Dot ComUnity Credit Union - ISA

darren72

FOREVER21 wrote: »

Just come of the telephone to them, apparently a letter was sent out on Tuesday, I have not received my copy.

Neither have I - The postal service can be slow, but if it was genuinely sent out on Tuesday, some of us should have received it by now!

Steve3S13

here we go again then, same old same old.....................

darren72

Steve3S13 wrote: »

here we go again then, same old same old.....................

I honestly can't understand how they can get away with this over and over agian....

colsten

darren72 wrote: »

I honestly can't understand how they can get away with this over and over agian....

May be the FCA don't know just how dreadful they are?

gwapenut

You know the regulators like to see proof that a CU has written to members advising them of restrictions?

Would they be interested in see how for example the initial notification of withdrawal restrictions was communicated to us ... as an attachment to an upbeat email that made no mention of the restrictions? Clearly hoping that many members wouldn't open the attachment?

I feel that DotComunity have been playing quite dirty in how they comply with the "voluntary" regulatory requirements ... so voluntary that they cannot actually get the restrictions lifted

MARTYM8`

gwapenut wrote: »

You know the regulators like to see proof that a CU has written to members advising them of restrictions?

Would they be interested in see how for example the initial notification of withdrawal restrictions was communicated to us ... as an attachment to an upbeat email that made no mention of the restrictions? Clearly hoping that many members wouldn't open the attachment?

I feel that DotComunity have been playing quite dirty in how they comply with the "voluntary" regulatory requirements ... so voluntary that they cannot actually get the restrictions lifted

Quite a lot of people on here never got that email on 16 Jan it seems (so they are in technical breach of the regulators requirements) - and if they hadn't opened the attachment letter they would not have realised that the withdrawal restrictions were in place (point 6 in said letter). The covering email is rather upbeat - bar some obscure reference to capital reserves!

Just a reminder of how it was worded - apologies for breaking their legal disclaimer saying I shouldn't in the email but who cares!

"CONTINUING OUR FOCUS ON 2015
Further to our last email, we continue to drive forward and remain on schedule to implement the capital reserves by the end of the month.

We continue to develop our wide range of products and services with key milestones including:

- The launch of new bespoke savings schemes with a variety of partners through the DotComUnity Centres network
- The development of some exciting loan projects supporting individuals and communities throughout the UK
- An exciting new interactive website, helping to make it clear and understandable for all products and services available.

By the end of the month you will also be receiving your Annual Statements which will also show that the Credit Union has successfully paid a dividend on the year end 2014."

The dual letter with our annual statements - including the 3% dividend no one on here seems to have been paid (will they actually pay us any interest on our ISAs either?) - sent two weeks later of course made no reference to this at all. And of course endless promises of updates/letters/meetings with no communications or info on their new website or facebook pages/twitter.

I can almost forgive them their financial problems - what I cannot abide is their disregard for their members and their failure to properly communicate what is going on. Given they are a credit union which exists primarily to support families/carers of people with physical and learning disabilities and organisations which support them its even worse in my eyes.

gwapenut

Agreed. They have a duty, at the very least, to make it crystal clear to people with savings that they may not be able to access them, and for quite some time. What if someone needed them for a wedding, a new car, or even worse, a house deposit, and still thought they'd have penalty free access in March?

As an example, failure to come up with a house deposit between exchange and completion can lead to very significant financial repercussions - DotCU have a moral obligation to make each and every saver fully aware of the situation, without dressing it up in layers of attachments or the banker double speak that they claim to despise so much.

Steve3S13

On the facebook page you can write a review of them. They were showing 5 stars. I did a 1 star review, poor, and now they are down to four stars. I will continue to post on that page until we get a result

Archi_Bald

I had an envelope from DCU in the post this morning. Unbelievably, it contained an expensive looking brochure, advertising their 5-year 5% AER Social Impact Community Bond, in which I can invest between £5K and £250K, and there is no FSCS guarantee.

They must be thinking that their customers are totally daft.

Brochure now in the recycling bin.

Steve_xx

Archi_Bald wrote: »

I had an envelope from DCU in the post this morning. Unbelievably, it contained an expensive looking brochure, advertising their 5-year 5% AER Social Impact Community Bond, in which I can invest between £5K and £250K, and there is no FSCS guarantee.

They must be thinking that their customers are totally daft.

Brochure now in the recycling bin.

That's a bit curious really, since they are protected (in general) by the FSCS. So then, it seems that they as an entity can pick and choose the types if savings that are protected under the FSCS?