Kent Reliance - are they really this bad?

t0rt0ise

paul235 said:

Downthedrain said:

I eventually got through to someone helpful. He said the opening balance should be the transfer amount from the ISA being transferred. I replied that I won't know this because the interest will only be credited at the time of transfer, less a 180 day penalty. He suggested I just fill in an opening balance of £1000.

I opened the 2 year account and filled in the Transfer request within the application. 
Do they submit the transfer or do we have to first send the signed transfer form by post to Kent Reliance?

I didn't send it by post. They actually dealt with the transfer very quickly. 

RobM99

Adly812 said:

Oh blimey don’t say that lol. I’m about to open an Isa with them myself, however I was a previous customer a few years ago and had a good experience. Lots of branches in my area too which is great.

I think most banks have excruciating long and painful wait times to speak to them 

"Your call is important to us". Well pick the @*&% phone up then!

soulsaver

I'm 36th in the queue...
Secure message it is, then.

dingling68

soulsaver said:

I'm 36th in the queue...
Secure message it is, then.

I joined at 24th in the queue 35 mins ago ... I can't find my log in information anywhere so have to keep hanging on. I'm now 13th

Oasis1

paul235 said:

I opened the 2 year account and filled in the Transfer request within the application. 
Do they submit the transfer or do we have to first send the signed transfer form by post to Kent Reliance?

This is exactly what I'm wondering. I opened a 1yr fix with them (issue 60) and included instructions to transfer in £20k from another provider.

Have sent them a message about it, asking if it's being processed or whether I need to do something else. Hoping for the former... submitting transfer forms feels so outdated...

jak22

As with many places it can all get tricky if something goes wrong and you need to get in touch - but as a positive they do have a reasonable rate on their easy access and the ISA application does let you set up a transfer-in during the application with the details you entered confirmed in a PDF you can download at the end. 

General_Grant

ForumUser7 said:

I have an easy access account with Kent Reliance that does not allow online withdrawals (opened by a branch) but as I do not live near a branch I have to call up each time I wish to make a withdrawal. Back in September I would get through in a couple of minutes and my request would be processed by the 5 minute mark. Nowadays it is like 1 hour - 1 hour 30 before I even get through. Last time I was lucky enough to get through, I requested a full withdrawal (apart from minimum balance). The account paid a higher rate of interest than the one the funds are currently in, so I'll move it back once the CS is back to normal but for now, the extra fraction of a percent is not worth my time. I think the issue is banks and building societies releasing market leading products before bolstering their customer service. Especially in the case of Virgin Money who clearly had a big admin backlog before, then continue to release high rates despite having a huge backlog. Imho, it would make more sense for them to clear the backlog for their existing customers, get their service back to better standards, then release market leading rates again but ensure more staff are on hand so they don't get in an admin mess so quickly again...

One reason for introducing a market leading rate account is to prevent current depositors withdrawing funds.  If they wait to clear a back-log, even more people withdraw funds and the problem becomes worse all round, not better.  Training extra staff takes time.

happybagger

Oasis1 said:

paul235 said:

I opened the 2 year account and filled in the Transfer request within the application. 
Do they submit the transfer or do we have to first send the signed transfer form by post to Kent Reliance?

This is exactly what I'm wondering. I opened a 1yr fix with them (issue 60) and included instructions to transfer in £20k from another provider.

Have sent them a message about it, asking if it's being processed or whether I need to do something else. Hoping for the former... submitting transfer forms feels so outdated...

If you filled in the application to transer from a provider that was listed in the drop down box then when you get to the end thank you' screen it will tell you not to print off and send the transfer request.

paul235

jak22 said:

As with many places it can all get tricky if something goes wrong and you need to get in touch - but as a positive they do have a reasonable rate on their easy access and the ISA application does let you set up a transfer-in during the application with the details you entered confirmed in a PDF you can download at the end. 

There is a second PDF download  'Transferring funds from an Existing Cash ISA   , Use this form to transfer your existing ISA funds (including an existing KentReliance ISA) to a new KentReliance ISA. It may take up to 15 days for the transfer request to be completed.' which has a Customer Signature/Date. This is why I do not know if it needs to be sent.

Oasis1

happybagger said:

Oasis1 said:

paul235 said:

I opened the 2 year account and filled in the Transfer request within the application. 
Do they submit the transfer or do we have to first send the signed transfer form by post to Kent Reliance?

This is exactly what I'm wondering. I opened a 1yr fix with them (issue 60) and included instructions to transfer in £20k from another provider.

Have sent them a message about it, asking if it's being processed or whether I need to do something else. Hoping for the former... submitting transfer forms feels so outdated...

If you filled in the application to transer from a provider that was listed in the drop down box then when you get to the end thank you' screen it will tell you not to print off and send the transfer request.

Assuming that was meant to say "now" to print? Luckily I did download the form so can do that