Not allowed to move money between 2 online A&L accounts!

tawse57

Unable to get any joy on the telephone I sent them a secure message asking them to move the money from the online saver to the higher esaver account, and informing them that I would close the account if they would not do so, and I got this generic message back

Thank you for your e-mail regarding a direct transfer between your savings accounts.

To transfer funds between savings accounts, the funds must first be transferred to your linked current account and then moved to your chosen savings account, simply:

- Select ‘Payment/transfer’ in the ‘Manage Money’ section on the left hand side of the screen

- From the summary screen select the savings account that you would like to transfer the funds from in the drop down menu

- Enter the date that you would like to make the payment on and the amount, select ‘next’

- Check details on the summary screen and select ‘submit’ if all values are correct

- Select make another payment on the next screen

- Select ‘current account’ from the drop down menu and repeat the previous process selecting your savings account that you want the funds to go to.

You can then return to the summary screen to check the balances of your accounts.

However, if it is your intention to close your Online Saver Account, please contact our Retail Savings Department on 08703 333444 (available 9am-8pm Mon-Fri or 9am-1pm Saturdays) whom will be able to assist you.

I do hope you find the above information useful, however, if you have any further questions or need any more help please visit our ‘Help’ section online or contact us again.

Kind regards

Customer Services
Alliance & Leicester plc

So I rang the number which, of course, is fully automated and does not recognise the Internet Banking accounts. So I just rang their Internet line, told them I was closing the account and they did not even bother to ask me why. They simply told me my balance and, as I type, I am now waiting for a call-back - on the telephone number that they would not call me back on on Saturday - so that the money can be transferred to my Nationwide account!

Sounds like a company that does not know its, pardon my Anglo-Saxon, a*se from its elbow IMPO. They now seem quite able to contact me on my landline despite 3 months not passing since I entered it - I entered it online on Saturday - and as I am moving out 30K you think they would stop and ask why I am doing so.

At this stage if they had simply asked and then offered to move the money to the higher IR account then the A&L, whom I have read are having trouble getting funding re this subprime crisis, would still have my money.

tawse57

They just rang my landline, I told them that I would rather keep my money with them but in the higher account but it just seemed to wash over the guy's head and he asked me for my Nationwide details and the call was over in seconds. They must have more money than they know what to do with!

Zebbylu

I have just done what you have not been able to do ...and one of their people rang me back, called Lisa and said that she had the discretion to do this once I had opened an esaver and they could transfer the money straight over and no loss of interest for this month. Of course they have yet to actually do it! Why are these companies so inconsistent?

tawse57

Zebbylu wrote: »

I have just done what you have not been able to do ...and one of their people rang me back, called Lisa and said that she had the discretion to do this once I had opened an esaver and they could transfer the money straight over and no loss of interest for this month. Of course they have yet to actually do it! Why are these companies so inconsistent?

After reading this I rang the Internet banking and:

1. I listened to the voicemail go through all its options until it eventually finished, pressed 3 for savings and was cut off.

2. I rang back, pressed 1, explained that I had been cut off and was told I was being put through to savings. I was put on hold for 15 minutes at which point the line went dead.

3. I rang back for a third time, eventually I got to speak to a woman who has launched a complaint for me and was very helpful. She told me that they should have been able to transfer the money for me and that she had done it herself before. Alas, it is now too late as my money has 'gone' - I presume into the system - and somone is going to call me tomorrow to talk about... but it is too late as I have lost days interest on my savings.

I do not have a British name, though British born and bred, and I feel as if they have victimised me to be prefectly blunt. I have been with them for years and can't remember when I last contacted them on the telephone before this weekend. I did have about 35K in there before today and now have about 3.5K left in an ISA. I feel really bad about this seeing that they can do it if they want to do it but, for some reason, they did not do it for me.

I feel that I cannot trust Alliance & Leicester now and will be going down to the Halifax tomorrow morning, where I have my main ISAs, to see if I can transfer my A&L ISA to them.

Sorry to rant, but I am feeling pretty low about this.

