Abbey Safety Plus-Growth (Issue 15) maturity "error"

friendlygal

Hi,

I filled in a Structured Product Maturity Option Form for the Safety Plus-Growth (Issue 15) on July 6th and sent it off in ample time for the deadline of 16th July 2009 which was also the maturation date. I nominated a current bank account for the funds. I heard nothing.

I phoned Abbey on 21st July and the woman on the line confirmed Abbey had received the form and the funds would be in my account the following Tuesday or Wednesday. This did not happen. However since the form said the funds would be in by 6th August I waited until then.

I then rang up and was told that the funds had been put into a general holding account to be paid out but something had happened which was under investigation. I was told some 200 people had been affected.

Yesterday (12th August 2009) I received a letter from Abbey dated 6th August stating "thank you for contacting us to let us know what you'd like to do with the maturity proceeds from your investment ... The transaction was executed at 2.30 pm ... The proceeds of this maturity have been credited to your nominated bank account ..."

The funds have not been put into the nominated bank account and this letter was received only after I rang up Abbey after 6th August 2009.

Yesterday Abbey left a message on my voicemail saying I should ring Abbey.

I did this only to be told "Madam, your local branch has made a mistake and opened a new Flexible Saver Account. You have to go to your local branch with id"! When I asked for this to be put in writing, the Abbey employees refused and "terminated" the calls.

I have put this succinctly. Obviously this took much more time and trouble and the men on the other end of the line seemed to feel it was quite in order to do a perfunctory "apology", refuse to put anything in writing and order me to go to the branch (BTW I do my banking online) to access my money in an account opened without my knowledge or consent instead of being put in my nominated bank account. I have not been contacted by the Abbey branch regarding any "Flexible Saver Account" and have no paperwork for this account. All the paperwork I have received comes from the centralised department and claims "the proceeds of this maturity have been credited to your nominated bank account".

Since I was told 200 people have been affected in my second call to Abbey, is there anyone else who has had the same experience?

PS Have just seen at the Telegraph August 13
Home>Finance>Consumer Tips>Jessica Investigates

BANK PAYS TO COVER LOSSES OVER ISA MIX-UP

I invested in Abbey's Safety Plus Growth bond some years back. When it came to maturity, Abbey was quick and persistent in trying to get me to reinvest the money in another of its schemes.

After consideration I decided to take an Isa held with another bank. As the option of moving the money to another provider was not listed, I asked how to proceed. The bank informed me that the other provider would need to contact it to arrange this Isa transfer. This it did.

I believed all to be going OK until I received a statement from Abbey saying I had missed the maturity deadline and that it had transferred the money to another type of account.

The other bank has been very helpful and furnished me with copies of its correspondence with Abbey.

JE, Chelmsford.

You approached Abbey on numerous occasions and the responses were irksome. You were informed you needed an appointment with an adviser, only to be told, when you did visit a branch, that you did not need to see anyone.

You were given a number to phone. You called it and were told nothing could be done.
Ten days after I contacted Abbey, some six-and-a-half months after you had done things correctly, Abbey has paid £184.50 to cover your losses.

An additional £250 has been paid for goodwill.

friendlygal

Since there's been no answer, has anyone else had a problem with the investment arm blaming the branch as if the two were different companies and Abbey not putting anything in writing and asking the customer to go running to the branch ...? See previous posting for details of two cases ...