Stroud & Swindon BS

savetilibleed

Does anyone have any dealings with Stroud & Swindon BS. I'm still looking for a home to fix £10,000. And they have the option of a 2 year bond, which some don't. They offer good rates and recommended by Martin. I can't find any info on their rating.

steady__eddie

I have had a few a/c.s with them including their regsave, was it 7% ? it seems ages ago now. I had a bond which I "mislaid" the T + C s for 18 months or so down the line, after an e-mail to them there was a photocopy of them the following day dropping through my letter box. Due to the distance from my nearest branch, all comms are via post and e-mail, (too mean to ring them). I have found them to be pretty quick.

Baldur

I've also had a few accounts with them in the past, when their rates were competitive, and found them to be fine.

johnoz

Likewise, a couple of accounts / bonds over the years (including one just matured). Good service, on time with actions, even phoned once to check I was happy with everything - can't fault them!

nowtsquared

Been with them for a long time and can hardly fault them and their service

alanq

Generally good service but I don't like the bonds which, the last time I checked, have a condition that if you don't tell the Society otherwise before the maturity date it will automatically reinvest the funds into another bond. Most organisations give one 2-4 weeks penalty-free access after maturity before reinvesting or leave the matured funds in an instant access account. I had cause to complain because at the time I took out a bond this was not in the Ts&Cs which merely said they would write before the maturity date giving me options for future investments.

When interest rates are changing fast it is not good to have to give instructions what to do in a week or two's time or risk being automatically reinvested in what may have become uncompetitive product over that period.

savetilibleed

That's not so good - I was encouraged by the other responses so I went to the website this morning to find the 5% two year bond I looked at yesterday evening had been pulled.:rolleyes: The equivalent 2 year bond is now 3.75%.

In any case it'll be several days until the money gets transferred over to my current accont so I probably couldn't have made the full investment then.

Thanks for your comments all.

Hungerdunger

savetilibleed wrote: »

In any case it'll be several days until the money gets transferred over to my current accont so I probably couldn't have made the full investment then.

When I applied for their 7.05% (ah, those were the days :rolleyes:) fixed rate bond earlier this year , I sent the application form off with a cheque at the end of one week, and told them the funds wouldn't be available until the following Friday, and they were fine about it.

savetilibleed

Hungerdunger wrote: »

When I applied for their 7.05% (ah, those were the days :rolleyes:) fixed rate bond earlier this year , I sent the application form off with a cheque at the end of one week, and told them the funds wouldn't be available until the following Friday, and they were fine about it.

Oh bliss! 7.05%!! YBS had a two year bond at 7% earlier thsi year, back when interest rates were still - well - I was going to say predictable but I won't!:rolleyes:

Thanks for the tip about telling them to delay. I guess they are flexible enough to be able to do that. I'll bear that in mind.

I think I'll stick to Saga though they are only 4.15% now or Cheshire BS looks better. I see they are to merge with Nationwide.

I now have a form for Northern Rock FR Capped Bond Issue 3 but think I might have missed that. Seems uncertain they will accept funds now the bond has closed. Don't think I want to risk having that happen and the cheque returned losing more time and money.

arjar

I have had previous accounts with them and currently have 2 bonds (including the 5% 2 year one withdrawn this week). I live near a local branch so I sometimes see offers in the window that are slow to appear on the best buy lists.

My experience has been universally good. Very straightforward, friendly and helpful. And their interest payments are calculated correctly (which is more than I can say for some Banks). So in general terms, worth keeping an eye on - their offers do seem to come and go quickly. I've decided to support the mutuals from now on - and this seems a good one to me.