Cheshire BS - ISA communication problems

Hayesmyth

I am having a communication problem with the Cheshire BS in respect of newly opened cash ISAs. My wife and I have opened one each and I have opened one for my mother. The first two were opened at the beginning of April. My application and that of my mother's involved transferring in existing cash ISAs from other providers.

My problem is four-fold:

Firstly; some of the emails I have received from the Cheshire (confirmation of application, notification of 'account now open'), contain no reference to whose account the email refers to; no name, just a reference number.

Secondly; only I have actually received a letter showing an opening account balance. Both the account number and letter reference number do not correspond with the reference numbers in the emails.

Thirdly; my wife has only received a general letter about managing her account. Although addressed to her, it has no reference to her account number.

Fourthly; I have received two emails, one each in response to an ISA transfer request for myself and on behalf of my mother. This time, no reference to whose account the email refers to and no reference number at all.

It would seem that Cheshire BS has cobbled together an online ISA management system that was designed by someone doing work experience. More than one department is handling this (located in different parts of the UK), which was confirmed during a rare phone conversation. So enquiries by phone (constantly busy) cannot be answered in 'real time'.

This is the first time that I have seen a bank or building society not use basic account number and name in their communications.

They are sluggish in their written response and I am starting to lose track (handling my mother's stuff and my own).

What worries me is that they might be losing track.:(

Has anybody else experienced this situation?

isofa

My wife has had problems with transferring an ISA to Cheshire, they screwed up totally, we had to chase, then they admitted their mistake and in fairness were very helpful on phone, then started the trf again. Original ISA manager now written to confirm trf, so will wait a few weeks to see if Cheshire put the trf with a statement/balance in writing, else we'll chase again.

I suspect it's due to MSEs constant pushing of the Cheshire's good rate that they were inundated with applications and unable to cope. That said, never had a problem with any of our other ISA providers...

If you aren't happy chase again on the phone and get confirmation. My wife didn't get her "welcome" pack until several weeks after opening the account with actual details of how to operate it!

Hayesmyth

isofa wrote: »

I suspect it's due to MSEs constant pushing of the Cheshire's good rate that they were inundated with applications and unable to cope.

Thank you for your reply.

I had guessed that this was part of their difficulty.

It is however totally ludicrous that I must either print off each email, or forward it to myself in order to notate it with ' to who or what' it refers (so that I can call Customer Services and not speak to someone).

The basics of addressing customers by name and their account number just seem to be lost on the Cheshire. Or are these emails generated in Mumbai?

savetilibleed

Hayesmyth wrote: »

Thank you for your reply.

I had guessed that this was part of their difficulty.

It is however totally ludicrous that I must either print off each email, or forward it to myself in order to notate it with ' to who or what' it refers (so that I can call Customer Services and not speak to someone).

The basics of addressing customers by name and their account number just seem to be lost on the Cheshire. Or are these emails generated in Mumbai?

They are also not too good with what gets included in the post. My letter with the account number and transfer amount was supposed to include forms to operate the account. I phoned and got them send (they also duplicated the letter (must have been retyped as it was in a smaller font). Then about 6 weeks later a letter arrived saying they have been made aware that some people might not have had their form to operate the account sent out. So I now have another lot! I originally applied in Feb 2013.

The Cheshire address is Macclesfield, the form had to be sent to Swindon, but the people on the phone are all Scottish! Must be scattered about the Nationwide (who I hear are to do away with the Cheshire name and another they own). When I applied for a FR bond in 2010 it was Macclesfield.

Maybe for the accounts you applied for you ought to have set up email addresses for each of the accounts, then you'd have known which was which. Just a thought. It's fairly normal for account info not to be in an email or text, just a reference no.

Hayesmyth

savetilibleed wrote: »

Then about 6 weeks later a letter arrived saying they have been made aware that some people might not have had their form to operate the account sent out.

Well that's the very stuff that was sent to my wife; with no account number.

I know I'm being pedantic on this one but consider this: some months down the line she picks the envelope up to pay a cheque in. Where's the account number? It must be in another envelope. Where's that? Dunno!............ why don't we get all our files out and look for it! Oh! darling you do think of the most spiffing games!

