Interactive Investor - An Incompetent Firm

Nixter

Ok, that rules Halifax, AJ Bell and Interactive Investor out of the equation.
Moving up the ladder of expenses, who next would be worth a punt?
It's really annoying as I'm mainly invested in the Vanguard LifeStrategy fund range and paying a percentage fee offsets any gains from these cheap tracker funds.

le_loup

dunstonh wrote: »

<devils advocate mode on>

Perhaps you are getting the service you are paying for?

That's a very fair comment.
III are possibly too cheap and have not the recourses to cope with the influx they have received.
The difficulty I have is that a % based charge is so unreasonable if you have a fair chunk invested.
So what to do folks? It seems people have had problems with all the low cost platforms, so do we have to look at the next level? Would that be Alliance Trust?
C'mon guys someone out there is getting excellent service from someone who is not based in Bristol!

ChesterDog

Not sure about SIPPs (I will look in a minute) but Share Centre offers fixed charges for ISAs and trading accounts, plus the trading fees are discounted 30% if you hold 500 of their own shares: £200-ish).

I have never done a transfer in, but have always found them excellent and very efficient at everything else.

Here's the SIPP charges page: https://www.share.com/accounts/pensions/self-invested-personal-pension-sipp/costs-and-dealing-options/

Linton

Nixter wrote: »

.......

4) I have to send a secure message each month to check when my accrued dividends are due, because they don’t seem to act until you contact them.

You shouldnt need to contact them - have you set the option on the UI to either pay out dividends when received (if dividend > £25) or at regular intervals? I use this and although there were a few problems when set up a few years ago (the facility had only just been introduced I think) these now work reliably for me.

DiamondLil

I, too, can empathise as I'm also in the process of transferring to II.
What frustrates me most of all is their total lack of communication.
I've 'phoned and messaged them several times and always get the stock reply "I'll pass your concerns on to our transfer team who will contact you by email or 'phone"; I have yet to receive a single communication from said "transfer team".
And I, too, am now seriously thinking of transferring away from them; but with my luck so far, the transfer-in process will take so long as to disqualify me from the one year free transfer out period they so kindly offer......
(Am beginning to understand why they so confidently offer this generously long cooling off period).

Nixter

Linton wrote: »

You shouldnt need to contact them - have you set the option on the UI to either pay out dividends when received (if dividend > £25) or at regular intervals? I use this and although there were a few problems when set up a few years ago (the facility had only just been introduced I think) these now work reliably for me.

Where would I find this option? The only thing I can see in the menu is 'Dividend Option: Not reinvested', but from what I understand I only seem to receive the dividends when I write and complain to them. Maybe if I waited for a few more weeks, they would show up, but the process feels so slow compared to HL.

Nixter

DiamondLil wrote: »

I, too, can empathise as I'm also in the process of transferring to II.
What frustrates me most of all is their total lack of communication.
I've 'phoned and messaged them several times and always get the stock reply "I'll pass your concerns on to our transfer team who will contact you by email or 'phone"; I have yet to receive a single communication from said "transfer team".

That is EXACTLY what they do every single time I contact them. 'We will pass your concerns on to our transfer team.' I have so many ongoing complaints in the mailbox now, making it hard to know which one they are actually processing.

Total shambles.

jimjames

le_loup wrote: »

That's a very fair comment.
III are possibly too cheap and have not the recourses to cope with the influx they have received.
The difficulty I have is that a % based charge is so unreasonable if you have a fair chunk invested.
So what to do folks? It seems people have had problems with all the low cost platforms, so do we have to look at the next level? Would that be Alliance Trust?
C'mon guys someone out there is getting excellent service from someone who is not based in Bristol!

No-one mentioned Cavendish yet?

Very impressed with their service. Still percent based but much less than HL

Nixter

jimjames wrote: »

No-one mentioned Cavendish yet?

Very impressed with their service. Still percent based but much less than HL

Would you happen to know if they have the Vanguard range of funds?
Upon brief inspection I wasn't able to spot them on their list...

Borrowedtune

Very unhappy with II for similar reasons to the OP.