ICICI Applicants feedback required

MSE_Martin · 26 July 2005 at 12:10AM

Hi

I'd love to know your feedback on the process of applying for ICICI and have you got your accounts up and running.

Please let me know

also please vote in the poll

martin

jimclark1967 · 26 July 2005 at 3:44AM

Well I'll get the ball rolling:

1. Applied online end of May
2. Early June was sent an email asking to send them a cheque for initial deposit - sent one for £1
3. £1 duly debited from current a/c (Smile) and I received my password for the online banking by post but no user-name
4. Mid June I rang the ICICI customer services saying I had no user name, they were very apologetic, took my contact details and said they'd investigate and call me back - still waiting for that phone to ring

5. Two weeks later on 1st July I received a "confirmation" email which included my account number and user-name! Finally able to log in to the ICICI site and saw my £1 sitting there waiting for me. Decided to test out the direct debit I'd set up and requested a transfer of £9 from my current account.
6. A week later the £9 had arrived at ICICI but strangely hadn't been debited from the current account (and still hasn't to this day) I set up another transfer, this time for £1740.
7. Three days later there's another £1740 in my ICICI account and no sign of it coming out of my current account. £1750 so far and it's only cost me a pound - never thought the interest rate was that good

8. After hearing about another MSE user's experience having money taken from current account but not arriving at ICICI it prompts me to cancel the direct debit with my bank, I have no intention of trying to keep hold of the £1749 that isn't mine but don't want any money going missing.
9. 2 days after cancelling the direct debit £1740 appears on my current account as a payment to myself (presumably ICICI) but doesn't reduce my account balance :eek:
10. That entry has now been removed...

So I now have an ICICI account with £1750 balance of which I've definitely paid for £1, definitely not paid for £9 and kind of half paid for £1740. Doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

All in all something doesn't feel quite right with ICICI, the password confirmation mailing was like a payslip in an envelope - no welcome letter or confirmation of opening deposit etc.. There's also small things that irritate me like not putting the pence in the account balance e.g it'll say GBP 9 rather than £9.00

For now I'm sticking with Cahoot, i've only got a couple of thousand to play with anyway (after ISA and Regular Saver in true MSE style) so really not worth the worry for an extra 0.3%

JC

club51 · 26 July 2005 at 1:36PM

hi jim, i have received my user name but no password, keep getting told i will receive my password within 6 working days, its now a month???? still no password...........................
Well a month has gone by, i now have my password, so now able to logon to my savings account, hooray success so i took the bold step of transfering my meager savings from ing to icici, this all went smoothly except for an initial 8 day delay for first transfer ( i didnt know about this ) so only transfer a small amount at first so that your savings in ing are still gaining interest, the next amount transfered takes only 3 days so same as ing. ive just logged onto icici to check that interest has been applied and yes all okay.
a few days ago i had a telephone call from icici thanking me for my custom and appologising for the huge dalay apparantly caused by huge unexpected applications which overwhelmed the small uk office.
i think this bank will be ok, it has just started in the uk& didnt expect the large non asian applications....FINGERS CROSSED

oldagetraveller · 26 July 2005 at 3:02PM

As I've posted elswhere my ICICI Hisave took over a month to set up and the whole experience has been an absolute nightmare. I think possibly JC is referring to me in "8" of his list. That transfer did eventually go through but took 9 working days. Probably completed only because of my persistent 'phone calls to them which in spite of being told "someone will 'phone you within 24 hrs" on each occasion - they didn't.
E-mails are never answered either.
I agree with JC about something not feeling quite right with ICICI, there are doubts niggling away in my mind. For the extra 0.3 or so % which has been said will only be a temporary "carrot" I doubt I'll stay the course and will bale out fairly soon.

jimclark1967 · 26 July 2005 at 6:26PM

It's now not letting me transfer the £1 that definitely is mine back to my current account - aaargh :mad:

JC

anticlaus105 · 26 July 2005 at 6:51PM

Applied 25/06/05
Recieved e-mail requesting cheque 02/07/05
Cheque debited 07/07/05
Sent them an e-mail on 17/07/05 asking what was going on.
Recieved user ID etc on 19/07/05 and told password to follow within 6 working days.

They still have a day to go....lets see if it arrives tomorrow. Place your bets!

Edit 27/07/05 Post has been but nothing from ICICI. Glad I only sent a cheque for £1. :rolleyes:

Alfie_E · 26 July 2005 at 7:19PM

21 June Application started
23 June Received email requesting cheque
24 June £250 cheque posted
5 July... Cheque amount debited from my current account

Then, silence… Telephoning gets you someone who can't see your details. All they can do is take your contact detail, and no-one gets back to you. Maybe emailing might be the way to go.

If emailing doesn't get anywhere, I'm going to

get my bank to send me paperwork showing where the cheque went,
see if the Leicester branch exists, and
if it does, go there, with paperwork, and demand the immediate withdrawal of my money, in cash.

Yes, in hindsight, a smaller cheque might have been a better idea. However, other people have since placed larger amounts into ICICI's trust.

BenL · 26 July 2005 at 7:43PM

28 June Application started
01 July Received email requesting cheque
02 July £1 cheque posted
26 July No cheque yet debited and nothing else received from ICICI.

Ben

Walletwatch · 27 July 2005 at 1:00AM

Well, coming back to the actual subject of the post, I agree with most other posters here - have not had a good experience with ICICI, they took three weeks to send out passwords for me and my wife. I managed to get a contact within the bank though, and I was told that they simply had not anticipated such an overwhelming response to the HiSave account offering. This is disappointing on two counts - (a) it means we may have to expect substandard service, at least till the time they beef up resources to handle these volumes and (b) They may meet their targets sooner rather than later, and hence, bring down the rate from 5.4% earlier :-(

For me, the ICICI account is still on the watch list - I have made my first transfer, and will wait for the eight working days, following which, I'll maybe move a first instalment of £10000 and see the interest at the end of the month, just to get comfortable. Not as excited about it today, as I was when I first heard of the rate though.

Walletwatch · 27 July 2005 at 3:51PM

I was pleasantly surprised today when I learned that the first transfer for £5 that I had initiated on Monday the 25th has got added to my available balance today itself, well in advance of the eight working days they say it takes. I double checked this with the agent to confirm it, and yes, sure enough, it has taken place. Now for the next test - my first big ticket transfer from Abbey to ICICI - hope it takes no more than the three working days they promise it does... Watch this space for more info - I plan to initiate this transfer on Monday, so technically, the funds should be available Wednesday.

dave2986 · 27 July 2005 at 8:38PM

Well I applied for the account on the 16th of July (sat) and instantly received an email giving me the usual blurb.

On the Monday I had an email saying to send off a cheque and that I meet the opening requirements. I sent it the following day

Today I have had an email Congratulating me on opening the account. So I think my cheque must have cleared, however it hasent showed on my HSBC on-line student account yet. The email also said they would be sending me a password through the post.

So far, and with only one step left to go, its all gone very well (taking about 10 days), and I will wait to see if the cheque is shown on my HSBC account.

ICICI Applicants feedback required

If you've applied to ICICI which of the following is nearest your experience? 68 votes

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