Dot ComUnity Credit Union - ISA

darren72

MARTYM8` wrote: »

Yes - some have the letter (like me) and no brochure and others have the brochure but no letter. So either there has been a massive mess up with the mailout or they are wasting postage -as they should surely have combined the two to save money.

I think it has been intentional to send them separately.

Would they really want to emphasise the restrictions that have been imposed on them at the same time as advertising a non-protected option of loaning money to them with no FSCS protection ?

Even it if has cost them around £1.50 in total for each member they send them out to !

Bhamstudent

I rang to speak to them on Friday and got a call back from Neil (I forget his second name ) who is their compliance manager. I missed his call so will call him Monday morning and will post a summary of our discussion.

Steve3S13

We got two brochures but not one letter. I agree that the ombudsman approach is an option we should all take. Can we arrange a joint contact or will it be easier and better to do it independently.

Steve3S13

Do we do this by just calling the number you gave?

Forti wrote: »

I've just spoken with the Financial Ombudsman Service on 0300 123 9 123 (sorry I said I would do it last week).

They can file a complaint on our behalf and if the complaint isn't satisfactorily resolved the credit union will then face a £500 cost to the Ombudsman Service. Essentially it adds additional pressure rather than us filing complaints directly.

I'm going to speak with DotComUnity on Monday to give them a final opportunity over this matter. If I am not satisfied I will then get the Ombudsman to issue a formal complaint. I suggest others do the same.

Timelines are slow, but I have no confidence 8 weeks down the line we're going to be in any different position to today.

MARTYM8`

Steve3S13 wrote: »

We got two brochures but not one letter. I agree that the ombudsman approach is an option we should all take. Can we arrange a joint contact or will it be easier and better to do it independently.

Is that the same brochure twice - or a different product they are trying to sell?

Steve3S13

We have an Isa each, one brochure addressed to Mr and one to Mrs

Steve_xx

Steve3S13 wrote: »

We have an Isa each, one brochure addressed to Mr and one to Mrs

That's pretty normal as there are data protection issues here and regardless of how you may think, they would not normally merge two addressees mail into one envelope.

babylon32

My wife has got a loan account with them after buying a wheelchair trike last year. Got 3 copies of the same letter in the post this morning in separate envelopes which if they are trying to raise funds sounds wasteful. Given that £5 of the monthly repayments are meant to be going into the savings account not sure what is now going on with the money going in if they are not meant to accept savings. Not precious about the savings element but just don't know enough about what is going on.

Forti

Steve3S13 wrote: »

Do we do this by just calling the number you gave?

Yes and I believe you can also submit online. Unfortunately the Ombudsman Service is now closed for the weekend. The details they needed were very quickly taken but basically involved:
1. Name
2. Address
3. Email (optional)
4. Phone Number
5. Account Number
6. Complaint - For me: I can't withdraw my savings and have no timeline on when I can

They have recorded my details, but I've asked them not to issue until I speak to DotComUnity on Monday.

It's a real shame it's coming to this, looking at Babylon's post they are clearly doing good work - giving loans for wheelchairs is exactly the kind of organisation I am happy to support. However, I can't be in a position where I can't access my own funds.

pafpcg

Just to make the issue of the letters and brochures even murkier, I looked at the envelopes. We had two letters (one for me, one for OH) in DL-sized envelopes both franked on 5/03/15 (Thursday) with the letter itself dated Wednesday 4-March. The postage paid was 37p which seems odd to me with even the lowest second-class letter costing 53p. The brochure came in an A4 envelope franked on 6/03/15 (Friday) - just one, addressed to me. The postage paid was £1.07 which does match any Royal Mail price band I can see (the first-class rate for a large letter is 93p). Could the sporadic nature of deliveries to members be due to Royal Mail not understanding the postage paid either? Let's hope your delivery postman doesn't demand an excess postage charge!

Could the fact we've only received one brochure be down to the fact that I have more invested in my DotComUnity ISA than my OH? With such a high minimum threshold for the loan, perhaps they think that only the well-heeled are worth contacting, which is probably a good tactic.

As regards the supposedly confidential contents of the letter, I've calculated that the credit union needs only eighteen benefactors/gamblers/mugs to subscribe to the bond with the minimum amount in order to cover the current shortfall in their funding requirements. Somehow, that doesn't seem inconceivable. If they dropped the minimum by a factor of ten, then I'd go for it, and in some respects I feel I'm obliged to do so since it's folks like us suddenly dumping substantial ISA funds on them last year which triggered this problem.