I now have found a company that is even worse than Overstock.com (at least they refunded me for the incredibly late Christmas delivery). That company is Computershare.
"What is Computershare?" you may ask? Let me tell a story...
Back in the old days, I entered a Dividend Reinvestment Program (DRIP) for a certain stock. That way my dividends would be automatically reinvested in additional stock rather than paid to me in cash. In addition, I could have monthly deductions from my checking account used to purchase more stock. The company that ran this service was called Equiserve, and it was an excellent company.
You see, under Equiserve, I could easily find my complete transaction history (good for finding my cost basis) and make changes to my account preferences (such as how much to deduct my my checking and changing my mailing address). After all, that's what the internet is for, right?
A few years ago Equiserve was purchased by another company that (apparently) does the same kind of shareholder services. It's called Computershare. It's an Australian company, and since I liked Young Einstein and Crocodile Dundee and Andrew Gaze, I figured it would be just fine. I have never been more wrong.
(By the way, go ahead and try to get on to their web site above. I'll still be here. If it actually comes up, you aren't too unlucky.)
At first, it was very slow and I couldn't do everything I wanted (such as changing deductions or my mailing address). The site wasn't good, but I figured they were new or integrating the Equiserve stuff or something. The options weren't there, but maybe they would be integrating them in when they saw how awesome Equiserve's ideas worked. So I gave it some time.
That time has passed. I am officially ticked off at these guys. This morning, I tried to get my transaction history for purposes of calculating my cost basis. The site just dies when I do AS IT ALWAYS HAS. How is this possible? Their name is COMPUTERSHARE! It's not 1993 with dial-up internet access! What more does an individual investor want? I am afraid to sell any stock because I'd never be able to calculate my cost basis for capital gains tax purposes.
It's unfathomable that this can occur in 2008 absent a huge temporary server migration or something. So Computershare, you are now on my Enemies List as the worst company I have ever dealt with. You win due to the tremendous longevity of your incompetence and indifference to customer service. I am now going to punch the next Australian guy I meet and tell him it's for you, and I will not drink a Foster's again until you fix your problems.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
BS on the Fosters' comment! You may never buy one but if one was bought for you, you would drink it!
I got to their website quickly, but in my defense, I am 3,000 miles closer to Australia.
Also, I have an Australian friend, so I'll tell him to let Computershare know that you're unhappy. If you ever have a problem with a Canadian company, I also have connections on that front as well.
Post a Comment