Anyone used Travel FX Recently

eDicky

mihai1970 wrote: »

Worst experience i ever had!
I place the order on tuesday 18/04/17, for the currency to be deliver on thursday 20/04/2017. Next day i received an email from them saying that they need a copy of my passport and driving licence, in order to complete security checks. As i`m not driving, i called them and i asked what else i can send instead of driving licence copy. They told me to send a bill "council tax would be brilliant" they said. I mentioned that i need the money next day as i stated when i placed the order. "No problem" they replied, " its just to complete our security procedure" . I asked them to let me know by the end of the day if they can fulfill the, a order or not as i have the flight ticket already booked, to attend my brother funeral in Romania, for the next day (thursday), "ok sir, no problem"... Of course, nobody did it. At 1600 i made several atempts to contact the by phone but no succes. Thursday at 0930 i called them again and i been told that the council tax bill is not accepted as a proof of adress!!!??? "But you told me to send it" i replayed "yes but we can`t accept it" because it hasn`t got some number on it" . Ok , i said, can i cancel the order then? Yes but we have to charge you. What for? i complied with all your requests. No sir you didn`t. Ok what other options i have? You cand send a utility bill, gas or electricity. Ok i will, but can you tell me when i will receive the money? After the security checks are completed. But i have to fly tonight. I`m sorry sir but this is the procedure. I send the bill togheter with all my other id`s i have and again no answer from them. I called again before 1600 to ask whats going on. Same answer " you have to wait". But i have to fly tonight. Its our security procedure sir. Ok cancel the order then. We can but we have to charge you!!!????
I went to my bank and asked them what they can do in order to recover my money. They told that they can do a credit recovery procedure but it can take up to 20 days and its not guarantee to be succcesfull, as i did a bank transfer, and its not a purchase.
Of course i missed the flight because i get in panic, i was afraid that its a scam, and next day (friday) i went staitgh to the Trading Standards Agency. In front of the agent i called them again, and they told me that they will send the money on that day. I asked if i will receive the money on saturday. We don`t know sir, but if you whant to be sure you have to pay 30£. But i place the order on tuesday, to be received on thursday, its not my fault. I lost 474£ for the flight tickets, you can`t afford to pay for the special delivery??? No sir.... I had to pay the money and finaly today 22/04/17 i received the currency....
This is my experience with this company wich promise to provide a fast, efficient and hassle free online process with no commissions, great rates and next-day delivery*.
I know you will remove my post but i hope at least few people will see it. I can post all the emails i exchanged to you, for other people to see how you deal with your costumers.
Reviews on Trust Pilot will follow..
I left this review on their facebook page but has been removed by administrator and they block my acces so i cannot post anymore!!!

There's no reason why your post would be removed from here, it's an appreciated warning, sorry to hear of such a fiasco. There's also no reason why you didn't still travel, draw money from an ATM on arrival, and sort it out on your return.

orangeanorak

I used this company last month to change £1,000 to euros - good rate - delivered on time - no problems whatsoever. Site openly states that transaction not verified by financial services but I intend to use them again for swiss francs their rate for £1,000 to euros presently you get 1140 while M&S gives you 1109 ---

zagfles

orangeanorak wrote: »

I used this company last month to change £1,000 to euros - good rate - delivered on time - no problems whatsoever. Site openly states that transaction not verified by financial services but I intend to use them again for swiss francs their rate for £1,000 to euros presently you get 1140 while M&S gives you 1109 ---

Or use a zero fee MasterCard in an ATM when abroad and get 1157 euros for £1000 at the moment. No cash in the post. No need to carry large amounts of cash around. No sagas like above.

I'll never understand why people think getting cash sent in the post is a good idea. Except for very specialised travel to somewhere with no cashpoints. Do people order cash in the post for a holiday to Cornwall? Or do people think banks and ATMs don't exist abroad?

slinga

Ordered £750 of euros on Monday delieverd Wednesday.

Same service as when we've used them in the past.
No security requirements.

Unfortunate for the poster above.
But they've always worked well for us.

gackney

I have just used Travel FX. Good quick service BUT beware when you try to change back unused currency. There are two companies Travel FX and FX (which is a subsidiary of Travel FX). Travel FX do not quote the buy back rate you will get but online FX ( as subsidiary of Travel FX) quotes a rate. I sent some US $ back after my holiday and although FX (Travel FX subsidiary) quoted $1.28 I got $1.37 (cost me £90!). Make sure you send back to a different company!

