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UBL Cash ISA Void like the plague
confusedagain62
Posts: 6 Newbie
On the face of it the interest rates offered by UBL look attractive but that soon fades when you try opening an account & becomes even worse when you speak to a member o their customer service team.
Consistency is something that businesses strive for. Well someone needs to tell UBL that being consistently rude & incompetent is not a characteristic worth striving for.
I applied for a fixed rate cash ISA on the 3rd April to take advantage of the highest 1 year fixed interest available on the condition the account was funded within ten days of applying. I was unable to complete the process as I needed to open the account with a minimum balance funded by bank transfer & transfer two other ISA's at a later date when short term bonus interest periods had ended (not full term).
The online application process only allows the option of transfer immediately, which would result in lost interest or transfer at full term which would see the interest in the "bonus" account plumet to significantly below anything else on the market for a nine month period.
Four days after applying thy dropped their rates but no to worry as the web site stated applications begun before the 7th April would still get the higher interest so long as funding is complete within 10 days
I contacted UBL via both the online chat & the contact page on their web site after trying multiple time to make contact by phone only to spend on average 20 -30 minutes on hold before the call was terminated.
Over a eleven day period not a single response was received
Today I finally managed to speak to someone only for them to contradict themselves three times within 5 minutes & speak to me like I was a three year old imbecile hey told me my application was incomplete therefore I should re apply and I would still qualify for the higher interest. This is despite me being able to log into my account and see the cash ISA at pending funding stage & that commencing a new application clearly stated the account would be at the lower rate When I asked to speak to their manager I was placed on hold for 15 minutes & then told there was no manager available.
I called again later to speak to a different agent who like the first provided contradicting advice within the first five minutes & went on to also contradict everything her colleague had advised previously.
The main issue I had on the second occasion was that for the bulk of the conversation the agent was trying to convince me that I could fund the account & would receive the higher rate of interest despite me pointing out it had been 14 days since I applied and no funding had yet been made. Not surprisingly this advice was not confirmed in writing & when pressed on the subject it was finally conceded I had now lost the higher rate of interest
To compound things still further in the time I have waited for them to respond to my messages I have lost he opportunity to open something with an alternative provider at a comparable interest rate costing me circa 0.25%.
In the same way MSE includes an overview of customer service levels for energy providers on their switching page perhaps thy should consider doing the same or financial institutions
Consistency is something that businesses strive for. Well someone needs to tell UBL that being consistently rude & incompetent is not a characteristic worth striving for.
I applied for a fixed rate cash ISA on the 3rd April to take advantage of the highest 1 year fixed interest available on the condition the account was funded within ten days of applying. I was unable to complete the process as I needed to open the account with a minimum balance funded by bank transfer & transfer two other ISA's at a later date when short term bonus interest periods had ended (not full term).
The online application process only allows the option of transfer immediately, which would result in lost interest or transfer at full term which would see the interest in the "bonus" account plumet to significantly below anything else on the market for a nine month period.
Four days after applying thy dropped their rates but no to worry as the web site stated applications begun before the 7th April would still get the higher interest so long as funding is complete within 10 days
I contacted UBL via both the online chat & the contact page on their web site after trying multiple time to make contact by phone only to spend on average 20 -30 minutes on hold before the call was terminated.
Over a eleven day period not a single response was received
Today I finally managed to speak to someone only for them to contradict themselves three times within 5 minutes & speak to me like I was a three year old imbecile hey told me my application was incomplete therefore I should re apply and I would still qualify for the higher interest. This is despite me being able to log into my account and see the cash ISA at pending funding stage & that commencing a new application clearly stated the account would be at the lower rate When I asked to speak to their manager I was placed on hold for 15 minutes & then told there was no manager available.
I called again later to speak to a different agent who like the first provided contradicting advice within the first five minutes & went on to also contradict everything her colleague had advised previously.
The main issue I had on the second occasion was that for the bulk of the conversation the agent was trying to convince me that I could fund the account & would receive the higher rate of interest despite me pointing out it had been 14 days since I applied and no funding had yet been made. Not surprisingly this advice was not confirmed in writing & when pressed on the subject it was finally conceded I had now lost the higher rate of interest
To compound things still further in the time I have waited for them to respond to my messages I have lost he opportunity to open something with an alternative provider at a comparable interest rate costing me circa 0.25%.
In the same way MSE includes an overview of customer service levels for energy providers on their switching page perhaps thy should consider doing the same or financial institutions
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Comments
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Just picking up on this point - UBL's fixed rate cash ISAs will almost-certainly have a limited funding window for both new deposits and transfers, so you'd only be able to transfer-in your existing cash ISAs within that window.confusedagain62 said:I applied for a fixed rate cash ISA on the 3rd April to take advantage of the highest 1 year fixed interest available on the condition the account was funded within ten days of applying. I was unable to complete the process as I needed to open the account with a minimum balance funded by bank transfer & transfer two other ISA's at a later date when short term bonus interest periods had ended (not full term).
