Currencies Direct - www.currenciesdirect.com

I approached Currencies Direct to ask them to send £600 to someone in Namibia, where we once lived and who I have been supporting for many years. The reason for the request was that the previous provider had chosen not to handle any more of my business. Perhaps the amounts transferred were too small!

However, I complied with Currencies Direct requests for data concerning the recipient offering to obtain a copy of the passport if that was required. Then completely out of the blue, we were visited by the police. Did currencies direct really suspect us of the money laundering of £600, taken from my pension. No reason was ever given for their refusal to handle my business and only today, after nearly three weeks, have they returned the money I deposited in their account.

Forced to sign up to see the current exchange rates for a currency transfer.

Within a few minutes of signing up I started to receive unwanted phone calls and emails from the accounts manager... "just checking to see the that everthing is ok". In reality they are harrasing the customer to make a transfer so that they can earn their commission. Pressure sales tactics veiled as customer care. No thank you. There are better, more transparent companies out there who give a better rate and don't hassle you (eg. Transferwise has always been a good experience for me).

I did an international transfer that was returned but they told me stories and tried to deduct money from it. I complained and they kept refusing to answer my questions and emails - will take the matter the further.

It all started on the 02nd August 2017, when I made the biggest mistake of my life.. I decided to put my trust in Currencies Direct, solely based on the their online rating. Upon reaching an agreement on the rate, I was given the details of Barclays Bank by Currencies Direct and duly credited £22,000 (our only savings) into it from my personal account in the UK. The money was going to be transferred in Canadian dollars to my bank account in Canada. I was assured that the funds would be sent to my bank account by Barclays Bank and would be received by Friday, 04th August at the latest.

3 Fridays have come and gone now -- "WHERE IS OUR MONEY??"

On the 03rd August I received an email requesting certain information from me and responded straightaway. On Friday 04th Aug, no funds arrived and I made numerous calls to Currencies Direct & was advised that the money had been sent by their bank to our bank in Canada.

During the coming days I made almost 50 calls with a view to resolving the matter, but was always led to believe that the money had been sent & I should check with my bank in Canada.

I have been in regular contact with the manager at my bank and also the wire team who have confirmed on numerous occasions that no funds have been received (last call 18th Aug).

Currencies Direct maintained that the money had been sent and provided me with an MT103, which did not help and subsequently a PET number which was also of no use.

On the 10th August, after making several phone calls to Currencies Direct, I was eventually informed that Barclays Bank who they send money through had held the money for compliance screening and this was cleared on 08th August. But the money was sent out on the 10th August and I should simply wait. This was astonishing as Barclays Bank simply sat on the money without telling anyone.

The matter was then escalated to a call centre in India, where they requested Barclays bank to put the initial trace on the funds. For some unknown reason this trace was not completed and another trace was requested on the 16th Aug. It also transpired that Barclays Bank sent the money out on the 08th Aug, not the 10th (no one could explain why I was initially given incorrect information).

After making further enquiries I have now been advised by Currencies Direct that they have NO IDEA where our money is and are waiting for a response from my Bank in Canada (the beneficiary bank). I have stressed numerous times to them that I call my bank 5 times a day and they dont have the funds.

I have also asked if Barclays Bank has sent money through an intermediary institution (this has not been answered by currencies direct) and if so, why are these institutions not part of the trace? (again no response received from Currencies Direct). Total silence!

I have phoned in to try to speak to Operations Manager, London Office, who is always in a meeting and has to date not phoned me back. In fact when I last phoned in and spoke to a  man from the trade floor, I could hear someone laughing in the background, showing a total disregard for our plight.

It is evident that Currencies Direct are a callous outfit, who lack empathy and in our case are refusing to take proper responsibility for the matter. The level of customer service provided so far has been astonishingly bad, it almost seems like Currencies Direct believe that they are above all rules and regulations & totally untouchable.

It is now looking highly likely that this matter will only be resolved by the Financial Conduct Authority intervening, which could take months. I have also filed a formal complaint with the Currencies Direct complaints team, who has said they will investigate the matter and it will take "8 weeks to respond".

I have also copied in Chief Executive Officer with Currencies Direct to my emails but this has had NO IMPACT at all.

I am in the process of contacting "Watchdog" and also am reaching out to newspapers to highlight what is taking place.

Me and my family have gone through a lot of unnecessary distress and are paying out interest on credit cards everyday as a result of our MONEY BEING LOST & still being unaccounted for..... 17 days and counting ...... STAY AWAY from Currencies Direct!!!

I needed to send euros to Spain to purchase a property. I contacted currencies direct who gave me the best rate, no pressure to purchase or to send money into their account like other companies. The whole process went very smoothly from agreeing rate, transferring money from our bank to currencies direct, then they transferred our euros directly to our Spanish account which they received the same day. excellent service from very professional staff. Would definitely use again. No charges.

I needed to transfer some money over from my home account for a deposit on a house. It’s the first time I’ve transferred money overseas and wasn’t sure how it all worked or what was the best way to go about it. After checking for advice on moneysavingexpert.com, I decided to contact Currencies Direct as they came up as recommended. I filled in the online quote form and promptly got a call off one of their sales agents who advised me that they would beat the banks rates by at least 3-5% if I transferred with them. He gave me a rate, which seemed to be the same as my bank had offered but after saying this I was reassured it wasn’t and they would beat it, all I had to do was go back online, register, input the amount of money I wanted to transfer and I would be given a live rate. This I did BUT I didn’t get a rate that beat my banks or that I was promised on the phone, the rate I was emailed was the same as my bank! As I had read that the bank was quicker and more importantly a safer to way to transfer the money I went back to my bank and made the transfer with them. This was last week and I have since received daily calls from Currencies Direct, first telling me I have to transfer the money and when I advised I couldn’t, it had already been moved, I was told to pay a large fee to them for not doing so or face legal action. I hadn’t realised that by a few clicks of a mouse, with no exchange of money I’d apparently agreed to buy their rate and entered into a contract with them? Is this right? Can anyone give me some advice on this please, I can’t afford to pay this fee and it doesn’t seem right considering I was talked into buying a rate that they couldn’t provide? I have asked and emailed Currencies direct to see if they can help me resolve the matter some other way but they won’t respond to my email and just keep threatening legal action. Expected more from such a big company who advertises to provide customers with great rates and experience if they use their services.

Virginia Bragg provided superb service - I had to execute several transactions from Canada, routed through CD in London and on to Spain and each transaction occurred as promised. Virginia provided excellent turnaround on quotes and confirmations flowed seamlessly at each interval of the transaction.

Confirmations of funds receipt from Canada; confirmation of foreign currency purchase and funds held in CD account; and, confirmation of funds dispatched to onward destination provide clear transparency, peace of mind and comfort.

And, each time it happened on the value dates indicated by Virginia from the outset...well done!

Well pleased with the service and that was down to the help I received from your local rep. Any problems were of my making.

Called into local office after seeing advert in free paper. Friendly welcome as I went through the door. The staff explained the procedure without using financial language, thank you. I was informed that after verifying my details, I would be contacted, probably after the weekend as it was a Friday, well they range me about 3 hours later to say confirmation had been received and I could call in to complete my transaction. Very pleased with the service.

The online system was very straightforward. I got a good rate, and set up rate alerts so I'll know when to trade next! I even got a call to help introduce me to the website. Good stuff!