Vanquis - Deeply Unprofessional & Distrustful Treatment of Loyal Customer

PipSqueak1936

Been a customer of Vanquis since 2012, placing my trust in them year after year. Earlier this year, I invested my long-term savings (2 x £20,000) into their 1-year fixed-rate bonds. Due to Vanquis’s outdated and awkward account naming system, I couldn’t transfer the funds electronically had to go to the trouble of sending physical cheques.

What followed was one of the most appalling displays of customer service I’ve ever encountered from a financial institution. Despite already receiving my money, Vanquis issued two condescending and deadline-driven letters demanding I “prove” where the money had come from, months after the investment had been accepted and exactly three years after i invested one three years ago. I provided multiple years’ worth of legitimate Lloyds bank statements, showing consistent six-figure salary deposits and mature reinvestments. But even these weren’t enough.

The situation became even more absurd when they questioned the source of one bond which had simply been reinvested from a matured Vanquis bond! That means no external funds were even involved, yet they still asked for fresh statements, refused to acknowledge previous documentation and treated me with unwarranted suspicion.

I’ve spent hours printing and posting paperwork, making phone calls, and explaining myself, only to be met with thinly veiled distrust. No other bank or building society has ever treated us like this. In fact, most are grateful for long-term custom. Vanquis, on the other hand, seems to go out of its way to alienate its customers with red tape, poor record-keeping and robotic correspondence.

After this distressing experience, I’ve instructed Vanquis to close all my savings accounts and return the full balances, including accrued interest. I would strongly advise others not to entrust their savings to Vanquis. If you value professionalism, efficiency, or basic courtesy, look elsewhere.

eskbanker

PipSqueak1936 said:

I’ve spent hours printing and posting paperwork, making phone calls, and explaining myself, only to be met with thinly veiled distrust. No other bank or building society has ever treated us like this. In fact, most are grateful for long-term custom. Vanquis, on the other hand, seems to go out of its way to alienate its customers with red tape, poor record-keeping and robotic correspondence.

Not sure I'd agree with the bolded sentiment - financial institutions might make soothing public noises about loyalty and so on, but realistically most are purely transactional and are only interested in extracting value from their customer base by up/cross-selling, etc.

In other words, don't jump ship from Vanquis in the belief that the grass will necessarily be greener elsewhere, in the event that another institution considers it necessary to conduct such checks....

Albermarle

It is not unheard of for financial institutions to ask for proof of funds, and the rules have been tightened up in recent year.
However Vanquis do seem to have been a bit clumsy in handling the situation to say the least.

Middle_of_the_Road

PipSqueak1936 said:

Been a customer of Vanquis since 2012, placing my trust in them year after year. Earlier this year, I invested my long-term savings (2 x £20,000) into their 1-year fixed-rate bonds. Due to Vanquis’s outdated and awkward account naming system, I couldn’t transfer the funds electronically had to go to the trouble of sending physical cheques.

What followed was one of the most appalling displays of customer service I’ve ever encountered from a financial institution. Despite already receiving my money, Vanquis issued two condescending and deadline-driven letters demanding I “prove” where the money had come from, months after the investment had been accepted and exactly three years after i invested one three years ago. I provided multiple years’ worth of legitimate Lloyds bank statements, showing consistent six-figure salary deposits and mature reinvestments. But even these weren’t enough.

The situation became even more absurd when they questioned the source of one bond which had simply been reinvested from a matured Vanquis bond! That means no external funds were even involved, yet they still asked for fresh statements, refused to acknowledge previous documentation and treated me with unwarranted suspicion.

I’ve spent hours printing and posting paperwork, making phone calls, and explaining myself, only to be met with thinly veiled distrust. No other bank or building society has ever treated us like this. In fact, most are grateful for long-term custom. Vanquis, on the other hand, seems to go out of its way to alienate its customers with red tape, poor record-keeping and robotic correspondence.

After this distressing experience, I’ve instructed Vanquis to close all my savings accounts and return the full balances, including accrued interest. I would strongly advise others not to entrust their savings to Vanquis. If you value professionalism, efficiency, or basic courtesy, look elsewhere.

Never heard of this outfit before frequenting this forum. I usually avoid these type of banks anyway, and hearing how you've been treated, will continue to do so. 
These kind of checks are widespread now, but being treated as you have described is totally unacceptable.

wmb194

PipSqueak1936 said:

Been a customer of Vanquis since 2012, placing my trust in them year after year. Earlier this year, I invested my long-term savings (2 x £20,000) into their 1-year fixed-rate bonds. Due to Vanquis’s outdated and awkward account naming system, I couldn’t transfer the funds electronically had to go to the trouble of sending physical cheques.

