Hesta.com.au Avis 125

Appalling service. HESTA work on the belief that the money is theirs and will hang onto it for as long as possible. When undertaking a number partial withdrawals, via online portal; there is ALWAYS some BS admin "problem"!
HESTA's claim of 2 to 3 days processing is a misleading and ridiculous statement. My latest application is now 8 days and counting. Nest step Ombudsman.

HESTA is changing IT platforms. Unbelievably, this means there will be no online access to our accounts for 7 weeks! It’s ok if you’re still working but I’m retired and rely on making monthly withdrawals as needed. Even more importantly, we’ll have no insight on daily performance of my investments. I keep an eye on this, and especially in the current volatile market, I should be able to make decisions about my investment mix. I just won’t know how my funds are performing for 7 weeks. The only way to change investment mix or make withdrawals will be via snail mail. I just can’t believe it is going to take 7 weeks. No other financial institution would effectively shut down for 7 weeks. When I complained in writing I got a proforma reply. Not even Centrelink shuts down its online services for more than a few hours, and they have a lot more customers. This is really frustrating and poor service from a financial institution.

After over 25 years with Hesta, I will never recommend them to our new employees, after the way I've been treated in the last 10 days. On 20 March, to make a small cash withdrawal of MY money, I tried for over 3 hours to get the on line system to accept my ID details ( same details have been accepted by the system for 4 other withdrawals in the last 12 months),all were correct. System was consistently unsatisfied with my date of birth! Rang the call centre the next day, was told to put through a withdrawal document, which they sent to me. No apologies forthcoming, couldn't tell me why the system rejected my legally correct ID details. As I have no printer to scan the documents, I had to ring the call centre again. They told me I could auto fill the documents. They didn't tell me to do this, I had to download the Adobe App, learn how to use it, and learn how to write my signature, save my signature, and how to apply it to the documents. This took me half a day to learn. Four days later I actually have to ring to see if Hesta has received my Application for withdrawal, and what they're doing with it. Six days later I receive a message to say, again, that my ID details are incorrect, and to ring them! After a long phone call, where the sysyem still won't accept my birth date, the operator can't tell me where the system has rejected my claim! We go through it all again, and he says "you may be accepted to get your $5000 now". Well, hello, I have to tell him it's written on all my efforts to get some of my money, that the amount is written as $4000! I'm so frustrated, this is my only cash that I can access. My credit card debt is huge, and I'm desperate after some large unexpected expenses for my very unwell poodle. This IT failure has caused me immense emotional and financial stress. I believe, shutting down the online Hesta availability from April till July, has resulted in a run on withdrawals, causing a system crash, or Hesta wants to stop investor cash withdrawals while merging with the new company. Disgraceful company! It's my money and I need to access it!!!

Received notification from HESTA that there were discrepancies in a form and to call a 1800 number. Was on the phone for four hours and no-one picked up. Went to their website and was invited to call a MLB number (03) etc. Eventually the call was answered but unfortunately, it was very difficult to understand what that person was saying and several repeats of the information given to them was also needed. I do not know whether that person was actually in MLB or off-shore. I would appreciate an understanding of HESTA's language requirements/qualifications for their phone operators. While I have no trouble understanding why HESTA might sub-contract services, I do wonder how far down the line (pun intended) their due diligence for their customers/investors extends.

What an experience with HESTA. All I wanted was to take MY money and the lies and run around I received. 24 -48 hrs what BS. I’m up to 10 days and have only received notification that it’s been processed. Told on the phone today it was processed 19 /3 and to blame the bank. BS. Needed the money urgently and still waiting.

Poor customer service; slow to respond to requests (sent wrong documents initially and then 70+ minutes on hold over two phone calls), phone service is awful. Will never recommend this company again after being with them 20+years.

Incompetent every time guaranteed.

After weeks of waiting I still haven’t received my benefit payment. They promised it was going to be in my bank account within 24-48 hours. So frustrating don’t know what to do anymore

Hesta have been provided more than 150pts of ID on my hardship claim and have electronically identified me though refuse to release my money. I've offered to come to there Sydney offices to ID myself though I'm told I can be anyone though have my NSW Driver lic Medicare card, bank card, birth certificate which has all been provided to Hesta. They were happy for me to open the account and take my money, though wont release my hardship claim. You cannot talk to anyone except the India based call centre as they refuse to transfer you to anyone. Hesta is a company with no face or Morals

Extremely Frustrating Experience with Hesta Superannuation

I am deeply frustrated with the way Hesta Superannuation has handled our case. My wife has been locked out of her account due to incorrect details in their system, including an error with her title and date of birth. When we contacted Hesta customer service to resolve the issue, things only got worse. (Before the call, we sent a number of emails and details requested by them)

During our call, we provided the correct details, including her member number, address, and date of birth, but the representative claimed that the information didn’t match their system. After my wife authorised me to speak on her behalf, I attempted to correct them regarding the incorrect title (it was listed as "Mr." instead of "Mrs."), and the date of birth discrepancy. However, the agent insisted on speaking only to my wife and even questioned her about contacting her previous employer, which we had already done.

What was most frustrating was that when I tried to clarify some of the details and correct the agent's misunderstanding, I was repeatedly shut down and told they were "talking to the member," even though my wife had authorised me to assist her. At one point, the agent even questioned my wife on when she last contacted the employer (which was over 6 months ago, not 3 months as she initially recalled), and I stepped in to correct her. The agent continued to ignore me, which made it feel like we were being treated like criminals rather than customers trying to resolve an issue caused by Hesta's own system errors.

We’ve been waiting for months for Hesta to fix their mistake, and in the meantime, my wife has been unable to access her superannuation. It is incredibly disappointing that a company like Hesta, which is supposed to care for its members’ financial well-being, would make it so difficult to correct their own errors and refuse to communicate effectively.

I would strongly advise anyone considering Hesta to think twice. If you’re faced with a problem like this, don’t expect timely or helpful support. I’m still waiting for a resolution and will be escalating this further if necessary.

Pathetic! Made a benefit claim late September, still waiting nearly middle October, promised twice that payment would be in within 24 to 48 hours, still not there,??!!!

I've been with HESTA for 20+ years and while the returns on the super side seems good, the insurance is not.
I had a question regarding my death cover (they go through AIA) and after a month they still couldn't give me an answer. Every time I called it was around a 1 hour wait to speak to someone, and then they had no knowledge of my prior calls or that I had been told it was being looked into. AIA had no information on me and my cover at all.
I eventually had to file a formal complaint with HESTA because the AFCA would not help unless I followed HESTA's internal complaint process.
I received a verbal answer to my question after a few days however, I am still waiting for written confirmation as to how they came up with the answer.
I ended up cancelling the insurance and taking up private cover outside my super.