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Disappointed and Done with People's
February 8, 2023
5:09 pm
svg1234
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I've been dealing with People's Bank and People's Trust for over 5 years. Never had any major problems with them before. But my experiences with them lately have caused me to decide to stop doing business with them, and when my various GICs reach maturity, I will move my money to other FIs and be done with them.

Over the past 2 weeks, I have called many times, using both the toll free and direct number. I have stayed on teh line until inexplicably after about 20 minutes, it kicks you off anyway! I have chosen to have someone call back, and yet 4 days later I still have not been contacted. This is totally unacceptable. I don't care *why* this problem exists (short staff, RSP season, whatever). If their mgmt is so poor that they cannot put in place adequate resources and systems to receive and return phone calls from their customers, it is a huge red flag. I can no longer recommend this FI to friends or family. I deal with many different FIs and have never had this issue before. I recently had to contact Tangerine twice in the past week, and both times I was able to speak to representative within 5 minutes. Other FIs allow you to send messages and respond usually within a day. To be completely cutoff from communication with an FI which I have a large sum of money with? Absolutely, positively unacceptable. I don't care how good their interes rates are. Imagine if it was something more critical and not being able to speak to communicate with them? Ridiculous.

Last straw: I recently moved $100k to PB and PT from my major bank chequing account in order to purchase the 2 year 5.40% GIC. The funds have now been on hold for over 5 business days (7 days). Yes, I know that there are a number of FIs that will put money on hold, but in this case it's rather stupid and unnecessary. Numerous attempts to contact People's to have them lift the hold so I can buy the GICs have failed. First, there is absolutely no reason to have these funds on hold. Does People's think one of the Big 6 would actually allow a large transfer of money to them if that money wasn't already cleared? lol. Of course not. The money would HAVE TO BE CLEARED by the institution the funds were coming *FROM* before they transferred the money out! Duh. Second, I already have substantial existing assets with People's and have been with them for many years.

Go ahead and argue whether or not the hold is necessary, but not being able to reach them at all simply should not be tolerated. I'm done and after many years of reading this website, I registered tonight to share my experience and warn others. Yes, I know some of you haven't had this issue at all and might wonder what the fuss is about. I was one of you up until a few weeks ago. My view of People's has now gone from "pretty good" to "goodbye".

February 9, 2023
8:23 am
pooreva
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I do not know if any Big banks has ability to PUSH $ to other FI.
So you HAD to PULL $ from the Big bank. In that case receiving FI does NOT know if you really have $ on your Big bank account or not and sets hold in place.
If you are to PUSH $ from FI1 to FI2 then $ is available immediately (no hold) as soon as you see $ on your FI2 account.
I loved Peoples when they had TFSA at 3% when everybody else had it at 1 or 2%. It lasted 3 years or so. It was complicated to transfer $ to/from Peoples. You had to call them or email them. Do not know how you do it today.
When they had some kind of hackers' breach to their system they put a flag on my credit history for x number of years. That was last straw so I left them, (most likely) never to come back. Account is still there and if and when I receive email or similar that they are going to charge me for inactive account, it will be closed.

February 9, 2023
9:29 am
Kirk
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Amazingly, TD doesn't withhold funds at all. I can transfer in, then out the next day if I wish.

February 9, 2023
9:33 am
HermanH
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@svg1234
Very similar situation. I also had large amounts transferring to PT, but I pushed them from Hubert. I also had troubles and waited nearly 2 weeks, before finally getting through to a CSR to handle some moderately complicated issues of TFSA/registered account setup and joint concerns. However, once through, my complex situation was readily handled. Of course, I absolutely agree with you regarding their total ignorance of all my phone calls, messages, e-mail, and even fax requests. I only lost out on some interest and can only imagine what deeper level of Hell I would have to travel if my issue actually involved something serious like fraud or a security breach!

To be fair, I had similar contact issues with major banks like CIBC and BNS, too. The best service is from Hubert.

If you want to continue calling, your best bet might just to be up early and phone as soon as their lines open. That way, you can try to avoid the queue (or at least be at the head of it.)

February 9, 2023
10:48 am
savemoresaveoften
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Kirk said
Amazingly, TD doesn't withhold funds at all. I can transfer in, then out the next day if I wish.  

Thats because the funds are "push" to them. Any banks that has funds "pushed" to them can not hold the funds. Norman already covered that in another thread.

