Interactive Investor... dire

digannio

What a terrible customer service experience I've just had with them which ended in me abandoning an ISA transfer from Fidelity. I've got 7 funds in the ISA and searched through Interactive Investor to make sure they were all offered by them so I didn't have to sell anything and could just do a transfer of the funds.

The site showed they were offered but then I got a message saying one fund would have to be sold as it wasn't offered by them. I called back and it got off to a bad start when I was asked password letters and the lady said to me "They're wrong." I repeated them (exactly the same) and they were accepted and she said: "You gave me the wrong ones first time."

She then said when I searched for the funds I should have searched under "TD Direct Investing" rather than "Interactive Investor" which was now out of date and she confirmed the fund was not offered under the new site under TD Direct. It's still showing as being offered if you search under Interactive Investor.

She said if I wanted to cancel the transfer later I should do it through the secure messaging because they were extremely busy on the phones. They sounded completely overwhelmed, impatient and not really bothered whether I wanted to do the transfer or not.... as in not giving a monkeys either way really.

You can guess what I've done... the search goes on for a fixed fee provider that offers my funds, wants the business and gives you a bit of confidence in conducting business properly. I won't be back down the II route.

Amoux

digannio wrote: »

...

I think the saying "you get what you pay for" is true here. Also I can be somewhat understanding as they are currently going through huge structural changes after acquiring TD Direct. If you got the impression that they are flustered, it's probably because they are! That said, you aren't the only one complaining about their service - in fact there is a large thread about it on this board.

I would personally just go with the cheapest possible provider, regardless of the customer support - but my needs are rather basic. All I need is to be setup correctly, and then I can leave it and forget it. Anyway, if you are looking for another fixed fee provider, perhaps consider Halifax/iWeb?

digannio

Tried that route. Halifax/iweb don't carry L&G Multi Index 5 which is one of the funds and I want to keep it.
I agree with what you say about II and I think they seem so overwhelmed that it doesn't fill you with confidence in carrying out a transfer in a proper and timely manner.

DennisTenus

Oh, I was going to transfer some cash ISA to II. Already got Iweb so not sure who else to go to.

Is that fund you want to keep particularly good then? Just interested.

le_loup

digannio wrote: »

the search goes on for a fixed fee provider that offers my funds, wants the business and gives you a bit of confidence in conducting business properly. I won't be back down the II route.

You have discovered what many of us have found - cheap price = no service.

digannio

The fund that II don't offer is Kames Diversified Monthly Income, which fits the bill for what I want.

Le loup, you've summed it up really. Transfers to save money sound really easy but I've found it anything but. I've found the cheaper ones like iweb and II don't have all the funds I require and in the case of Interactive Investor I was treated like someone who was adding to their burden rather than bringing them business. The impression I got was that they would be quite happy if I just cancelled the transfer and tittled off elsewhere rather than trying to find a way round it and see if they could offer all the funds.

The fact that I found all the funds on the Interactive Investor website only to be told that I should have been looking on the TD Direct site (which doesn't offer all of them) just seems bizarre. And the Interactive Investor site is still there in all its glory offering all the funds.

I thought II had taken over TD, which just adds to the confusion. Two websites, now the same company but each one not carrying the same funds. And not a word of explanation about it all on the sites.

aroominyork

digannio wrote: »

The fact that I found all the funds on the Interactive Investor website only to be told that I should have been looking on the TD Direct site (which doesn't offer all of them) just seems bizarre. And the Interactive Investor site is still there in all its glory offering all the funds.

Perhaps it's something to do with SIPPs already being on the new platform but ISAs coming across on 11 December, which are the dates they told me when I phoned today to check they carry the funds I am thinking of moving across in my SIPP and ISA from HL. They suggested I email a list of funds to [EMAIL="interactivehelp@ii.co.uk"]interactivehelp@ii.co.uk[/EMAIL] and they will double check. The guy I spoke to was helpful and unrushed but I can well imagine they are in a bit of a state. I doubt they are expanding to provide bad service, so I'm putting it down to teething problem and looking at the long run.

I looked at Alliance Trust Savings but it's annoying that you have to open an account and log in to see the live site; otherwise you have to download a pdf of fund names to see if it is carried.

MallyGirl

I think they are struggling. I had opened an II SIPP just before the takeover announcement. I was partway through a transfer when they sent an email saying that it couldn't happen on the old site and I would have to open a new SIPP on the TD site. I did this straight away given that there was potentially a cheque in the post. I then got an email saying sorry, they had made a msitake and my old account would be retained to support the transfer in progress. I called the number they gave to cancel the new SIPP as I didn't want to be hit with 2 sets of charges. I got through to TD who could not find any of the account info as they could only see their stuff and not II. I ended up sorting it via secure message to both companies. I am holding off on further transfers till it is all sorted in the new year.

chockydavid1983

Has it been OK in the past and just struggling atm?
I was thinking of going with II for next year's ISA allowance.

DennisTenus

Whos the next cheapest fixed fee provider after Iweb and II for larger pots?

barak

chockydavid1983 wrote: »

Has it been OK in the past and just struggling atm?
I was thinking of going with II for next year's ISA allowance.

Yes, it has been OK in the past!

I transferred a large portfolio from Fidelity to Interactive Investor in 2015 after discovering that IWeb/Halifax didn't have many of the well-known funds I held. My transfer was efficient and I can't fault the service. The new terms are even better than before.

I think the current problems are due to their decision to use the TD Direct platform rather than their own and that things will settle down soon with the same range of funds available.

"Extract from ii_news [October 2017]

When Interactive Investor completed the purchase of TD Direct Investing (TDDI) in June we began work on bringing all customers together under the Interactive Investor brand and we're making good progress with our plan to achieve this.

As part of our work we have spent considerable time looking at both current platforms to determine which will provide the best functionality both now and for the future. We've concluded that the platform currently used by TDDI customers is the better option and will offer you an improved experience. We are taking the right steps to move your account to the new platform, which we expect to take place by the end of December.

We know that a change of investing platform can be a little daunting, and we're committed to making this move as smooth as we possibly can."