An Post investor upset with slow service

When Mr P, who lives in the midlands read in this column recently about another An Post customer living in Donegal who was unhappy about how long it took the post office savings bank to send him his encashed Savings Certificates, he also felt aggrieved. "Over the years my wife and I have invested in six separate post office funds including Savings Certificates, Savings Bonds and Instalment Savings and over the years built up in excess of £25,000. Last December, we were carrying out a review of our `worth' and wrote to An Post on December 8th to ask for an update on the value of the various investments."

More than a month passed. No word from An Post. Mr P telephoned, "and was promised immediate attention. Again nothing." He phoned several times and finally "the first of six separate reports started to drift in, the first dated February 17th and the last dated March 10th. On March 3rd, I finally received a letter from a representative of Investment Services apologising for the delay and regretting the inconvenience."

Mr P is perfectly correct to complain about the way he was treated, especially when officials at An Post insisted that he could obtain his information right away if he had turned up personally at their banking office in Dublin: "All very fine if I lived or worked in Dublin which I do not".

Nor was he impressed when they said they could encash his investments within a week: "That isn't much good if it takes three months to find out how much the investment is worth in the first place."

Mr P said: "It is a pity An Post can't get their act together as their products are attractive and secure. Apparently, they don't have this information available on computer and each query must be dealt with manually. I think the colours have faded on their abacus beads."

With interest rates falling steadily and the banks, insurance companies and investment managers making huge efforts to convince depositors to shift their funds into higher yielding, if slightly higher risk share-based investments, and are making themselves more and more accessible on the Internet - An Post needs to examine installing a computer-based information system that satisfies their concerns for security, but which also addresses the perfectly legitimate demands of their customers for quick, accurate valuations, by telephone, fax or Internet, of their investments. At the least, it should be meeting its own archaic deadlines for the processing of information and encashments.

Family Money welcomes suggestions from readers on topics of personal finance which they would like to see highlighted. Please write to Jill Kerby, c/o The Irish Times, 11-15 D'Olier Street, Dublin 2; Fax 6798874 or email: jmkerby@indigo.ie