Be careful - Stalling of changes related to refunds.

Let me start by saying time is a precious commodity to me and writing of reviews is time consuming. So be the review of a complimentary or negative nature it not written out of a flood of emotion but after carefully reviewing the facts & whether my opinion is warranted & worth the time and effort it costs me to write it down.

Up until I needed to make a change in my residential address and add bank details to my online profile I would have also sung Allan Gray's praises as many others have but all contact with them was around me giving them funds to oversee my funds not the withdrawal thereof.

So I expected the same for changes relating to a withdrawal but i was horribly mistaken and was grateful that it was not my mind playing games with me but a reality faced by 3 others who reflected the same and were willing to write it down on Hellopeter.

I also noted the responses from Allan Gray seemed to be drawn from a "Sorry template" with a section added to the related review. That in my opinion shows a lack of empathy to the person involved and is just a response for the sake of anyone else who may come across the review to assume Allan Gray cares. In my opinion they care about getting funds & care about keeping them but releasing them is another matter all together.

The facts of what I experienced was as follows: 28/09/17 -Emailed instructions at Allan Gray the instruction to load bank details with relevant documents & change in Investor details form attached. Received the swift automated response that my request is being attended too. 29/09/17 -Received a email saying in: "Outstanding requirement In order to finalise this instruction please send us proof of residential address less than three months old (refer to Annexure A for a list of acceptable documents)." What was strange I had changed my residential details online the day before and the change was accepted & how did this message relate to the bank details & requested info that was already provided. 29/09/17 - I forwarded them a copy of our Telcoms/Internet account that reflected the physical address as the rates account & levy statement were still being proceeded and could take up to 3 months. I also explained the situation. I heard nothing till after 3pm that day when a consultant contacted me as I was heading home to explain what I sent would not meet FICA requirements. Regardless of how I tried to convince him or explain the predicament to him he kept saying sorry & referring me to the original required doc's needed. By now a long day, the rush to beat the traffic home & this situation had my emotions get the better of me and I firmly & in a very un polite manner expressed that he better sort it out or have upper management contact me but I will no longer entertain his conversation. What did he do!! - Sent me a repeat mail of documents required.

By Mon 02-10-17 I restudied the requirements to see if I could find a document that would meet the FICA requirements which I finally did - An insurance schedule. I sent that off with the message: Afternoon - See attached for proof of residence. - Days have passed since I 1st addressed this issue and I feel Allan Gray has been stalling. - Please confirm all in order.

Today I received confirmation of the changes just to find out they loaded the bank details but not as instructed or even against the one investment account the consultant said I should use but against the RA & Tax Free Savings investments account. I'm under 55 so cant draw off an RA and why would anyone draw off the other account with the related penalties!!

On the Changes of Investor details it allows you to enter the investment accounts you want changed but only if you want specific ones related to the bank account. I left blank as the form indicated: "If you DO NOT want your new bank details to be app**** across all your investment accounts, please specify which investment accounts and transactions this applies to:"

I called Allan Gray customer support. I expressed my disappointment to the lady consultant who started by apologising and promising to go get all the facts and get back to me. Now we wait again...

The lady got back to me about 3 hours later and despite her efforts only fed me with sorry's for mistakes they have made and information I had on hand but had no feedback on wrongly loaded accounts etc. I asked her to have her superiors call me which she committed to TRY doing. Still waiting......

My faith has been lost in Allan Gray and I hope whoever else chooses to do business with them takes the time to ensure the CARE they show in taking your funds will be app**** when looking for them to be returned.