Maybe for the accounts you applied for you ought to have set up email addresses for each of the accounts, then you'd have known which was which. Just a thought. It's fairly normal for account info not to be in an email or text, just a reference no.

The last two emails didn't even have a reference number. Nothing.

Well I'll know better in future. But it's quite hard to accept what seems to be regarded these days as 'normal', coming from a banking/insurance background.

dougz_2

Total shambles here too. I applied to fund their ISA using part of the funds from an existing Cheshire Regular Saver account that had just matured into an instant access. I did this online, in plenty of time, and they sent email confirming, but weeks later got a 2nd email saying my application was too late for 2012/13 but that if I phoned them I could choose to fund 2013/14 instead, meaning I would miss out on a years ISA allowance. Then soon after that a third email contradicting that by saying they had opened an ISA for me anyway, but no mention of year. Eventually I got a letter confirming it with my new account number but still no mention of ISA year. Then I get another letter saying I had oversubscribed the ISA limit, by some random amount (around £7) with an enclosed cheque refunding me that, again they didnt mention the ISA year I was supposed to have oversubscribed, but the limit figure was that which applied in 2012/13. What the refund cheque is all about I dont know, because I subscribed to the exact ISA limit. I can only guess its interest that they should have kept within the ISA wrapper.

The whole mess is made much more confusing because they will not issue customers with any proper statements for the ISA account that would show the dates and amounts of any transactions that have taken place, or even the ISA tax year involved. I cant reply to any of their emails because they wont listen to email replies sent to them, even though they send them out. They refuse to discuss on the phone anything about the old account because its a branch account, so I have to visit an actual branch in person. But the staff there know nothing of the new ISA because they say its not a branch account.

Wish I hadnt bothered with them now just for a little extra fraction % interest.

roxy28

Well thats really putting me off with the above posts,will take a step back at the minute.

fieldofdreams

Sent a cheque 2 weeks ago to pay new money into my isa, along with the completed deposit form. No acknowledgement of the receipt of the cheque, and the money has not yet been taken out of the source account. It may have got lost in the post, but given what Ive read so far it seems more likely theyve messed something up

savetilibleed

dougz wrote: »

The whole mess is made much more confusing because they will not issue customers with any proper statements for the ISA account that would show the dates and amounts of any transactions that have taken place, or even the ISA tax year involved. I cant reply to any of their emails because they wont listen to email replies sent to them, even though they send them out. They refuse to discuss on the phone anything about the old account because its a branch account, so I have to visit an actual branch in person. But the staff there know nothing of the new ISA because they say its not a branch account.

Wish I hadnt bothered with them now just for a little extra fraction % interest.

You'd be best sending them a proper complaint in writing, by post, by recorded delivery. The address is HERE. Make your feelings clear that you are very unhappy with their standard of service, even when you attempt to resolve it yourself either in branch or on the phone.

stingyscot

Likewise, I have had problems with Cheshire and moving ISAs from other providers. I have now transferred-in 4 separate ISAs to Cheshire, each from a fixed term and maturing on 4 different dates. Fortunately, I did not use only one transfer form to cover them all, but filled in 4 individual forms as each matured, otherwise heaven knows what would have happened. I have had to chase the progress of each and every one, and phone to ask for a statement for each and every deposit. I am still waiting for the last. Considering that my total balance with them is now nearly £78k, I am appalled by the lack of service I have received. Not that I am suggesting that smaller amounts are any less important, but were it not for the letters I have been receiving from the sending banks I would be completely in the dark as to what was happening to my life savings! Dreadful.

Hayesmyth

stingyscot wrote: »

.... were it not for the letters I have been receiving from the sending banks I would be completely in the dark as to what was happening to my life savings! Dreadful.

The same for me. Strangely, Santander, one of my previous 'providers' wrote to me confirming closure. I say strangely because I view them as a complete waste of space in the banking industry. But anyway, they do score some house points here.

The worrying thing is; there may be acknowledgement from the 'sending' bank that the money is no longer with them but where is the money now?