To think GoHenry is a scam?

[GlitteryShoes]

I opened Go Henry accounts for my foster children last year as it can be really hard to get normal bank accounts for them because of ID issues. The children have now moved on, so I asked GoHenry how to close their accounts. They closed the accounts the next day, even though I hadn't asked them to do this, and blocked my access to the account so I couldn't even see exactly how much money was in there.
This was s month ago and they still haven't returned the money to me ( it's over £1000). I phone their switchboard and rarely get through. Eventually I was given direct access to the call centre manager, who has every day this week promised me the money will be in my account by 2pm. It has not arrived.
I have been given so many excuses - it was too much money to send in one transaction, the financial controller left it on his desk etc etc. Surely a 'bank' should have proper procedures for returning money. This is my money, it wasn't paid for a service, it was essentially money I kept in a bank account that I have not been able to access for a month. I genuinely thought it was a good idea to help the children with their money, but I am beginning to think I have been conned.

[Creampastry]

Osper is cheaper and better. Raise a formal complaint with go henry to get your money ... or contact financial ombudsman.

[GlitteryShoes]

I am going to go to the Financial Ombudsman. They clearly have serious procedural issues to be so incompetent.

[toriap2]

I agree about Osper. DD finds it easy to use and we have had no problems

[AnchorDownDeepBreath]

goHenry is a new way for young people to develop great money habits; we're not a bank, and we don't think like a bank

That's the key part of their marketing blurb - they aren't a bank. So they don't need to abide by bank procedures.

The cards are issued by IDT Financial Services, who are a bank and are covered by the FCA, but as your problem isn't with a card, I'm not sure if they'd be able to help.

The Ombudsman is a good idea.

[incywincybitofa]

Could they be querying whose money it is in the circumstances
The initial error was their's in closing the account but are they now just checking ownership. ?
It is a pain I can see that and it is no small sum either.

[GlitteryShoes]

It's definitely not related to who owns the money - they have no idea of our family setup. I am the person who pays the account fees. Every day I call they say they have transferred the money back and then say they haven't, for varying silly reasons. The CEO rang me to apologise this morning but I still have no money.

[DawnMumsnet]

Hi there,

We've been contacted by goHenry this afternoon and they've asked if we can post this apology to GlitteryShoes:

goHenry would really like to apologise for the time it took for your money to be refunded. This was a mistake on our side and we know we could have done better when it came to your query. I know you have already spoken to Louise Hill earlier today (our Co-Founder & COO). We do have procedures in place to return funds to people as quickly as possible, but unfortunately in this instance it didn't run as smoothly as it normally does. We've already this morning taken steps to ensure that this does not happen again. The money was refunded to you this morning and so should have reached your bank account this afternoon. We can only apologise for this and should you wish to discuss this further, please do get in touch with us by emailing [email protected] and asking to speak with Louise Hill.

Many thanks.

[grubbyslippers]

My ds has A gohenry account and we are really pleased with it.

[Layeroftime]

So, I just ran across this thread and will tell you that this is a terrible app. They offer no customer service. Phone calls leave customers on hold for over an hour, chat just covered the basics and customers are left with communicating with them by way of email (requiring you to include personal information) and waiting two to three days for a reply, that is unhelpful. I would not recommend GoHenry to anyone -- as it is best to go with a service that is much more reputable.

[Oneborneverydecade]

I didn't have any problems with them but switched to Starling bc that's who we bank with