Chelsea Building Society

A few years ago now I opened a CLASSIC account with the Chelsea BS since, at the time, it had one of the best rates going. Everything was great for a while but of course, time passed slowly and, like most people, I lost track of the interest rates paid on this account as they went up and down. Imagine my surprise when I checked a few weeks ago and found that the latest (almost) equivalent account from the Chelsea (CALL DIRECT) pays almost three (yes 3!) times the interest rate of the original account I had opened all those years ago. Now, I realise that it is not in their best interest (no pun ... more

The Chelsea Building Society faced a vote earlier in the year by members wishing to vote on the prospect of demutualisation of the society. There was a distinction made in that the board believed that the memebrs where not asking for a demutualisation of the society but instead asking the board to consider demutualisation. This is true except that by asking the board to consider demutualisation I believe that the members were asking for a serious vote on conversion of the society. I beleive the board are arrogant if they cannot listen to the voice of their membership in requesting such a vote ... more

This is an organisation that has not kept up with the changes in our speed of life. Branches are empty - but you can still wait for ever for service. Computers go down - and the response is come back later. Postal use of an account is not a particularly good idea. They take forever to get round to cashing a check (with loss of interest) and they don't acknowldge. If you want to be reminded of a gentler and less hurried age the Chelsea is just right. If you want service go elsewhere. Products are unremarkable, and while their ISA isn't bad there's nothing else i can see that sparkles. ... more

so, here we are, the chelsea building society is alive and kicking -but who knows about it? A well run society, but few people in the uk use it because they may have heard of it but don'tv have "sight" of it as there is no branch near them. This is a pity because chelsea has a great postal and telephone service that menas you can use them whereever you live! Take a minute or two to look at some "best rate" tables - you will see that chelsea offers very attractive rates, and you can get at your money easily too - just phone then and it can be transferred via bacs direct to your bank account ... more