PT and other online banks/ CU etcs, you are "pulling" the funds in when you try to fund your account. They credit ur account, but put it on hold while they wait to confirm the funds did arrive and the FI is releasing the funds to them properly. Effectively slow like old school physical cheque waiting for clearance.

If you have a good relationship and other assets with the FI receiving the funds, they can withold less than the full amount. Even better at least a few places I bank with will release 100% as long as the funds is used for term investment etc.

February 9, 2023
2:03 pm
kelbee
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I pulled in ~$200 on Feb 1 to top up to an even amount but still on hold.

When the hold is (eventually) off, I likely will just push it back elsewhere, as it was already a hassle to call them and make a GIC joint at the best of times.

I guess their notice on website "Notice: Our great rates have generated higher than normal call volumes and callers may experience longer wait times. An option is to click 'Contact Us' at the top of this page then click on CONTACT FORM and complete your request. We appreciate your patience and will service your call as efficiently as possible." is there way of lowering expectations.

February 10, 2023
6:14 am
RetirEd
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Only once have I faced a hold on incoming funds at PT. It was about a month ago. I called and the rep said on no circumstances would they life a hold early, but I told him to check with higher-ups. He willingly did, and they immediately approved the withdrawal. (A four-figure amount)

I have accounts with both PT and PB, and several GICs totaling close to their deposit limits.

This week, though, I've been trying to get some of that juicy 2-year 5.4% money for four days but nobody calls back. I hope this is improved soon! And that I can still get the rate.

RetirEd

RetirEd

February 10, 2023
6:21 am
savemoresaveoften
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RetirEd said
Only once have I faced a hold on incoming funds at PT. It was about a month ago. I called and the rep said on no circumstances would they life a hold early, but I told him to check with higher-ups. He willingly did, and they immediately approved the withdrawal. (A four-figure amount)

I have accounts with both PT and PB, and several GICs totaling close to their deposit limits.

This week, though, I've been trying to get some of that juicy 2-year 5.4% money for four days but nobody calls back. I hope this is improved soon! And that I can still get the rate.

RetirEd  

My experiences are the opposite. They always release the hold for me as soon as I tell them I want to put that money into a GIC. The money is still on hold in GIC form but starts earning the GIC rate, to avoid interest slippage.

Maybe I got lucky but I called them last week and recd a call back few hours later. That was with PT.

Call when they first open is the trick.

February 10, 2023
8:55 am
Rail Baron
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savemoresaveoften said

....

Maybe I got lucky but I called them last week and recd a call back few hours later. That was with PT.

Call when they first open is the trick.  

I would add that between 4 and 4:30 pm PST is a good time to call, too. It's hopless during the middle of the day, but there is some mixed messaging on their web site about when their call centre closes for the day, and as a result, I think that fewer people are calling them after 4 pm.

February 10, 2023
10:46 am
HermanH
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RetirEd said
This week, though, I've been trying to get some of that juicy 2-year 5.4% money for four days but nobody calls back. I hope this is improved soon! And that I can still get the rate.

To hold the rate, you could apply via the website:
https://applications.peoplestrust.com/en/

Select Existing Customer option.

As I understand it, a new application for an existing customer holds that rate for you once the application is submitted. I believe you can either fund it from outside or with existing PT eSavings accounts. Even if you make an error, I think that the application will serve as a placeholder until you can get in contact with a CSR.

February 10, 2023
11:59 am
TommyT
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Kirk said
Amazingly, TD doesn't withhold funds at all. I can transfer in, then out the next day if I wish.  

It depends on the sum of money and how much money is in your savings account or chequing account. Their hold period is in their fees schedule. If they hold funds they make sure the hold period of time coincides with the weekend.

February 10, 2023
12:54 pm
savemoresaveoften
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TommyT said

It depends on the sum of money and how much money is in your savings account or chequing account. Their hold period is in their fees schedule. If they hold funds they make sure the hold period of time coincides with the weekend.  

All holds these days are 5 biz days, and it will "magically" coincide with a weekend. I dont know of any 5 biz days that doesnt. They dont "need to make sure" it does....

Not every institution is evil nor every intention is evil....Sigh

February 14, 2023
1:26 pm
HermanH
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The place just goes from bad to worse.

Now, when I call, I get transferred to customer service that rings once and just goes to dead silence. No waiting message. No answering machine. Nothing. Nada. How do they stay in business? Are their pre-paid gift cards that valuable and successful?