Lavendyr

I'm sorry, but are you implying that you got poorer treatment because you don't have a British name? That is very, very unlikely to be the case and I would be extremely careful about making such implied accusations. Alliance & Leicester, like many big companies, get things wrong sometimes. These things happen and life goes on. Just vote with your feet and change banks if you're unhappy with the service. As for a few pounds of interest - it's not worth worrying about. It's done now, just get on with life.

tawse57

Why should I be 'extremely careful about making such implied accusations' - if that is the way that I feel about it then that is how I feel. Others on here have been able to have their funds transferred in the way that I asked, the lady at A&L that I have just spoken to told me they should have done it and that she has done it herself in the past so why wasn't it done for me?

Lavendyr

As I said - like many big companies, mistakes can be made. Why do you assume it's because you have a non-British name?

babylonfree

Zebbylu wrote: »

I have just done what you have not been able to do ...and one of their people rang me back, called Lisa and said that she had the discretion to do this once I had opened an esaver and they could transfer the money straight over and no loss of interest for this month. Of course they have yet to actually do it! Why are these companies so inconsistent?

I have a direct saver, when the esaver came out I called and asked if I could do what you did. Transfer my money directly from the direct saver to the esaver without any loss of interest. The woman said that it was fine I just needed to open an esaver and call back.

I opened the account and called back the next day... to then be told that they couldn't and wouldn't do it. Their advice was to do it in July when it was free to move without losing money!!!

What a joke!!!

Zebbylu

To those of you currently in this discussion. As of today A&L have sent me these two emails on 3 March (see below) after I opened an esaver account on line. I am the one who said they said they could transfer the funds no loss of interest etc etc.... I haven't had the postal thing yet. So don't know if they will actually let me do what Lisa in Accounts said. Once I know either way I will post the result here. I think I might just leave anyway on the first of next month anyway as I don't like the way they do business... I don't like calling 0870 numbers and I don't like the way they don't pass messages on, the way no one you speak to has a direct line that you can call back on, so no one owns the problem or the issue in their organisation.

I hope that tawse'57s experience is not to do with your name. It would be too awful if it was. I think they are all just incompetent and maybe we get people on the phone who don't like their jobs, resent people who have savings, who knows? Just people at the end of the day, some I can't understand if they talk too fast and have a regional accent I am not good with and so on.. Sometimes the best thing is just to say I have to go and call back later and hope to get someone more in tune with you on the phone. This is me being pragmatic, not condoning bad customer services by the way, but don't get low about them, because they are not worth it.

Like a lot of organisations, they have special departments or people for dealing with people who want to 'leave', whether insurance, banks, telephone company, LoveFilm, you name it. If you ring the regular customer services people they don't have this famous 'discretion' to do deals. Virgin Media and LoveFilm are my two experiences of these. You have to ring and say I am leaving, can I talk to someone about this and then they might put you through to someone who can make you an offer to stay.

Anyway this is all I have had to date from A&L

Thank you for applying for an Alliance & Leicester eSaver. I am pleased to
confirm that we have received your personal details securely.

We are now processing your application and we will notify you with further
details via email within the next 5 working days. Only when your
application has been processed can we inform you of your account number,
which for security reasons we will do by post. At this time we will also
provide you with instructions on how to pay into your account.

Further information about your account is available by accessing your
account User Guide at https://www.alliance-leicester.co.uk/esaveruserguide .

This message is for information only. There is no facility to reply to
this message directly by email. If we require any additional information
regarding your application we will contact you via email.

then they sent this:

We are delighted to advise you that your application for an Alliance &
Leicester eSaver has been successful. For security reasons, we will write
to you by post in the next few days with your new account number and
details of how to use your account, including how to pay money in.

Further information about your account is available by accessing your
account User Guide at https://www.alliance-leicester.co.uk/esaveruserguide .

If you have not received any correspondence from us within 10 working days
then please call 08703 330 213.

This message is for information only. There is no facility to reply to
this message directly by email.

Zebbylu

They did what they said they would. I got a letter with the new account number to day. I called this pm and the person I spoke to said 'yes, she could see the notes on my file and she would pass it to her manager who would action the transfer today and I have just gone online and the new account is there with the funds from the old one plus the interest for the beginning of March. So if they could do it for me, why don't they do it for everyone? What they did contradicts their terms and conditions technically speaking. The answer must be in who you speak to, and in asking to speak to someone else if the person you get is less than helpful.