A recent MoneyFacts survey showed that a third of people have been put off using a bank or building society because of receiving reports of a bad experience from friends or family.
Another third have shut credit cards, current and savings accounts because of the poor service they received.
So when considering a financial product, it pays to look beyond all of the best buy tables. It might not be the most stimulating of conversations, but find out from your friends and family the sort of service they have received from their finance providers. Be wary of any with “refer a friend” schemes that pay your friends for getting someone else to open an account though.