My husband and I tried to open a 2 year fixed rate bond at 4.85% on 15th November. As of today it is 5th February and we are still having trouble. We were initially told to provide proof of ID which we did immediately, we were then sent contradictory information to say they had received the proof of ID (which they returned) and told us they were still waiting for ID. We really struggled to contact them as emails were slow or ignored and would get cut off after 45 mins plus waiting to contact them on the phone. When we did eventually speak to a human we were told that there was a huge backlog, to be patient, and when the account was eventually open be given time to fund the account. We had almost given up when on 31st Jan we received a letter to say the account was open, and a day later asked to go online to authenticate the account (which we needed to do to add funds). Imagine my surprise when I logged on that day and the account was marked as closed! So I could not authenticate to add funds and need to add funds to keep it open (although it was already closed). I have tried ringing and emailing them and not been able to get through again. We have decided that whilst the rate is competitive it is pointless trying to continue with the bank as if they are this bad when they want your business what would they be like afterwards? Would we ever see our money, if we could ever add it? We are no looking elsewhere at lower rates but more trustworthy banks.
Reviewed on: 5th February 2023