What followed was one of the most appalling displays of customer service I’ve ever encountered from a financial institution. Despite already receiving my money, Vanquis issued two condescending and deadline-driven letters demanding I “prove” where the money had come from, months after the investment had been accepted and exactly three years after i invested one three years ago. I provided multiple years’ worth of legitimate Lloyds bank statements, showing consistent six-figure salary deposits and mature reinvestments. But even these weren’t enough.

The situation became even more absurd when they questioned the source of one bond which had simply been reinvested from a matured Vanquis bond! That means no external funds were even involved, yet they still asked for fresh statements, refused to acknowledge previous documentation and treated me with unwarranted suspicion.

I’ve spent hours printing and posting paperwork, making phone calls, and explaining myself, only to be met with thinly veiled distrust. No other bank or building society has ever treated us like this. In fact, most are grateful for long-term custom. Vanquis, on the other hand, seems to go out of its way to alienate its customers with red tape, poor record-keeping and robotic correspondence.

After this distressing experience, I’ve instructed Vanquis to close all my savings accounts and return the full balances, including accrued interest. I would strongly advise others not to entrust their savings to Vanquis. If you value professionalism, efficiency, or basic courtesy, look elsewhere.

There's no point getting upset about this sort of thing, the same can happen with every institution and the penalties for them for not complying with KYC rules are severe.

BIB; have you supplied the requested data to Vanquis' satisfaction? If you haven't it might not send the money to you until you do.

wmb194

Middle_of_the_Road said:

PipSqueak1936 said:

Been a customer of Vanquis since 2012, placing my trust in them year after year. Earlier this year, I invested my long-term savings (2 x £20,000) into their 1-year fixed-rate bonds. Due to Vanquis’s outdated and awkward account naming system, I couldn’t transfer the funds electronically had to go to the trouble of sending physical cheques.

What followed was one of the most appalling displays of customer service I’ve ever encountered from a financial institution. Despite already receiving my money, Vanquis issued two condescending and deadline-driven letters demanding I “prove” where the money had come from, months after the investment had been accepted and exactly three years after i invested one three years ago. I provided multiple years’ worth of legitimate Lloyds bank statements, showing consistent six-figure salary deposits and mature reinvestments. But even these weren’t enough.

The situation became even more absurd when they questioned the source of one bond which had simply been reinvested from a matured Vanquis bond! That means no external funds were even involved, yet they still asked for fresh statements, refused to acknowledge previous documentation and treated me with unwarranted suspicion.

I’ve spent hours printing and posting paperwork, making phone calls, and explaining myself, only to be met with thinly veiled distrust. No other bank or building society has ever treated us like this. In fact, most are grateful for long-term custom. Vanquis, on the other hand, seems to go out of its way to alienate its customers with red tape, poor record-keeping and robotic correspondence.

After this distressing experience, I’ve instructed Vanquis to close all my savings accounts and return the full balances, including accrued interest. I would strongly advise others not to entrust their savings to Vanquis. If you value professionalism, efficiency, or basic courtesy, look elsewhere.

Never heard of this outfit before frequenting this forum. I usually avoid these type of banks anyway, and hearing how you've been treated, will continue to do so. 
These kind of checks are widespread now, but being treated as you have described is totally unacceptable.

For years I've used Vanquis and not had any issues. In fact earlier this week a bond matured and the funds were in my current account on the day it said they would be. 

Vanquis Banking Group used to call itself Prudential Financial and was founded in 1880.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanquis_Banking_Group

Kim_13

Asking for proof of funds when the source is a maturing product with them is the kind of request no one should be getting. A few months down the line I can understand, if a review discovered that something had been left outstanding by the operative that opened the account. But after years, Vanquis should just have to pay the fine as a lesson to not make these kind of mistakes. People can't give them what they don't have and the average person isn't going to keep years upon years worth of bank statements. After hours spent sending them whatever they can, there should be enough there to suggest that nothing untoward has gone on. It feels like they are going to criminal standards of proof - which in my mind they should only do when someone is actually suspected of wrongdoing.

Middle_of_the_Road

wmb194 said:

Middle_of_the_Road said:

PipSqueak1936 said:

Been a customer of Vanquis since 2012, placing my trust in them year after year. Earlier this year, I invested my long-term savings (2 x £20,000) into their 1-year fixed-rate bonds. Due to Vanquis’s outdated and awkward account naming system, I couldn’t transfer the funds electronically had to go to the trouble of sending physical cheques.

What followed was one of the most appalling displays of customer service I’ve ever encountered from a financial institution. Despite already receiving my money, Vanquis issued two condescending and deadline-driven letters demanding I “prove” where the money had come from, months after the investment had been accepted and exactly three years after i invested one three years ago. I provided multiple years’ worth of legitimate Lloyds bank statements, showing consistent six-figure salary deposits and mature reinvestments. But even these weren’t enough.