Jean1965

I have used this company many times for transactions up to £1,000. My dad left my sister and I some money (cash) when he passed away which I kept in a safe and never had need to touch. My sister and her partner are having major work done on their property in Spain and really are struggling financially, so I offered to help financially with their huge building costs (€20,000 that they were going to pay back in instalments). I had no problem using Travel FX to change this money into euros for them as I have used Travel FX many times before. I checked on their website before starting the process and it said for orders over £10,000 I would be required to provide proof of my ID and proof of my address. So I ordered £20,000 worth of euros and sent a copy of my passport and my bank statement as proof of who I am and where I live and arranged a delivery date. I received a number of emails from Travel FX the next day each one saying they needed more information from me. They wanted to know (A) where the money came from, (B) what the money was being used for (C) where I had got this amount of money from, (D) how did my dad leave us this money (E) 3 months backdated statements showing I had deposited this money into my bank (F) I had to resend my passport (G) they wanted the address in Spain where the building work was being carried out (H) receipts from the building company who are doing the work (I) ID of the people who live at the Spanish house (J) proof of their residence at this address. I spent hours emailing and phoning trying to get all this information but in the end my sister and her partner blatantly refused to send their passports and other ID to a company they had never had any dealings with and to be honest I can’t blame them. I rang Travel FX and said on the main page of their website it clearly states only my ID and proof of address are required for orders over £10,000 and I asked why I am being asked to supply all this additional information, to which they replied it was the law and they cannot authorise payment until all this information has been provided and approved. I explained that I am unable to supply all this information and had I known from the beginning they would want all this additional information, I would never have placed the order in the first place. They said it was in their terms and conditions and I should have read them. I told them I am going to have to cancel the order as I cannot obtain all this additional information they require, to which I was told there will be a cancellation charge that worked out to £1,578.00 !!!!!!!!!!!
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and they would not process the return of my money until I had agreed by email to cancel and pay this cancellation charge of £1,578.00
I told them they have made me feel like a criminal with all these invasive questions, when all I wanted to do was help my family.
I was in tears down the phone, partially about the money I was about to lose through no fault of my own and partially because of the way I was made to feel and still feel.
When you ring Travel FX, you are not permitted to speak with any of the people who authorise the payments, you can only speak to the admin staff who pass on messages to the authorising people on your behalf. Then the authorising people email you a reply.
I managed to speak to the manager and when I asked for his name, he only gave me his Christian name. He said he didn’t have to give me his surname in case I used his name to post a bad review about the company. I replied “so it’s ok for you to ask for all mine and my families personal details and ask invasive questions but I’m not even permitted to know your full name” !
The conversation became heated and he put the phone down on me.
I RELUCTANTLY had to cancel the order and accept this £1,578.00 cancellation charge, because I had no choice, if I didn’t I would not receive my money back.
I then rang one final time and asked the lady I spoke to what happens to all mine (and my families) personal details I have emailed to them. She said they stay on their files for 5 Years in case HMRC need to check anything. I then said my order was not processed as I couldn’t supply all the information they wanted so I was forced to cancel, so no transaction has been made between Travel FX and me, but she said because I had sent the money, a transaction has been made. I told her that is ridiculous because the Travel FX policy is ALWAYS that the money has to be paid upfront, there is no customer choice in this matter, but she insisted these details I had sent over will remain on file for 5 years as it’s the law.
I asked her to confirm this in writing in an email and she said she would, but I haven’t received the email yet.
Needless to say my family are furious about this whole escapade, as am I and my father would be turning in his grave.
DO NOT TOUCH THIS COMPANY WITH A BARGE POLE.
You cannot get to speak to the people you need to talk to and because you have to pay the full money upfront, you will always be liable for cancellation charges, even when it is not your fault.
I am still crying over what has happened today as I am writing on this forum, but I can see I am not alone in my bad experience with Travel FX.
They made everything sound so simple on the front page of their website for transactions over £10,000, but it has turned out to be a very costly nightmare and knowing they will now have my personal details on their files for a further 5 years horrifies me.

eDicky

Exchanging that much cash at one time these days is asking for trouble, using any provider.

knightstyle

We used Currencies Direct last year to bring 140k€ in to the UK. No problems but it was from a French bank to a UK bank in the same name.
Yes we had to send copies of passports and house taxes for both French and UK addresses.