Peoples Trust Service | Peoples Trust | Discussion forum

Nope Peoples Trust is by far the worst financial institution I've ever dealt with. I finally broke free from them and there never ending extra fees and incompetence after my mortgage finally came due recently - my lawyer could not get anyone here in Toronto to respond and provide a payout statement (perhaps that is a strategy for autorenewal). I managed to get some basic help from their head office in Vancouver. I payed out the mortgage, then 10 days later they took another payment out. After much cajoling they refunded it almost 4 weeks later and charged me a f-u service charge to refund the payment they took in error. Its been over 3 months now I still have not received any paperwork/confirmation from them on the payout. They are bar none the worst to deal with and I will never deal with them again.

We have to call to give GIC maturity instruction if we don't want to renew automatically, right?

To my surprise, I had a call back from Peoples Trust yesterday, March 1. I had left some messages in February. I had decided I would not call them again until after the Mar. 1 RRSP deadline. The CSR said they were still busy with that. I got the GIC that I wanted with his help. The CSR also mentioned to me the same thing HermanH said in post 6.

HermanH said:
"If you use the website and create a new account, you can set the maturity instructions at that time."

I saw this post but did act on his advice because I assumed that I would be creating a new customer number. The CSR said that does not need to happen because a new account can be linked to my existing customer number while doing the application. I have transferred some more money to Peoples Trust and I will try this account application process that starts on the home page rather than after I log in. After I log in I cannot get a GIC with the options I want, namely, annual pay and pay to my PT hisa on maturity. If I set up a GIC after logging in then I must call to get the options changed to what I want.

I do not understand why their website is designed to work this way.

The CSR said an account to Peoples Trust is an hisa or a GIC. I use the word account to describe the basket that holds my high interest savings account and the GICs that I have with Peoples Trust. Can someone offer me a different word to describe the structure represted by my Peoples Trust Customer #?

I also agree with the comments in this thread and elswhere on this forum about Peoples Trust customer service. When messages are not replied to in a day or two it is not good customer service and it reflects badly on Peoples Trust. While I was frustrated I stayed patient because of the good 2 year GIC interest rate (5.4%) and the bank diversification I want to maintain.

HermanH, I like your suggestion of Portfolio. Thanks.

I did buy a Peoples Trust GIC yesterday at 5.40%. I transferred that money to PT on February 9th. When the new money gets there and I can get another 2 year GIC at 5.30% then I will be be happy enough. I want to use the route you suggest to buy a PT GIC and see how it works. If I can submit an application, without the cash in the hisa, and lock in the rate, that would be good to know. I will try tomorrow. Each bank has different procedures. I have to try things to learn their ways.

RetirEd said
Did anyone succeed in using my suggestion of calling just as they open in eastern Canada? I was able to get through without getting knocked off line in 20 minutes several times in the last two weeks by phoning just after 6am Vancouver time (PST), which is 9am back east. And this despite their offices being in western Canada.

This trick only worked on the Vancouver local line, not the toll-free number.
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I'm fast asleep at 6 am in Vancouver, but I can attest that the same trick also works at the other end of the day, after 4 pm Pacific time, for those out on the west coast.

Yesterday, I walked by their headquarters building at Hornby and Dunsmuir, and their big poster in the window advertising GIC's had a paper overlay of 5.3% superimposed on the section that previously displayed 5.4%.

HermanH: Peoples has a long history of limiting the number of changes to their deposit and GIC rates, whether up or down. This doesn't surprise me. It's just their policy. It makes me slower to move money out in response to moves by other competitors, since I expect Peoples to follow suit in a week or so.

Rail Baron: Now, THAT's interesting. I have never gotten into their telephone system after 4pm, and out east that would be in the late evening! Opening at 6am here allows them to be open at 9 in Toronto (the centre of the universe) and Quebec. But in that case, though, why would the Vancouver local number be the one open, but not the toll-free?

Perhaps they're using Vancouver staff to help the eastern Canada load, but then why not answer the toll-free line? To get everyone into the same line-up for equality? I've never found the PB lines to be any advantage over the PT ones, and staff handle my accounts at both seamlessly. I just give them the customer number I want to use and they pop up the corresponding screen.

I discovered the early-hour secret the one time someone actually called me back, six hours after leaving a message. I felt it necessary to register my displeasure, and the rep said he didn't understand my problem since they'd been open since 3am and not very busy.

Experimentation showed that the rep was confused about time zone math, but 6am worked just fine. NOTE that calling before 9am didn't work for me on a Monday morning, but I have only that one data point on the matter.
RetirEd

Savemoresaveoften: I agree that all the lines should route to the same telephone tree, but my experimental data disagrees...
RetirEd

Today I am adding my thumb down regarding Peoples service. It is 8th day of the month and I have no Feb statement available to download.

... thought I saw on their fee schedule printed statement is $5.00