Cahoot: What you need to know (cahoot.co.uk)

Member Name: ONscotland

Product:	cahoot.co.uk
Date:	20/03/05 (346 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: Inefficient

Like most people, I was tempted to join cahoot thanks to their incredible interest rates, which knocked spots off those on offer from “traditional” banks. That was a few years ago, and since then the “traditional” banks have caught up and got in on the act, and it is fair to say that as consumers, we now have more choice than ever before when it comes to where we put our money.

With so many banks competing, and offering similar interest rates, other considerations deserve our attention. And the main battleground, as far as I am concerned, is customer service, and this is what lets cahoot down so very badly.

My experiences have led me to take the decision to close my cahoot account, and I would urge readers thinking of joining them to tread with caution.

Here are a few incidents that have happened in the last six months. I have not included any incidents from before (and there are many)

- Cahoot send a new debit card, which gets lost in the post. Despite repeated emails, I receive broadly identical replies telling me to “wait another day” for it to arrive. Eventually cahoot agree that the card has been lost and send me a new card.
- The card that I receive lasts for about a week, before the laminate starts peeling off. I have never experienced this with a card before! It gets stuck in a railway station ticket machine, so I order a new one. Cahoot actually send the card straight away, but interestingly, despite the first card getting lost in the post, this third card is sent as “active”, meaning that it is ready for use by anyone who receives it. Thankfully, it arrives intact.
- My balance on 27th of the month is £400.03 in CREDIT. My overdraft facility is £500. Mysteriously, cahoot assume that the 3pence takes me over my overdraft limit; despite the fact the balance is a credit amount, not overdrawn! Cahoot charge me £25.00. I email cahoot who tell me that I was overdrawn on 27th March, and after I point out that the date they refer to was a credit amount, they eventually refund the £25.00.

I am currently in the midst of a minor “battle” with cahoot, after they charged me, again incorrectly, for an error. And here is where they do the utmost to foil any attempts to contact them.

Telephone banking – a constant queuing system is in operation. And staff do not have any powers to do anything with your account. “24 hour banking”? - if you need anything other than a balance request or transfer, forget it – call back between 9 and 5, Monday to Friday.

Email enquiries – this causes the utmost frustration. Cahoot offer a “secure messaging” facility where you can send short messages to them. Normally a reply is received within 3 days. However, if you need to reply, you cannot contact the same person. The email goes into a central file, and is picked up by a random staff member who NEVER reads the previous correspondence. So you receive a set reply, and have to explain everything everytime. This is despite each message having a “tracking number”. Cahoot will happily discuss your account via email this way, until you ask for a manager. Then, “email security” become an issue, and you have to send a secure message via their website. This limits you to 500 characters, so you had better be succinct! And again, a reply will come from somebody who appears to have no access to previous correspondence.

Closing your account – I have tried to do this on numerous occasions. Each time, the bank displays an “error message” or asks for a password which is never recognised (since you are already logged in to the account this is simply bizarre).

All in all – I regret the day I joined cahoot. I am currently setting up a new bank account elsewhere. If you are always in credit, then the only thing you ever have to worry about is their decidedly dodgy card security and website access. (Remember, this is the bank that had a “shocking” security breach on their website recently.) If you are like me and sometimes need to contact someone then I would urge you to pick another bank, as cahoot simply are not interested.

Summary: