An Post may be one of the most successful deposit-takers and investment companies in the country, but Family Money readers have often complained about the quality of service from the savings bank. Mr McG and his wife each had five-year saving certificates worth £2,800 with An Post which were maturing on May 25th and May 28th last.

Knowing these were the maturity dates, Mr McG wrote to the company on May 12th requesting that the cheques reach their home in Donegal on the maturity dates, in order that they could be cashed immediately. On May 21st an encashment form, which required both their signatures arrived at the McG home. They signed and posted the form back to Dublin that afternoon.

It wasn't until June 3rd, 23 days after he first wrote to the company, that the McGs got their cheques. When Mr McG complained to An Post and demanded interest on their money from May 25th/28th to June 3rd, "I was told to forget it. I honestly believed that service like this had ceased to exist, but no. Their attitude to the public is that they can like it or lump it. If I won £1 million in the Lotto, I wouldn't invest £1 of it with An Post."

A spokeswoman for An Post told us that cheques cannot be issued prior to the actual maturity day, but that if the signed encashment form is processed on time (taking into account that there is a seven-day notice required), then the cheque will be posted on the maturity day and presumably arrive in the customer's home 24 hours later. Unfortunately, in this case, Mr McG's encashment form only arrived in Donegal on May 21st, despite his giving An Post notice of his requirement for an encashment on May 12th. Since the company needs seven days notice, the earliest he could expect either cheque would have been around May 30th. Another four days passed before the cheques arrived and the An Post spokeswoman admits: "We definitely fell down in this regard. We should have sent the forms out in time for this customer to get his money immediately after the 25th and 28th of May". She said our reader was not entitled to additional interest, but was unable to say why not. (Even the Office of the Revenue Commissioners pays interest on overpayments.)

Family Money readers have complained before about An Post's reluctance to deal with customers over the telephone. Unlike most other financial institutions which provide information about accounts and investments over the phone so long as the company is satisfied it is the account holder it is speaking to, An Post insists for security reasons on requests for information or encashment forms, etc. to be strictly by written correspondence.

Customers will, however, be told of the state of their investments if they go in person (with identification) to the An Post Savings Bank customer advice centre in Andrew Street, Dublin 2, said the spokeswoman.

There are no plans for An Post to change the system, said the spokeswoman and despite Mr McG's experience: "There has been a big overhaul in the customer service area over the past two years and the response time has improved".

Meanwhile, anyone with access to the Internet, can at least find out on the Web about An Post investments and services* and Prize Bonds weekly draws as well as all unclaimed bonds**.

There is a facility to register all your bond numbers on the Internet site which will then be automatically checked against winning numbers each time thereafter that you access the Prize Bond site. * http://www.anpost.ie ** http://www.prizebonds.ie