Halifax RS the account they dont want you to open

FIFE1

I am now entering the 3rd month of trying to get this account opened - It has been a catalogue, I'm almost wishing I hadn't bothered yet I'm sure that's want they want so I'm even more determined now.

1/ trying to get an application form from a branch took in excess of half an hour.

2/ It then becomes apparent that you have to open another account first to link the regular savings account to and unless you want to invest in excess of a pound then the WebSaver account is the only option – this wasn’t too bad.

3/ I dropped the application form back into the branch (Redhill). They receipted the opening deposit by writing it on a compliments slip!! and said they would open the account that afternoon and post out everything to me

4/ 2 weeks went by – nothing I phoned them – I spent an hour and a half through their call centre banging my head against a brick wall trying to get it sorted out before eventually getting through to the branch. I was then promised it would be sorted out and I would get a phone call back – nothing.

5/ 2 weeks further on still nothing, I phoned again, and subsequently received an email asking me to ring them. They say the only address and phone number they have for me was one I left 7 years ago and which they could only possibly have as I had an old Leeds account many years ago. It is certainly not the address I gave either on the Regular Savings application form or the Web Saver.

6/ I am now awaiting their next attempt at what they promise – we shall see call me cynical but I think they like the headlines of an account offering a top interest rate but I don’t think they want anyone to benefit from it.


Is anyone else struggling or just me???

Milarky

Well, my Regular Saver has matured today and the balance plus interest has been swept into a websaver account. I now want to transfer the first month's payment straight back but when I attempt to do this (i.e the transfer is all set up and confirmed) it comes back with the message:

"This payment has not been sent as it is outside the limits set for this type of receiving account."

Could this be because today is the anniversary and they only let you pay more money in on the ann date+1? Or is it something to do the site itself, rather than the accounts I am working with?

Any thoughts?

[BTW I went to saynoto0870.com and put in the 0845 number, and the number it came back with as an '01' '02' alternative has been changed by Halifax and a moronic voice says 'please hang up'. These firms are wising up to this trick by moneysavers by switching off the 'geographic' numbers one by one!]

Leia_Stephens

Milarky wrote:

Could this be because today is the anniversary and they only let you pay more money in on the ann date+1? Or is it something to do the site itself, rather than the accounts I am working with?

Any thoughts?

I am not sure, but I thought that you needed to wait until your payment date in the 1st month after the anniversary: for example, if your payment date is 1st of the month, your next one could not be before 1st June.

My RS matures on 22nd June, and I am expecting my 1st payment - after the anniversary date - not to be accepted before 1st July.

Leia

System

Mine was a pain to set up too.

Kazza242

Milarky wrote:

Well, my Regular Saver has matured today and the balance plus interest has been swept into a websaver account. I now want to transfer the first month's payment straight back but when I attempt to do this (i.e the transfer is all set up and confirmed) it comes back with the message:

"This payment has not been sent as it is outside the limits set for this type of receiving account."

Could this be because today is the anniversary and they only let you pay more money in on the ann date+1? Or is it something to do the site itself, rather than the accounts I am working with?
Any thoughts?

Milarky. Halifax will not permit you to make your first monthly payment into your regular saver on the day of the anniversary. They will let you transfer in your first payment from tomorrow (if the transfer is internal). My regular saver matured on 7th April and my first monthly payment (at the new 7% rate) went in on the 8th April without any hitches.

Milarky

Halifax have now told me that the account cannot be funded by transfer from a Websaver account but must be by standing order [it's in the T&Cs they say, but I can't find where it says that and I've thrown out the leaflets they gave me originally]

I'll try to make a transfer tommorow - if that works I'll just carry on at the start of each calendar month thereafter. [If not, I now have a 'plan B'!]

UPDATE:

Sorry, it did not work - even today. The reason is buried down here, I think.

http://www.halifax.co.uk/savings/impinfo.shtml#withdrawal

Halifax Regular Saver...
Minimum age: 16. Sole accounts only. Only one account per person. Regular monthly payments of at least £25 by standing order. (No standing orders from other Halifax savings accounts.)

So you can't directly credit this account - because they take steps to stop you doing so.

Solutions[?]

- Make a 'bill payment' from Websaver, quoting the sort code and eight digit account number for the Regular Saver. This ought to work as one once the payment leaves it passes to a third party [BACS] and cannot be traced when it returns.

- Withdraw to a Halifax current account [if you have one] and pay in by 'standing order'. Whether a standing order works as a same-day internal transfer I don't know, but it means you would need two added accounts [the Websaver, for instant access higher interest, plus current account ] to roll over the money as desired.

- Just take it out of Halifax altogether - and credit by external transfer.

[Any comments?]

weaver

just a note - dont ring the halifax - get them to ring you




http://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/callback.shtml


ask to be put through to correct department - works for me everytime

FIFE1

Handy tip - Thanks

Milarky

Milarky wrote:

Well, my Regular Saver has matured today and the balance plus interest has been swept into a websaver account. I now want to transfer the first month's payment straight back but when I attempt to do this (i.e the transfer is all set up and confirmed) it comes back with the message:

"This payment has not been sent as it is outside the limits set for this type of receiving account."

I managed to apply for a HFX current account - immediate acceptance - but then it took until today to be able to activate it by paying in first deposit at a branch. You'd think you could make an online current a/c to RS transfer would you? Nope!

What I've done is set up a standing order [assuming that it goes through on the same day as it's one HFX account to another] to commence on 1st May, and will just logon to 'sweep' £250 each month from the Websaver. The OD limit on the current ac means I don't need to keep any cash in it. That just leaves the 'first' month's payment. Do we think that a BACs payment made from the current account will deceive the RS into accepting it? [Maybe I'll do that then]

But Halifax have really created a lot of friction over this one....

WaltD

It also took me over a month to get a Regular Saver account set up and started. In the end, I had to open three accounts! (RS, Current Account to feed it, and a Web Saver account to receive the eventual proceeds.) Each one was a hassle to set up. They do not seem to give any training to their Branch staff ... most of whom seem to be straight out of school. In fact, I went to a different Branch to open the RS, after all the hassle I'd had to set up the Current Account, but it was just as bad. They were completely clueless. They took a week to pay in my initial cheque deposit, then they set up the first Standing Order payment to take place in the same month ... and it was bounced back when that date came. I am into the second month now, and it seems to be working at last.

By the way ... be careful about the current account overdraft. The overdraft is interest-free only for the first 4 months, and then if you don't pay in at least £250 a month to the current account, you may not get an overdraft facility at all!

Milarky

Yes, Halifax are practically saying: "We don't want your money - take it away and give it to someone else". And it's got to be costing them in terms of customer relations - I don't think it's deliberate, though!