The online application process only allows the option of transfer immediately, which would result in lost interest or transfer at full term which would see the interest in the "bonus" account plumet to significantly below anything else on the market for a nine month period.
ISA transfer forms are usually geared towards transferring an easy access cash ISA immediately (or a fixed rate ISA immediately if you're happy to pay the penalty) or a fixed rate cash ISA after it has matured (avoiding the penalty) so if your existing cash ISAs are easy access but with a bonus period for the rate, then I'm guessing your only option will be to transfer immediately or possibly on a certain date (if that is an option on the form) because the expiry date of a bonus period probably won't be considered in the same way as the maturity date of a fixed rate ISA, which is what the 'transfer at full term' option is for.
The funding window for transfers can vary but 1 month is typical in my experience, in which case you wouldn't be able to transfer in after (for example) a 3-month bonus rate period on the other ISA has ended.1 -
I have no experience with UBL, however doing anything with ISAs just before or just after the new tax year is usually challenging. There is high demand for moving ISAs around at this time of year. No excuse for the staff not being properly trained of course.
While it's an annoying experience for you I wouldn't lose too much sleep over losing out on 0.25% of interest.
As always the MSE recommendations are based on who pays the most interest, not who has the best customer service. I am not sure what the best way is to figure out who has good or bad customer service, people tend to leave negative reviews online and not bother with positive reviews.0 -
be missing the point TERRIBLE CUSTOMERSERVICE!!!! No contact received from them until after the transfer window has lapsed If you can afford / are willing to throw away 0.25% interest on 85k then I wonder why you are on a website dedicated to saving0
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Not how I read it ....confusedagain62 said:
The online application process only allows the option of transfer immediately, which would result in lost interest or transfer at full term which would see the interest in the "bonus" account plumet to significantly below anything else on the market for a nine month period.
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That is not the online application form!!!bristolleedsfan said:
Not how I read it ....confusedagain62 said:
The online application process only allows the option of transfer immediately, which would result in lost interest or transfer at full term which would see the interest in the "bonus" account plumet to significantly below anything else on the market for a nine month period.0 -
think this is for existing account holders to transfer ISA's from a different provide. Very different from new applications the application process is as stated above however I will not be proceeding given the experience I've had with customer services Found everyone I spoke with to be rude and unable to answer simple questions. Dont be fooled by the Birmingham STD Code I have called multiple times and once you get past the pre recorded message all operators have a very strong African accent. Yet another company sacrificing good service by offshoring customer service to third world low cost countriesconfusedagain62 said:
That is not the online application form!!!bristolleedsfan said:
Not how I read it ....confusedagain62 said:
The online application process only allows the option of transfer immediately, which would result in lost interest or transfer at full term which would see the interest in the "bonus" account plumet to significantly below anything else on the market for a nine month period.0 -
So like many on this forum you did no due diligence on the ownership and background to this bank before making an application?confusedagain62 said:
think this is for existing account holders to transfer ISA's from a different provide. Very different from new applications the application process is as stated above however I will not be proceeding given the experience I've had with customer services Found everyone I spoke with to be rude and unable to answer simple questions. Dont be fooled by the Birmingham STD Code I have called multiple times and once you get past the pre recorded message all operators have a very strong African accent. Yet another company sacrificing good service by offshoring customer service to third world low cost countriesconfusedagain62 said:
That is not the online application form!!!bristolleedsfan said:
Not how I read it ....confusedagain62 said:
The online application process only allows the option of transfer immediately, which would result in lost interest or transfer at full term which would see the interest in the "bonus" account plumet to significantly below anything else on the market for a nine month period.
The Bank in fact originally had very strong ties to Pakistan and a bit of a mixed/ murky history. Its current 'British' ownership did not inspire my confidence so was immediately crossed off my list when its savings rates were topping the rankings- see below
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Bank_Limited#:~:text=6 References-,History,Abu Dhabi Group and Bestway.
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confusedagain62 said:
think this is for existing account holders to transfer ISA's from a different provide.confusedagain62 said:
That is not the online application form!!!bristolleedsfan said:
Not how I read it ....confusedagain62 said:
The online application process only allows the option of transfer immediately, which would result in lost interest or transfer at full term which would see the interest in the "bonus" account plumet to significantly below anything else on the market for a nine month period.
https://www.ubluk.com/personal-banking/personal-savings-accounts/fixed-rate-cash-isa/ Click apply now
--- See link to download transfer in form as per screenshot you quoted.
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