NS&I website worries

Bucksfizz

Hi, has anyone else had the same dismal experience with the above website. Having opted to register online I had several attempts before my password ( including upper and lower class letters, numbers and unique symbols!) was accepted. I logged in last week to purchase premium bonds, which was easy but when I wanted to add a bank account, I was asked a series of obscure 'security' details which I was unable to answer because I had never seen them before. One involved the University I attended and the title of my degree course; difficult as I did not attend University or study for a degree. It then asked for my Father's Mother's Christian name which, although answered correctly, was rejected as an error! As a result I was required to reset my security details and sent a new temporary password. I have today tried to update my registration details but guess what? On the first day of the new financial year, the site is undergoing maintenance until 8th!
It used to be so easy to go to a Post Office, hand over a sum of money ( often less than the £100 minimum required now) and be handed a bond in return, don't these people want our money, cos they don't make it easy?

System

in fairness if you tried to go to the post office at 8pm on a Saturday to buy premium bonds then you would be disappointed!

I bought some on Thursday and found it a very simple procedure, a lot easier than going to a post office. Besides it seems like youve already got the bonds and are just after changing a bank account? Can't that wait until next week?

Bucksfizz

You have missed the point, the time of day is immaterial, a website should make using it as simple as possible and should certainly be functioning today, the first opportunity for those wishing to get in quick with ISA purchase.
If I had been asked to set security questions when I registered, they would certainly not be ones which do not relate to me, therefore I believe the site has not been properly tested, hopefully it will be improved following this on going maintenance!

System

Bucksfizz wrote: »

You have missed the point, the time of day is immaterial, a website should make using it as simple as possible and should certainly be functioning today, the first opportunity for those wishing to get in quick with ISA purchase.
If I had been asked to set security questions when I registered, they would certainly not be ones which do not relate to me, therefore I believe the site has not been properly tested, hopefully it will be improved following this on going maintenance!

No website will be up 24/7 as they always have to have maintenance windows. I suspect Saturday night/Sunday morning is the quietest time of the day.

Why does buying premium bonds link to your ISA?

Bucksfizz

Buying premium bonds does not link to my ISA, I was merely making the point that the 'maintenance window' should be open at a less critical time! If you read my first message properly you would see that I experienced no difficulty purchasing my bonds, it was the nonsense involved with adding my bank account details which incensed me. I am all for having a secure website but to be asked answers to questions I have never seen before is ridiculous. I don't recall stating a time when I was trying to access the site so your comments regarding the PO opening times are somewhat irrelevant, it was simply the time that I submitted my message.

pandora205

I use the site a lot and have never had problems.

The security questions were asked when I registered, which is where the info came from. The site is offline at the moment for maintenance as it is the end of the financial year and they upload interest, etc. at this time.

It's worth persevering as it is usually a very reliable site.

System

Bucksfizz wrote: »

Buying premium bonds does not link to my ISA, I was merely making the point that the 'maintenance window' should be open at a less critical time! If you read my first message properly you would see that I experienced no difficulty purchasing my bonds, it was the nonsense involved with adding my bank account details which incensed me. I am all for having a secure website but to be asked answers to questions I have never seen before is ridiculous. I don't recall stating a time when I was trying to access the site so your comments regarding the PO opening times are somewhat irrelevant, it was simply the time that I submitted my message.

When is this less critical time? A time when you don't want to access it?

You don't think that its not a coincidence that the site is down tonight? I would imagine at the year switch over there are a great deal of IT jobs that have to run to switch everything over to the new limits. It doesn't happen by magic you know! They will almost certainly have to have an outage to allow this to happen.

In addition i see it says on the website you can pay directly into your ISA via the bank if you so wish.

If you didn't actually want to buy premium bonds then your comment about going into a post office to buy premium bonds was also irrelevant.

Bucksfizz

I don't have an ISA with NS&I, I was generalising but I take your point about the timing of site maintenance. My reference to buying at the PO really relates to the changes which have made it more difficult for those who are unable to do so online. I guess I could have all the answers to all the questions if I spent more time in this forum, but I do actually have a life!

System

Bucksfizz wrote: »

I guess I could have all the answers to all the questions if I spent more time in this forum, but I do actually have a life!

Can't be a great one if you're posting on an online forum at 11pm on a Saturday night

Bucksfizz

pandora205 wrote: »

I use the site a lot and have never had problems.

The security questions were asked when I registered, which is where the info came from. The site is offline at the moment for maintenance as it is the end of the financial year and they upload interest, etc. at this time.

It's worth persevering as it is usually a very reliable site.

I didn't experience any problems purchasing bonds, and the security questions I set when registering were not the ones I was being asked to answer when attempting to add my bank account details. I found a post on here, from 2011, from someone with the same problems, she couldn't even reinstate her security questions by phone because she couldn't answer the ones she was asked ( not the ones she had set) so her account was locked.
I appreciate that this is a busy time for all financial institutions but their public websites should not be affected, I can access all my other bank accounts, ISAs etc on line, the service message relates to routine maintenance.
We do need security measures, of course, but this business of passwords with upper and lower case letters, characters and numbers is a bit 80s, things have moved on a bit. The password suggested to me as an example is so complicated that I would never remember one like it and would have to write it down, which kind of defeats the object. It's just not realistic.

Bucksfizz

goater78 wrote: »

Can't be a great one if you're posting on an online forum at 11pm on a Saturday night

Well having posted a message on here it seemed reasonable to revisit it later to see if anyone had responded., as I am doing now.