Foreign Currencies Direct

MNrhubarb

Sorry if this has already been debated but does anyone have any experience of this company?

They were recommended to us by our estate agent in France as we are buying a small house over there. They say they are accredited by the FCA. Searches have pulled up really good reviews and they claim there are no hidden charges however when we transferred £25k we were charged £15. When questioned they said this was because the amount was under £50k and that it was clear in the T&Cs but it’s actually in Annexe 1 of the T&Cs and that doesn’t mention a minimum amount, just a flat fee for electronic transfers. So if everyone is charged £15 for a transfer you’d think this would be made clear right?

Also we have been given no receipt for any transaction we’ve done with them. We have transferred money to the notarie through them but we only know this because the notarie gave us a receipt. We are now wondering about all the rave reviews and whether we shouldn’t open a French bank account and request all our money is transferred there instead. Hoping someone here can put us at ease regarding this company?

Chino

MNrhubarb wrote: »

Sorry if this has already been debated but does anyone have any experience of this company?

Perhaps you could post a URL for this company?

Searching on the Companies House website for "Foreign Currencies Direct" doesn't show any matches. However, there is a company called "Foreign Currency Direct plc" (company number 05082565). Is this the company you meant?

MNrhubarb

The url is http://www.currencies.co.uk/

They are based in Buckinghamshire.

Chino

MNrhubarb wrote: »

The url is http://www.currencies.co.uk/

In which case you ought to edit the title of the thread.

If you feel that the company has acted contrary to its terms and conditions then you need to follow the company's complaints procedure:
https://www.currencies.co.uk/about-us/complaints-procedure/

MNrhubarb

The title is correct, the url does not correspond to their trading name which is Foreign Currency or Currencies Direct plc

Afraid_of_Kittens

So the small print in the term and conditions say you will be charged £15 for an electronic transfer and you were charged £15 for an electronic transfer. The issue is?

https://www.currencies.co.uk/terms/

Payment Services Telegraphic Transfers (TT) When you instruct a TT payment £15 per payment

MNrhubarb

Please read the whole post. It is not the only issue.

The guy we are dealing with told us the fee was because the sum we transferred was less than £50k. That is not what it says in the T&Cs. Also they say there are no hidden charges. The transfer fee was never disclosed to us. It is not clear in the T&Cs, it is in fact mentioned in an annexe of the T&Cs.

We are not given any receipts of payment and to be fair, we’re not talking insubstantial amounts here. If you just transferred £25k to this company, wouldn’t you want something confirming that?

The url does not match their trading name yet they have race reviews. All I am asking is for reassurance that others have dealt with this company and they are legit.

eskbanker

MNrhubarb wrote: »

All I am asking is for reassurance that others have dealt with this company and they are legit.

Seems a bit late to be seeking assurances - you've already used the company and they did get the job done but you weren't particularly happy with aspects of how, so even if someone else who's used them ends up posting, I'm not sure that opinions of other customers will necessarily help?

Anyway, in your shoes I'd be inclined to go with one of the companies listed in the MSE guide at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/foreign-currency-exchange/ - Transferwise usually seem to be praised on similar threads....

MNrhubarb

Well, we could cut our losses and take our money out. They still have the best part of £20k of ours. And maybe if someone else is thinking of using them our post will at least give them better information than we had at our disposal.
We chose them because of the recommendation from the estate agent and all the excellent reviews which don’t mention anything of the experience we’ve had with them so far.

eskbanker

MNrhubarb wrote: »

Well, we could cut our losses and take our money out. They still have the best part of £20k of ours.

:eek:

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what you're trying to do here but as I understand it this company (like most currency brokers) specialises in transferring funds as a middleman on the way from one bank to another. If you have money deposited with them that isn't in the (transient) process of being sent between secure bank accounts then yes, I'd have thought that this is a risk you'd be better avoiding.

MNrhubarb wrote: »

And maybe if someone else is thinking of using them our post will at least give them better information than we had at our disposal.
We chose them because of the recommendation from the estate agent and all the excellent reviews which don’t mention anything of the experience we’ve had with them so far.

But this is the fundamental issue with reviews, they're inherently subjective and what seems a big issue to you may be a complete irrelevance to others, and vice versa....

Unless you've signed up to some sort of contract with them, you're presumably free to use any broker to shift your money, so you could try one or more of the others if you're unhappy with FCD's level of service?