Halifax ISA transfer shambles

Jack_Edwards

I requested the transfer of an ISA from the Halifax to a local Building Society in Yorkshire. There was a slight mistake made on the transfer form by the new provider which the Halifax thought was strange but even though they had my contact details, they decided to do nothing about it. Consequently the Halifax charged me approximately £163 per day for 6 days early closure which I did not request. The fixed rate ISA ran for 2 years less the 6 days. For these 6 days the Halifax charged me approximately £980. Surely this is pure greed on their behalf. This is the bank that "gives you extra"!! The new provider has refunded this money but I believe the Halifax should take part of the blame for failing to sort out this strange situation. The customer care I have received from the Halifax has been appalling. In most cases they refused to give me any surname and generally refused to ring me back. It appears that their ISA transfer team are not "customer facing"!! Their general saying is that they have done nothing wrong. This is the third time we have had problems with the Halifax over the past few years and so we have decided to take all our accounts elsewhere. Has anyone else experienced such a lack of customer care from this bank?:mad::mad::mad:

xylophone

There was a slight mistake made on the transfer form by the new provider

The new provider has refunded this money

So compensation has been provided by the Financial Institution which made the error which seems fair enough.

It would seem that the Halifax could have been more helpful but the fact remains that the error was not theirs?

PeacefulWaters

Customers and regulators have been hitting ISA providers over the head for years, demanding that they speed up the transfer process.

There is now an agreement within the industry that forms should be actioned as soon as possible on receipt in accordance with instructions provided. As a result, most ISA transfers are completed within a week.

Slowing the transfer process to make a phone call to question an actionable instruction isn't the right thing to do.

If Halifax have ignored instructions or acted outside the remit of those instructions then you have a case against them. It does sound like you have a justifiable complaint about the way they have managed your complaint. But not about how they have actioned the transfer.

If they have acted in accordance with the instructions they are not in any way to blame. The person completing / signing the form takes responsibility.

Jack_Edwards

The issue isn't the money as I stated it had been refunded. The issue is that the Halifax realised the situation wasn't quite right, the total amount to be transferred was added to the bottom of the form so they knew the maturity amount, but chose to ignore it because they were going to benefit by £980. Since then the customer care by the Halifax has been abysmal. It is the total lack of customer care that concerns me and that is the main reason I am taking all my custom elsewhere. Their advertisement states "The bank that gives you extra", it should read "The bank that takes extra". This is the third and last problem we have had with them over the last few years. My argument is with the head office and not the branch staff. The branch staff have been excellent, I cannot praise them enough.

Jack_Edwards

The transfer form was altered (unknown to me) after I had signed it. Fortunately I had a copy of the original request form. This was the reason why the new provider refunded the money. This is not the issue. The issue is the dreadful customer service I have had from the Halifax. To try and speak to someone who could help at the Halifax took me an hour in some cases, it would have only taken minutes for the Halifax to contact me. Would that have made much difference to the 15 days allowed for transfer? I just want to highlight their appalling customer care at head office.

Jack_Edwards

I should add that if the Halifax or the Ombudsman decide to reimburse me, I shall forward the money either to the new provider or to charity. The only pleasure I would get from this is to make sure that banks give better customer care and put their customers first.

eskbanker

Despite several attempts to clarify, it's still not really making any sense - in what way did Halifax not abide by the instructions they received (even if these weren't what you'd actually intended)?

What makes you believe that "Halifax thought [it] was strange but even though they had my contact details, they decided to do nothing about it" and "Halifax realised the situation wasn't quite right"?

Archi_Bald

You weren't charged £163 per day for early closure - you were charged x days (probably 180) interest for early closure. This is made very clear in the T&Cs, and is standard for fixed term savings accounts, whether they are ISAs or not.

From what you say, your new provider made a mistake on the form, and the Halifax did exactly what they were asked to do by your new provider. Not sure why the new provider would make any changes to the ISA transfer form without your prior written agreement.

Why are you not angry with your new provider for modifying your transfer form after you had signed it? Why should Halifax contact you if they have done exactly as they were asked to do on the form?

Why do you expect any compensation from the Halifax if you already got your compensation from the people who made the mistake?

PeacefulWaters

Jack_Edwards wrote: »

I should add that if the Halifax or the Ombudsman decide to reimburse me, I shall forward the money either to the new provider or to charity. The only pleasure I would get from this is to make sure that banks give better customer care and put their customers first.

You have been reimbursed.

It looks like all you're doing now is delaying somebody else from getting a complaint dealt with by clogging up the system with something that's already been done and dusted.