"It's been a while but all is well now .."

I've been a SelfTrade customer for many years and viewed the move to Equinity with great suspicion.

Initially the Website was dire - terrible user interface, non-existent tools and very poor reporting - a complete contrast to the excellent SelfTrade original site. I decided not to invest any more funds and actually considered moving my existing holdings elsewhere.

Time has gone by and the site has steadily improved to the point where I now have full confidence in it. I have recently re-hashed my portfolio held here and everything went very smoothly. I'm so pleased to have SelfTrade back and will be adding more funds soon.

"I have experience of Selftrade and HL."

I have experience of Selftrade and HL.

Staff are friendly and professional for both sites.
Both have similar dealing costs with reductions for frequent traders. HL: £11.95; vs. ST: £10.99.

Advantages of HL over Selftrade:

(1) more amenable watchlists and share/fund information.
(2) Can put money into funds directly from account (but given an annual charge of 0.45% (under £250,000) would instead approach funds directly.
(3) If you don't trade often (less than once a quarter) the absence of inactivity fees for HL are beneficial.

Advantages of Selftrade over HL

(1) Excellent filters for initially selecting shares to invest in.
(2) If you trade more than twice a quarter, no quarterly fees are payable, whereas with HL an annual fee of 0.45% capped at £45 (for shares) applies

Unless you are a very inactive trader I think ST edges out HL.

"Slow, not accurate"

Whereas I wish I could give this trading platform a good review, it really is terrible. Their is a real issue with feeding updated prices in the overview panel and hence I use another site to see what my stocks are actually worth... Selling and buying become just too hard with such long delays - well, well past any 15m window. I have addressed this with customer service (one stock in particular has been 'stuck' at the same value for hours), and whilst initially they were on top of it and communicating well, it seems now that the problem is persistent, they sort of just 'gave up' and stopped responding.

"I've been with Selftrade over 10 years…"

I've been with Selftrade over 10 years and its platform as well as its customer service have deteriorated significantly. The fund prices are wrong, and most recently their platform fees have been wrong as well (grossly overstated fees). Trying to get their complaints department to contact me is impossible. Was even promised to be phoned back which never happened.

I recommend avoiding them and looking elsewhere. I myself have recently opened an account with a competitor and am already experiencing a better product and customer service

"Problem unresolved"

Further update to my review below. After eventually seeming to resolve the price feed issue, it has now reverted to showing the incorrect price again. Not sure why it’s so difficult to correct even if it’s a third party issue.

"I received a letter this morning…"

I received a letter this morning telling me my ISA account is overdrawn.
I don't know who Selftrade are and have no idea what account they are talking about. To my knowledge I have never dealt with this company.
As for threatening to sell off some of my assets, I have no idea what my assets are.
.

"No loger good value or excellent service"

I have been with Selftrade for around fifteen years and was always happy with the service. I still find the customer support dervice acceptable although the account fees are now expensive an on some of the less liquid stocks I deal in I am unable to get quotes on for almost entire days whilst I am able to get quotes with Hargreaves Lansdowne. I have today had enough of it and have signed the forms to transfer my Selftrade ISA to Hargreaves LAnsdown.

"Complaint sent via their platform & acknowledged by them in writing STILL unresolved"

Like other reviewers, I lost confidence in Selftrade when Equiniti took them over and launched a new platform, which is totally unfit for purpose.

When they also adjusted their fee structure (i.e. increased their prices), I asked them to transfer everything to another provider (Halifax Sharedealing) during Selftrade's fee-free 'amnesty' period. However, they failed to transfer one holding (worth just over £2!) and started charging me £12 quarterly inactivity fees earlier this year. This is patently ridiculous, given that I asked them to complete a full transfer out back in 2016. I complained and received a letter from them acknowledging my complaint and outlining their timescales for handling it. However, unless they follow up in writing by 18 October 2018, they'll have breached their own complaints resolution timelines. And unless they fully resolve my complaint four weeks from 18 October 2018, I'll automatically refer them to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Assuming they've received 25+ other complaints in the past year (likely given their Trustpilot rating), the FOS will automatically levy a £550 penalty charge on them. I suspect this is the only way they might eventually wake up and offer something vaguely resembling acceptable service. Money usually talks. Finally, a note to Selftrade's Trustpilot monitor: Please DON'T ask me to send you my contact details so you can give me a call. You have all the information already via the secure messages on my account and your holding letter (ref. SQT/189044). Incidentally, for other readers' benefit, I've been very happy with Halifax Sharedealing since moving there. So I'd urge others who are still with Selftrade to vote with their feet if they remain unhappy.

"Unable to accept Standing Order…"

Unable to accept Standing Order payments.

Each month I transfer £1000 to my Selftrade account by standing order from my SIPP with another provider.

I understand that this can take up to 3 working days.

Each month, by the 4th or 5th day, the monies are still not showing in my Selftrade Account.

I call Selftrade and they say, no, nothing here.

I then call the sender SIPP company, and they say yes we sent it 4/5 days ago, speak with Selftrade.

I call Selftrade and they so, no, nothing here.

I then pressure the sender to contact Selftrade, after which Selftrade then say, ah yes we have that monies, but we did not know who to allocate it to.

Even though my Selftrade account number is used for a reference on the payment.

So basically each month they get the money in 3 days, but dont know what to do with it, until I can convince the sender to call them, which is a hassle for me each month.

When I raised a complaint with Selftrade they replied with a one line........."Standing Orders Take 3 Days",

Which I already know, but its not happening with them.

I have reported them to the FCA. They are not looking after peoples money securely.


15th October 1835hrs
Response to Selftrade reply below.

You have the information via secure message systems- why would I retype it all or relay it all to you?
Why are all your replys on here from the same template - change them around a bit more - who are you trying to kid? At least put some effort into the fake concern!!!

"I will call you to sort out". Why, you have all the information.


Update 20th October.

Selftrade do not allocate my Standing Order incoming payments to my account unless I can pressurise the sending bank to call them.
[The correct Selftrade account number is sent on Standing Order to Selftrade].

Below is a follow up to my complaint from Selttrade..

*Please be advised that funds credited to your SIPP account would come from an instruction from your SIPP provider

Please note if you wish for payments to be credited by a certain time frame please let your SIPP provider know so they speed up the process their end.

If you should you require any further assistance then please do not hesitate to contact us via secure message, or by calling through to our customer experience centre on 0345 0700 720. Our lines are open 7:45 to 19:00 Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays.

Kind regards,

Janice Cunningham

So completely ignoring my complaint - blaming a third party - not looking into why they lose track of investors monies.

My account will be cancelled with Selftrade next month.

Well done Janice.

"Wealth warning: Do Not Use"

I've been a customer from the early days and was given a free account, where I didn't pay any fees. Since they were taken over by Equiniti, that agreement has been torn up. They have now brought in a new quarterly fee structure. I assume to get rid of customers and bankrupt the company.

I've spoken to customer support a few times in the past and they couldn't a flying f*** about their customers.

I'm in the process of moving all my shares to one of my other brokers.

I would seriously stay away from this terrible company