Anyone know of an (cash) ISA provider who COMMUNICATES?

jjlothin

I've spent the last few months battling with the appalling Alliance & Leicester and the almost equally appalling Icesave - I'm still not sure where my (last year's) ISA money is!

What I'd like to know is, does anyone know of a provider who will respond to instructions, listen to communications, act efficiently (act at all would be good)? I'm prepared to forego top-whack on interest if I could find an organisation that would LISTEN! (Wish I'd left it to rot in Nationwide rather than trying not to be 'complacent'!)

Thanks!

Rose

RayWolfe

They are all pretty bad but the worst are the converted building societies and the best are the present building societies ...
... with one or two exceptions! ;-)

Lavendyr

Sorry to hear you've had a bad experience with Icesave, they have been very good so far with me.

Although it doesn't accept transfers in, if you haven't yet used your subscription for 2008/2009, may I suggest NS&I Direct ISA? They have always been extremely communicative and easy to reach. The interest rate is not top whack (5.3% currently, guaranteed 0.3% above base rate till April 09) but it's still reasonable, plus of course, it's 100% safe.

Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend any bank above any other, to be perfectly honest. You can have good & bad experiences with most banks. I've had a reasonable experience with HSBC, for instance, but I've likewise heard several bad experiences.

Hope that helps a little

debbie42

I haven't used them myself. but there are some good reports on this forum about the Ruffler bank.

isofa

Ruffler. I'm now a customer of theirs, and they are fantastic, almost instant response to queries, completely incomparable to the normal "bank" service in the high-street or on-line. But keep it quiet, we don't want them over-run with customers.

jjlothin

Many thanks to you all for such useful replies!

I,M_SAD

Principality took 16 days to transfer isa from egg,had passbook this mane,plus closure letter from egg arrived too,think that was good for a transfer,from both providers.(6.35% fixed rate)

Ruffler is very good,they seem to do smooth transfers,dd transferred 3 isas into them earlier this year hassle free from Kent Reliance.(6.25%variable)

I know ds was a new isa for 08/09 with Market and Harborough but he sent form with cheque late sat night so missed collection for sat,n sun and the passbook arrived wednesday with all returned documentation with start date of isa on thursday!!(6.5% fixed rate)
It does seem as though the smaller building societies offer good rates as well as good service with Isa,s.Keep checking moneyfacts as they are prety good with new isa deals,plus outline who accepts transfers as well.

Gordon_T_2

Ruffler. Period. They are not the normal bank type communicators.
Absolutley fantastic at sorting out my problems, and all done within a few hours. 110% recomended. Even rang back to tell me it was sorted and what they had done...................G

Jonbvn

I second (or is it sixth?) Ruffler Bank. The best customer service I have ever come across for a bank/BS. Their ISA interest rate is very competitive as well.

When you call them (get this!) a real person who knows what they are talking about answers the phone within a few rings.

oldagetraveller

Julian Hodge Bank - during an ISA transfer to them (6.2% 12 month fix), kept me informed by 1st class post every step of the way.
I've found traditional building societies (Britannia being an exception!) to be far better than the converts and the major banks!

Oblivion

oldagetraveller wrote: »

I've found traditional building societies (Britannia being an exception!) to be far better than the converts and the major banks!

Oh dear, what problems have you had with Britannia? I've had various savings accounts, mostly passbook, with them for more years than I care to remember, and have always had excellent service in their High Street outlets.

More recently I sought their assistance in closing down my passbook account and transferring it to an on-line account. They were helpfulness personified and the transaction went like clockwork.

Dave.