Alliance Trust Savings 

Website seems more for a financial advisor than the ordinary investor .Its very confusing compared with the Share Centre and Fidelity where We have funds in.
Even when I sold shares on the trading platform and the money was lying in cash for a while I was told it would be 12 days to get into my bank account after receiving the withdrawal forms in the post. Received money from Fidelity in just 4 days and it was all done online.

Appalling,inept,unresponsive,disrespectful, utter shambles!
Probably the worst decision in my life to open a SIPP with Alliance Trust.
If you're after a Company that doesn't give a damn, this shower fits the bill.

I have been with ATS for 30 years. Very good customer service in the past but now truly appalling. Telephones not answered eg 10 mins x 3 phone holding before response. Email complaint took over 4 weeks to be replied to!
Trying to transfer my ISA out to another provider since June. All held in cash so not difficult but they still hang on to my money. Recorded delivery letters of complaint to Service Manger & CEO unanswered after over 2 weeks. I have spoken to the Ombudsman office & will have to pursue by this route

If you do not need to interact with them, they provide a low cost SIPP platform for larger holdings (because fees are fixed and not based on a percentage). However do not expect a reply to any emails. Also they do not have a foreign currency account (which strikes me as amazing for a financial services company) so they have difficulty processing dividends paid in foreign currency, taking weeks to credit your account.

I am seriously considering moving to a different company.

I have been trying to sell some shares with this company for many months, after not being able to verify my bank account I had to fill out a form which took well over a month to come back, at which point it was wrongly appointed as a joint account, months late I had managed a certified trading account.

My first transaction was made on the 26th of June with a contract date of the 10th of June. Today, the 1st of August, I am still awaiting settlement and the return of my share certificate. When questioned, after 45 minutes or longer on hold I have been told TNT have lost the mail, that the transaction number is being dealt with today, that the certificate had gone missing but has been returned to their office that day and several other stories. Either they are hugely incompetent, they make up whatever comes into there head or they are lying, it remains to be seen which.

No one from the company is interested or will take ownership of the situation, their customer communication is no existent. PLEASE STEER WELL CLEAR OF THESE JOKERS.

After being fed the usual nonsense without any satisfaction this week I shall inform the financial ombudsman although I hold little hope of any changes. Do what all good consumers do and go elsewhere.

Alliance Trust took over my portfolio from Stocktrade. Because their web services are not as good as Stocktrade used to be, I decided to close my accounts and request remittance of my funds to my bank account. Unlike Stocktrade this cannot be done online - only by sending a form, which I did in early July. I am still waiting for my money. After 17 days of silence I rang. After waiting some time, I was told that my bank account details (which I gave in the form) couldn't "be verified". I was told this sometimes happens for bank accounts "opened some time ago". This is a problem I have never experienced with other financial institutions. I asked why AT hadn't contact me about this. The lady who I spoke to couldn't say why not. She asked me to send, by email or post, evidence by way of a bank statement or void cheque. I emailed scanned evidence within the hour as she had promised to look for my email and action it. I have heard nothing since. Telephone calls take ages to be answered, if at all. I am now getting extremely worried that AT is unwilling, or unable, to return clients' money. Has anyone else had this experience. I am meanwhile pursuing things via the FCA and Bank of England.

Pathetic!!

Don't waste your time with this joke of a company!

I am actually trying to transfer to them and you would think new customers would be a priority. Not with Alliance Trust.

They have been sent discharge forms to fill and return to my current broker. These have been sent 3 times: twice by first class post and once by signed for. On all occasions they say no mail has been received even when they've signed for it!

I am the one constantly chasing for an update on my transfer. They fail to respond to email. They lie when you phone through when they say they will call you back as they never do. I have found it impossible to find a responsible competent person to help me.

I have wasted time, money and effort trying to force them to do their job. I have been uninvested for 2 months now because they can't do their job. Really disappointing and frustrating.

I advise against them especially if you expect any positive human interaction. It's non existent for a customer service department.

Totally incompetent. ATS have basic competency issues. Their customer service department try, but are either badly trained or overworked. Trying to speak to someone is impossible, they fail to respond to emails and I would not recommend them to anyone.
You can leave a message on the voice mail of a Mr Renouf 0131 322 3357, the customer service manger. While he promises to call you back, obviously he does not, someone else email you. This really is a pointless exercise as if you do not agree with ATS they just stop all contact.
Have now tried going through the CEO Patrick.Mill.
For sure I will involve the Financial Ombusman and the financial advice at the Daily Telegraph. This is shame as this is the last resort.
Let's wait and see what happens next, after all if the main person is not aware of the deficiencies in their organisation the need to be given the opportunity to rectify them.

ATS do not respond to phone calls or emails, even for simple transactions/queries. Gave up after being on hold for 30 mins at each of four occasions. Can't even complain by phone! Service has definitely deteriorated over last few years, even though charges have not.

Looking to transfer to another provider but dreading the delays...

I could not even open an account with them.

They never ever answer the phone.

Their funds list shows closed/obsolete funds but not the current version.

I went elsewhere

Set up a Sipp in autumn 16. Noticed in December that they hadn't taken the regular DD. They claimed they had taken the money and had credited my account but no direct debit taken. Continue to do this.
All competent financial organisations routinely reconcile bank transactions but Alliance appear not to do this.
Cannot operate a savings account so not fit for purpose and risk to organisation and savers overall as possible they are overstating the value of their accounts.

This company are a joke. I have tried to transfer SIPP out for 4mths by which time I lost several thousands of pounds due to their incompetence. They blame everyone except themselves and hide behind Terms and Conditions to get out of any responsibility. They ignore emails and I made a complaint in June 16 which still hasn't been investigated!!! I also agree with the other reviewer about slow payment of dividends (don't expect any answers when you call them or interest for delays in payments).

One of my work colleagues also recently tried to move a SIPP with them and that again took over 5months of hassle- All they offered to say sorry was a £25 gift card. Call centre staff are clueless and cannot answer simple questions about their own company's products - the usual response is 'we'll call you back' and no one ever does.

Save yourself a lot of hassle and money AVOID! Their fees are ridiculous for the service they provide and NOT competitive and market leading as they boast.

Although the platform is reasonably priced, they take too long to pay in dividends which are denominated in US dollars - often months late!

I shopped around for a cheap place for my SIPP and found Alliance Trust. All charges are up-front, and they rebated fees before the law forced companies to do so.

Website is a bit clunky and sometimes felt the ETF and bonds available limited though.