February 14, 2023
1:49 pm
svg1234
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re: TD, that has been my expereince as well. My main chequing account is with TD, and when I transfer e.g. from Tangerine, even large amounts, they do not put a hold on the funds. The money is PUSHED from Tangerine (not pulled from TD), yet they still do not put a hold on it. So that push/pull theory doesn't really hold water. Of course, if you deposit a large cheque with TD they do put a hold on it (as they should).

I left yet another voice message with PB/PT last week. Never heard back from them. That is the worst part of all. It's one thing to not be able to get through the line, but for NOBODY to even call me back after I left two separate messages a few days apart? Awful. The hold has now been automatically lifted because of the number of days since the deposit was made (their website says 7 business days). Thanks for nothing.

Going forward, I notice that there is no capability to specify GIC maturity instructions online? Oaken does a great job in this regard - it's all done online. I hope I'm not going to have trouble in the coming months when my GICs mature and I definitely do not want them to renew. This level of lousy service is inexcusable. They have no messaging facility online either. For example, I had a question for Steinbach a few days ago. I logged in, fired off a message, and had a reply the next day. So simple and efficient. Most of the other FIs now have messaging ability. PT/PB and Ideal/Carpathia and a few others all use the same platform and it reminds me of software from the 1980's.

Overall, this experience makes me wonder about the trustworthiness and stability of the organization (I'm well over the CDIC limits with them for a few more months). That's the main reason I'm done with them. The most galling part is while you're waiting on the phone and the recorded message says something like "your call is of the utmost importance to us...blah, blah, blah". Sure thing.

February 14, 2023
1:58 pm
semi-retired
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Pushed funds from Tangerine to my PT savings account last Sunday morning Feb/12.Showed up this morning.Immediately transferred it to my joint savings account.Logged in with the wife's account at PT.Bought a 2 year RRSP GIC at 5.4%.There was no hold on any money,no call to speak with an agent.2 minutes max for the whole transaction.Easy Peasy.

February 14, 2023
2:14 pm
HermanH
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semi-retired said
Easy Peasy.  

Try and change the maturity instructions to Non-Renewal. See how 'easy peasy' it is. sf-smile

February 16, 2023
2:52 pm
Qiutian
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semi-retired said
Pushed funds from Tangerine to my PT savings account last Sunday morning Feb/12.Showed up this morning.Immediately transferred it to my joint savings account.Logged in with the wife's account at PT.Bought a 2 year RRSP GIC at 5.4%.There was no hold on any money,no call to speak with an agent.2 minutes max for the whole transaction.Easy Peasy.  

How do you do that? How much does it cost? Thanks

February 16, 2023
4:28 pm
RetirEd
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It can take longer to get someone on the phone than for funds to transfer!

Helpful observances:
1. The PT local number in Vancouver (604-331-3465) will still get answered weekdays from 3am PST (6am EZT) for some reason. May be temporary because of backlog.

2. The toll-free 1-800-663-0324, though, waits until later. 9am I think, but it's not consistent enough for me to make a commitment.

Well, I did eventually get through and snatch some 5.4% 2-year, filling a nice slot in my ladder. At that rate I'll let it compound.
RetirEd

RetirEd

February 16, 2023
5:07 pm
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Qiutian said

How do you do that? How much does it cost? Thanks  

You must have a FI that can be linked to another FI. I have a Tangerine account that is linked to Peoples Trust. With Tangerine you can have 3 accounts linked to push funds out, or pull into. It does not cost anything. Other FI have different numbers of FI accounts you can link to.

February 18, 2023
10:55 am
Qiutian
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Thank you, semi-retired. Very appreciated. How long does it link Tangerine to PT?

If I knew earlier, I wouldn't be charged for NSF. On the day I placed an order at PT, it said it needed one to three business days, even you placed on transferred now. Than I thought the fund would be withdrawn in next morning as usually (I already transferred once it works in this way), so my fund was available before 11:30pm MT (it was transferred from my saving account with promotion interest 5%). However PT withdrew fund early at 9:30pm so that it caused a NSF. It is a lesson to learn. I am so desperate with PT, very poor customer service, not only by phone call, also by email. In the opening account email, they said if you have questions, you can call and email mentioned phone number and email address, however when you made a call, it was not in service or no spot for service. When you emailed, you wouldn't get any response.

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