The situation became even more absurd when they questioned the source of one bond which had simply been reinvested from a matured Vanquis bond! That means no external funds were even involved, yet they still asked for fresh statements, refused to acknowledge previous documentation and treated me with unwarranted suspicion.

I’ve spent hours printing and posting paperwork, making phone calls, and explaining myself, only to be met with thinly veiled distrust. No other bank or building society has ever treated us like this. In fact, most are grateful for long-term custom. Vanquis, on the other hand, seems to go out of its way to alienate its customers with red tape, poor record-keeping and robotic correspondence.

After this distressing experience, I’ve instructed Vanquis to close all my savings accounts and return the full balances, including accrued interest. I would strongly advise others not to entrust their savings to Vanquis. If you value professionalism, efficiency, or basic courtesy, look elsewhere.

Never heard of this outfit before frequenting this forum. I usually avoid these type of banks anyway, and hearing how you've been treated, will continue to do so. 
These kind of checks are widespread now, but being treated as you have described is totally unacceptable.

For years I've used Vanquis and not had any issues. In fact earlier this week a bond matured and the funds were in my current account on the day it said they would be. 

Vanquis Banking Group used to call itself Prudential Financial and was founded in 1880.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanquis_Banking_Group

Not really surprised, seems that a trendy name is more important to lots of financial outfits today.
Norwich Union another example, where customer service has fallen off a cliff edge.

x44

Being asked for ID on maturing products or long term investments when the original was opened a long time ago when ID was very lax is not uncommon.

I've had it several times on investments at the point where I wanted to withdraw some money.

So sending me annual statememts etc in the post was no problem, as was paying income to my bank account over many years but as soon as I requested a withdrawal it was full ID requested - but at least in my cases it was just the usual certified copy passport and bank statements (by a Solicitor or C.Accountant) and no more.

Oh and yes you are indeed required to keep 7 years of bank statements and other financial records for HMRC

Middle_of_the_Road

wmb194 said:

PipSqueak1936 said:

Been a customer of Vanquis since 2012, placing my trust in them year after year. Earlier this year, I invested my long-term savings (2 x £20,000) into their 1-year fixed-rate bonds. Due to Vanquis’s outdated and awkward account naming system, I couldn’t transfer the funds electronically had to go to the trouble of sending physical cheques.

What followed was one of the most appalling displays of customer service I’ve ever encountered from a financial institution. Despite already receiving my money, Vanquis issued two condescending and deadline-driven letters demanding I “prove” where the money had come from, months after the investment had been accepted and exactly three years after i invested one three years ago. I provided multiple years’ worth of legitimate Lloyds bank statements, showing consistent six-figure salary deposits and mature reinvestments. But even these weren’t enough.

The situation became even more absurd when they questioned the source of one bond which had simply been reinvested from a matured Vanquis bond! That means no external funds were even involved, yet they still asked for fresh statements, refused to acknowledge previous documentation and treated me with unwarranted suspicion.

I’ve spent hours printing and posting paperwork, making phone calls, and explaining myself, only to be met with thinly veiled distrust. No other bank or building society has ever treated us like this. In fact, most are grateful for long-term custom. Vanquis, on the other hand, seems to go out of its way to alienate its customers with red tape, poor record-keeping and robotic correspondence.

After this distressing experience, I’ve instructed Vanquis to close all my savings accounts and return the full balances, including accrued interest. I would strongly advise others not to entrust their savings to Vanquis. If you value professionalism, efficiency, or basic courtesy, look elsewhere.

BIB; have you supplied the requested data to Vanquis' satisfaction? If you haven't it might not send the money to you until you do.

This might well be the case. However it's totally unacceptable to accept deposits and then months later refuse to repay them.

If checks need to be done, they should be initiated at the point of account application. 

The ledgeslation requires the banks to ask these questions to avoid them being party to money laundering.

They should be fined if they miss handle the procedure, and fail to follow a prescribed method in a timely and courteous manner.

mebu60

x44 said:

Oh and yes you are indeed required to keep 7 years of bank statements and other financial records for HMRC

Bit tricky these days if you haven't got a printer as you often lose access to the online records if you no longer have an account with a provider.

Not sure that 7 years is correct either. Used to be 6 years for businesses (I always kept 10 to be extra sure).

Mr Google offers the following from HMRC:

Individuals (not carrying on a business)

You have to keep your records for 22 months from the end of the 

tax year to which they relate. For example, if you file your 2011–12 

tax return by the filing date, you should normally keep your records

until 31 January 2014.

I also keep personal tax records for 10 years!