Charter savings bank - lots of complaints

FIDUSCUSTOS

Guys, heads up Charter Savings is getting massive complaints about customer service, from people not getting their money back to having to post documents to confirm identity. Also seems they have with-drew 2.2% interest offer. Suspicion is it's been over-subscribed. Best avoid for the time being. Check details on Trustpilot

Daliah

I would very much expect that a bank verifies the ID of account holders before they allow withdrawals, as I would be seriously unimpressed if they let an imposter to get at my money - and I reckon, so would you be.

It is also normal for savings providers the withdraw products from sale when they are oversubscribed. This has been happening forever.

Trustpilot would not be the place I would go to for opinions on bank and savings accounts as it does not give a balanced view and often attracts rants from people who have unrealistic expectations. This forum is a much better place for getting reasonable views. As far as Charter Bank is concerned - I am quite happy with them so far, and as they are FSCS protected and have got good KYC processes in place, I am not worried about my deposits with them.

andyhicks88

The funny thing about Trustpilot is that you can't really trust it at all.

FIDUSCUSTOS

well why don't you try opening account and see for yourself? what else can you do?

kaMelo

Lol truspilot, I currently have one account as well as previously having a good few accounts with Charter. Always been a smooth process and would happily recommend them.

FIDUSCUSTOS

Daliah, glad you're happy with Charter, lots are not. Posting documents is so old fashioned and has a carbon footprint legacy, time for the bank to be like forward thinking banks and embrace technology. People who are experiencing not getting their money back I would think is important enough to report anywhere and therefore should be taken note of for all prospective investors

SJMALBA

I've had numerous accounts (EA & bonds) with Charter for well over a year now, and never had any problems (touch wood!).

Given the very short time that EA Iss 28 was available, they may have been inundated?

FIDUSCUSTOS

kaMelo glad you're happy with the bank, if you feel trustpilot is laughable then why is Charter Bank replying to all the complaints on the website? Maybe they feel it's a justifiable complaint? just a thought.

FIDUSCUSTOS

SJMABA, I think you're right banks need to balance how much they get from investors to the returns they have promised. They could be inundated or have to cut the offer due to risk

mebu60

FIDUSCUSTOS said:

Guys, heads up Charter Savings is getting massive complaints about customer service, from people not getting their money back to having to post documents to confirm identity. Also seems they have with-drew 2.2% interest offer. Suspicion is it's been over-subscribed. Best avoid for the time being. Check details on Trustpilot

Thanks for the heads-up, I have checked Trustpilot for Charter Savings. They have a 4.2* rating from 1777 reviews, quite impressive considering people are more likely to post on there when something goes wrong than when it works as it should. 
The latest three reviews, all 1*, complain about funds not being credited, specifically within 24 hours on two, but do not state when the funds were sent. If after 1pm on a Friday that would be next working day, i.e. Monday, or Tuesday if that was a bank holiday. 

I opened an account last week and have deposited £nn010. I am awaiting the letter with an authorisation code when I will withdraw £10 to ensure that process works. Ideally I would like to have had the letter already but I would expect that an offer of 2.25% is likely to see them swamped. I would also not be surprised if the issue is withdrawn either temporarily to manage the flow or permanently because they expect to achieve their funds target. 

I also opened an account with Cambridge BS last week at 2.1%. The email containing my user id only arrived overnight, taking longer than the welcome letter that arrived in the snail mail yesterday. Again, I would have preferred it sooner but again, I expect they are rather busy and their systems aren't quite up to it so I set my expectations accordingly. 

FIDUSCUSTOS

mebus60, glad / hope all is ok, I think they have underestimated the people out there that can invest serious money, who knows time will tell if they can continue with the offer, cheers