Cheshire BS - ISA communication problems

sabre50

I am in the middle of a house move, hoping to exchange contracts soon, and have sent off a postal request to transfer funds. About five days later I get a letter requesting certified or original copy of passport or driving licence as they do not have my signature on their records. I phoned to tell them they must have my signature as I sent it to them when I signed the paperwork I printed off my computer when I applied. No, they do not have this. They were happy to have my authorisation via computer to transfer all my funds from previous ISA but not happy to give any back.

I sent my original driving licence by recorded delivery as too expensive to get certified (£7.50), sent Monday, I phoned today Wednesday and they still say they have not received it. Not very happy!

savetilibleed

sabre50 wrote: »

I sent my original driving licence by recorded delivery as too expensive to get certified (£7.50), sent Monday, I phoned today Wednesday and they still say they have not received it. Not very happy!

You will be able to check on the Royal Mail website if your recorded delivery was delivered to the address, from the number on the receipt you will have got at the post office.

charlysays

Since early March 13 I had major communication issues with the Cheshire after opening 2 new ISA's for me and my wife. I received an auto e mail with a ref no thanking me and informing docs would be posted out. It took 5 further phone calls and almost 3 months to receive the 'welcome' pack. You may have heard the pre recorded option on their contact no about them being 'aware' of problems with welcome packs and that you will receive it in due course. Ignore that. You won't. On 3 separate occasions over about 6 weeks I spoke to advisors who informed me 'It'll be in tonight's post first class' It never was. It took until yesterday for a 'supervisor?' to personally print the docs out and post them which I have to admit were received today.
The Cheshire I believe is suffering from a major computer or database problem which they have been well aware of for months (recorded message on contact no is evidence of this) Yet despite being informed and regularly contacted they have been abysmal in resolving this. If I were paid minimum wage for my time trying personally to resolve this plus my phone call costs it would have vastly more than made up the difference between their slightly higher interest rate and that of competitors.
For a building society that is owned by the biggest UK building society in the Nationwide there can be no excuses.
I can only advise they are avoided.

sabre50

Thanks to Savetilibleed - I tracked delivery time, signature etc of my post to Cheshire.

When they phoned me back today to report they still had not received my driver's licence I was able to give them the details of the delivery and they then spent five minutes tracing it and confirming receipt.

I can now happily report that my house purchase deposit has been safely transferred into my bank account.

Megalomaniac

I complained by letter - received £50 compensation without a quibble.

My advice, put everything in writing, and make a complaint. They responded within a matter of days to that with my account paperwork and asking whether I would accept £50 due to the poor service I received.

If I have problems again, I shall not hesitate to complain again!

savetilibleed

Megalomaniac wrote: »

I complained by letter - received £50 compensation without a quibble.

My advice, put everything in writing, and make a complaint. They responded within a matter of days to that with my account paperwork and asking whether I would accept £50 due to the poor service I received.

If I have problems again, I shall not hesitate to complain again!

Pity it is necessary to complain like this. I had to with Santander and got a similar sum in compensation. Seems its the only way to resolve problems. Such a pity, it would be so much easier for all concerned if the job was just done efficiently and in a timely manner.

sabre50 wrote: »

Thanks to Savetilibleed - I tracked delivery time, signature etc of my post to Cheshire.

When they phoned me back today to report they still had not received my driver's licence I was able to give them the details of the delivery and they then spent five minutes tracing it and confirming receipt.

I can now happily report that my house purchase deposit has been safely transferred into my bank account.

Glad to help and glad it worked. They cannot argue if you can prove they got it by a timed signature and name.

t0rt0ise

Oh god, I just opened an ISA with these people to tranfer my old Santander one to. I really should have read this first. I haven't had any auto email. It just seemed like the web application didn't go anywhere but just resulted in a print out that I have to send in. I will continue with it now and hope it all works out.

PopKiss

I have been following this thread with interest. To provide some balance, I would like to add my recent experiences.
At the end of April I applied for 3 x Cheshire ISA Saver accounts on behalf of my wife and my parents. I applied online, printing off the completed applications as directed. Each application involved transferring in previous years ISA contributions held with other providers, as well as new contributions for 2013-14. I _did_ post each application used the Royal Mail Signed For service.
Within a week I received confirmations emails that the applications had been received and were being processed. (NOTE: The emails provided a reference number but no details of the associated account - so it was not apparent which email related to which application.)
We have all received follow-up letters confirming the account details, BUT no welcome pack - yet.
At the end of last week we received letters for two of the three applications confirming the transfers-in; I anticipate we'll received the third letter very soon.
So, to summarise:
I have not encountered any issues, (so far) with Cheshire. Their processes do not seem any worse than any of the other ISA providers. It would appear a little patience is required.
I hope my experiences have allayed some concerns.

custardy

sabre50 wrote: »

I am in the middle of a house move, hoping to exchange contracts soon, and have sent off a postal request to transfer funds. About five days later I get a letter requesting certified or original copy of passport or driving licence as they do not have my signature on their records. I phoned to tell them they must have my signature as I sent it to them when I signed the paperwork I printed off my computer when I applied. No, they do not have this. They were happy to have my authorisation via computer to transfer all my funds from previous ISA but not happy to give any back.

I sent my original driving licence by recorded delivery as too expensive to get [STRIKE]certified[/STRIKE] Special Delivery(£7.50), sent Monday, I phoned today Wednesday and they still say they have not received it. Not very happy!

too expensive? look at the cost/hassle to replace it and I would say it isnt

Yorksport

I do worry that they are still at the top of the interest rate pile for ISA transfers in, so presumably awash with funds, when their systems are not up to coping. There is no online access to the account - you have to use cheques and the post which seems primitive in 2013. I too transferred from Santander where the account worked perfectly but sadly their interest rates have declined.