Contacting Mansfield BS

happybagger

I also discovered that if you make changes on their online service, such as phone number, it doesn't change a different list that they have somewhere on their branch system. I no longer have a landline number and deleted it online years ago, only to find when having to visit the branch that it was still listed.

It's not very joined up there.

ForumUser7

JamesRobinson48 said:

Patrington said:
I'd stay clear if i were you.


I'll second that.  After finally managing to open an online account in late December, I've since had further operational problems with them. I regret opening that account, and will promptly close it once two immediate issues are fixed by them.

What where the operational problems please? (As long as they aren’t personal or anything). Just thinking I’ll need to look out for them. Thank you

Patrington

Bridlington1 said:

I think the moral of the story is to get postal redirection for 12 months when you move, especially if you have accounts with Mansfield.

I see you've sensibly deleted your advice to extend the postal redirection for a further 12 months (at a cost of close to £100 for the household) or take a journey to a branch (a 100 mile journey).

Neither of these options are very MSE. Especially when it's only one of > 50 financial institutions I deal with which is the issue.

Mansfield should be resolving fundamental problems.  If it takes a complaint to their ombudsman to help me and others then so be it.

Bridlington1

Patrington said:

Bridlington1 said:

I think the moral of the story is to get postal redirection for 12 months when you move, especially if you have accounts with Mansfield.

I see you've sensibly deleted your advice to extend the postal redirection for a further 12 months (at a cost of close to £100 for the household) or take a journey to a branch (a 100 mile journey).

Neither of these options are very MSE. Especially when it's only one of > 50 financial institutions I deal with which is the issue.

Mansfield should be resolving fundamental problems.  If it takes a complaint to their ombudsman to help me and others then so be it.

I suppose at a push you could always ring them up, wait for someone to tell you to go to a branch (assuming you can get through to someone that is), then get them to refund you the travel expenses as part of your complaint. Worked with TSB several times, though we were only talking 10 mile round trips here. If you are left with no alternative but to go into branch I see no reason why Mansfield shouldn't reimburse you for the costs, even if it is a 100 mile journey and likely to cost them fair amount. So personally I'd be trying to get a free trip to Nottinghamshire out of them by this point.

Similarly for postal redirection, if Mansfield have failed to update your address despite contacting them repeatedly over the last 15 months, it seems reasonable to me that they aught to pay for an extension of postal redirection in order to prevent potential fraud and protect confidential information.

I would agree that Mansfield should be resolving fundamental problems, and the above suggestions should hopefully give them some sort of an incentive to do so.

ForumUser7

@patrington Would sending a signed letter with your new address, and proof of it, to one of the branches fulfil their requirements? @bridlington1 makes a good suggestion re getting them to cover travel expenses, but I imagine if you don't live local it'll be quite an inconvenience anyway.

Patrington

Bridlington1 said:

Patrington said:

Bridlington1 said:

I think the moral of the story is to get postal redirection for 12 months when you move, especially if you have accounts with Mansfield.

I see you've sensibly deleted your advice to extend the postal redirection for a further 12 months (at a cost of close to £100 for the household) or take a journey to a branch (a 100 mile journey).

Neither of these options are very MSE. Especially when it's only one of > 50 financial institutions I deal with which is the issue.

Mansfield should be resolving fundamental problems.  If it takes a complaint to their ombudsman to help me and others then so be it.

I suppose at a push you could always ring them up, wait for someone to tell you to go to a branch (assuming you can get through to someone that is), then get them to refund you the travel expenses as part of your complaint. Worked with TSB several times, though we were only talking 10 mile round trips here. If you are left with no alternative but to go into branch I see no reason why Mansfield shouldn't reimburse you for the costs, even if it is a 100 mile journey and likely to cost them fair amount. So personally I'd be trying to get a free trip to Nottinghamshire out of them by this point.

Similarly for postal redirection, if Mansfield have failed to update your address despite contacting them repeatedly over the last 15 months, it seems reasonable to me that they aught to pay for an extension of postal redirection in order to prevent potential fraud and protect confidential information.

I would agree that Mansfield should be resolving fundamental problems, and the above suggestions should hopefully give them some sort of an incentive to do so.

I've got huge amounts of time on my hands but travelling a needless 100 miles to a Mansfield office won't be anywhere close to my radar.

Neither will be the unnecessary 24 month extension of the postal redirection especially with their current issues.

Appreciate the advice but WADR they're absolutely totally unviable.

I'll save my efforts as I've directed above.

Patrington

ForumUser7 said:

@patrington Would sending a signed letter with your new address, and proof of it, to one of the branches fulfil their requirements? @bridlington1 makes a good suggestion re getting them to cover travel expenses, but I imagine if you don't live local it'll be quite an inconvenience anyway.

They've already had this.

And an authenticated council tax letter and a Gas bill

Their systems are hopeless.

ForumUser7

Has anyone who applied early December (11th in my case) for the regular esaver still not heard back please? Thanks

Bridlington1

ForumUser7 said:

Has anyone who applied early December (11th in my case) for the regular esaver still not heard back please? Thanks

I applied on 4th January and have heard nothing from them. I'd have thought they'd have been a bit quicker considering I am an existing customer so they already have my details and on the 5th January I sent an application form for a postal account with them, which was opened the next day and passbook sent to me the following Monday.

So far it looks like Mansfield is a building society of two halves, postal/branch is very easy and efficient, online is about as much use as an inflatable pincushion.

Bridlington1

JamesRobinson48 said:

Bridlington1 said:

 online is about as much use as an inflatable pincushion.

I fully intend to close my online account as soon as the dust has settled, and I wouldn't wish my current Mansfield online experiences on other applicants.  If you truly wish them to open your online account, 'be careful what you wish for'!  So maybe the smart thing for Mansfield management is to go very slow on new online account opening, possibly even suspend that altogether, until their team has fixed any glitches and caught up with the backlog in servicing existing accounts. OTOH, would be great to hear if other online customers have had a better experience of Mansfield's online savings products lately.

Personally I've been very happy with their postal account service and as prepaid envelopes are provided, it's not costing me anything to run I do not particularly care whether I have online access or not. Even if I end up not bothering with their online only accounts, online access will however allow me to check how much interest I've received on the 2 postal accounts I already have, so if the interest rate lags behind their competitors, I can send them a letter requesting a withdrawal of all but the minimum balance. That's the only real advantage of online for me.

I appreciate postal isn't for everyone though, particularly with the recent postal strikes, but if you are wanting to open Mansfield's regular saver, the postal one is a lot less hassle to open and manage as I can testify.