mortgage application. The staff were always polite, friendly, very knowledgeable and nothing was too much trouble. Special thanks to Stacey for pulling out all the stops to arrange my mortgage appointment at short notice, and to Lana for expertly guiding me through the process.

I have had several savings accounts with the Hanley Economic Building Society for over 30 years. I regularly post my passbooks to their head office and up until recently I have not had any particular problems with this arrangement. In December I posted one of my passbooks but when this wasn’t returned I contacted HEBS customer services. I was told that they could not trace having received the passbook and that I should call into one of their Branches with my passport of photo ID to get a replacement. When I visited the Stone branch I was told that I could have a new passbook but I would have to pay £10 for the privilege. To be honest if it was my fault I would have probably paid the £10 but in the circumstances I did not think that a charge should be applied bearing in mind the length of time I have been a ‘member’ ( I even had my mortgage with them!) The cashier spoke to a supervisor who re-confirmed that the £10 charge would apply and no concessions could be made. Due to the way this was dealt with I decided to close all my accounts so after 30 years with the ‘Hanley Economic Building Society’ it was deemed that £10 was more important to them than to continue to have me as a ‘member’ Needless to say, from my personal experience, I could never recommend anyone becomes a ‘Hanley’ member or uses any of their products or services. Poor show!

I like the Hanley, I like having funds in totally offline passbooks, but the interest rates mean that we will be moving part of our savings elsewhere (Vernon BS in Stockport - yes, just in border). Why won't the Hanley offer 2% interest on a 35 day notification account? (passbook). It's ok putting things on Facebook about self build mortgages etc, but what about the people who supply this cash?

Dreadful saving interest rates. Shocking customer service. Outdated processes. Therefore time to leave after less 10 months.

I've found their mortgage service to be highly accessible. When I call them I get to talk to a real person, without the annoying call centre experience. Excellent customer service. Have had no trouble with them,

The Hanley said they would remove my ex-partner from our self-build mortgage if I met their affordability criteria. I met their criteria and then they moved their self-defined goalposts as it, 'increased their risk'. As a consequence neither of us could move on with our lives.

They then refused release of final stage payment unless I paid another exorbitant fee.

The Hanley severely damaged my health and delayed the project significantly all while I was paying them ~6% interest.

They had the following statement on their website, “Ensuring the customer is at the heart of everything we do”. It couldn't be further from the truth.

They knew the potential consequences of their actions, they didn't care. Avoid.

Disappointed my son and girlfriend looking to buy their 1 St house we recommended the hanley because we'd had 2 mortgages over27 yrs with them also they were doing 5% deposit mortgage. They saw a few houses then found the 5% had stopped so couldn't afford to look at anymore houses. Then 5% started up again they had the funds and looked at loads of properties which quite a few were outbid on and we're sold immediately. Disappointing times so when they found a property yesterday that the owner accepted their offer they were overjoyed. They had a mortgage in principal already in place to the value they wanted and appointed a solicitor submitted the relevant paperwork this morning only to be told 2 hrs later that the hanley had dropped the 5% deposit offer this morning and would not honor it another disappointing blow after weeks and weeks of searching and let downs now let down by a building society we trusted for many years no forewarning or nothing very disappointing and would not recommend

Charmaine Cameron-Reale the manager, and all the staff at the branch in Stone are always friendly and very helpful. We've opened accounts for our grandchildren, again with their help. I would recommend them to anyone.