Cahoot Bank Account

lolly5648

I'm thinking of opening a Cahoot bank account (I have a savings account with them) and would like to know if anyone has any comments.

Are they efficient, do they clear cheques quickly and how long does it take to transfer money from their savings account to the current account.

CopperPlate_2

I had a Cahoot current account for a couple of years. You have to post cheques to them or pay them in through the Post Office and it takes a few days for them to clear.

If you have a savings account and current account with them the transfer of funds is immediate

The only issue I had was trying to get any sense out of the customer services department either through email or by phone. They were DREADFUL. Questions to them were either answered incorrectly, not at all, or they gave you the answer to a question that you hadn't asked! Sometimes three or four emails were needed to elicit the right reply!

The account was good for me because it gave a reasonable rate of interest and a 0% £250 overdraft which was handy, but I'm now with Smile and, even thought the interest rate is slightly lower, they are far and away better than Cahoot to deal with. Prompt replies to queries, no mucking about with instructions and no having to check up that they've done it right. I switched to Smile and, with the exception of one Direct Debit, everything went across seamlessly and Smile flagged up the one DD that was being difficult in moving so I was able to push it along.

And if you pay cash into the Post Office with Smile, it clears immediately - with Cahoot there is a delay before it appears as available in your account if you pay in through the Post Office.

Just my opinion, for what it's worth!

CP

Graham1

They have recently lengthened the time they require to clear a cheque - so it now takes about 7 days.

The one good thing is the postage free envelopes they provide for paying in cheques.

ED

Coventry Bdg Soc also supply postage-paid envelopes for NetSave account customers to send in cheques. These earn interest from the day they are received, and clear in 5 banking days.

If a Direct Debit leaves the Cahoot account on a Tuesday, on what day does the external account receive it? (Via Abbey it would arrive Thursday, via Halifax Friday, via Norwich & Peterborough BS also Friday.)

madsamuri

i have had, have 2 current account 3 savings accounts with cahoot, i find them quite good, the system is easy to suss out quite quickly. i find that the call centre is quite fast and efficient.
i have a smile account and they are quite good to although it is a little harder to do transactions through them. i would go for cahoot.

oscarhugo

ED wrote:

Coventry Bdg Soc also supply postage-paid envelopes for NetSave account customers to send in cheques. These earn interest from the day they are received, and clear in 5 banking days.

If a Direct Debit leaves the Cahoot account on a Tuesday, on what day does the external account receive it? (Via Abbey it would arrive Thursday, via Halifax Friday, via Norwich & Peterborough BS also Friday.)

The banking/savings system I use now is as follows [since cheques take about 1 week to clear anyway if you pay them directly to cahoot, whether by snail-mail or over a post office counter] : -

I post off cheques, in post-paid envelope, to Coventry BS Netsave savings account [interest rate not bad but fallen behind the leaders now]. The cheques ALMOST ALWAYS are received the following day by Coventry and they supposedly start earning interest as soon as Coventry receives them. When the dosh clears the following week I transfer it to cahoot. This usually takes 2 days & then this gets transferred immediately to cahoot savings.

Well, it works for me anyway! Others might find it too fiddlesome but I find it easier than paying direct into cahoot [as well as cash becoming interest-earning the following day].

Tim_L

Cahoot are OK unless you have to deal with customer services, but they're no worse than many. The web banking is less irritating than many, i.e. you don't have to remember a 12 digit customer ID and 9 digit pin or anything silly like that. I'm generally pretty happy with Cahoot as my main bank.

user1234_2

Tim_L wrote:

...you don't have to remember a 12 digit customer ID and 9 digit pin or anything silly like that...

Some might say that's a bad thing - I still think their login procedure is too soft.

I'm quite happy with Cahoot but won't use them as my main account. Last time I had to get something sorted the email support was a waste of time and it took 3 follow-up calls to fix their mistake

If you have either savings/credit card/loan then you might as well have a current account as well since you don't have to put your wages through them and it's free.

ED

oscarhugo - glad to see clearing cheques via Coventry Bdg Soc + BACS of £'s to Cahoot works well for you, too.

Tim_L

user1234 wrote:

I'm quite happy with Cahoot but won't use them as my main account. Last time I had to get something sorted the email support was a waste of time and it took 3 follow-up calls to fix their mistake
.

Cahoot's customer services can be an absolute nightmare I agree - I had real problems getting a flexible loan agreement from them when the automated system failed, and getting a complex complaint into the 250 odd characters they give you on the secure mail form is an intellectual challenge on the same level as transdimensional chess... Generally though they get things done in the end, and you can usually stiff them for £30 for time and trouble. In comparison with Citibank and others of that ilk, they're positively wonderful.

quickquid

I have used most internet banks and I have found Cahoot to be the worst of all the bunch. You're right Customer Services just haven't got a clue - can't answer fundamental questions.