Foresters Friendly Society Reviews

Name: Foresters Friendly Society
Address: Third Floor, Enterprise House, Ocean Way, Southampton
Rating: 4.41

4.4 Rating 653 Reviews

85 %

of reviewers recommend Foresters Friendly Society

Company Reviews

Metrics

Info

4.4

Based on 653 reviews


Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Postal Service
Average Delivery Time	Within 5 Days
On-time Delivery	Greater than 82%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders	100%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Email, Live Chat, Telephone
Queries Resolved In	Under An Hour
Customer Service	4.6 out of 5

About Foresters Friendly Society:

Foresters Friendly Society has been helping with family finances since 1834. As a mutual society, we don't have shareholders so our profits are instead distributed to our policyholders in the form of bonuses and also through our Foresters Extras membership package.

Visit Website

Phone:

0800 988 2418

Location:

Third Floor, Enterprise House, Ocean Way
Southampton
SO14 3XB

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Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Rated 3 None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“Access to view online accounts would be great”

Helpful Report

Hi Robert, thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We launched the member portal in July of this year, initially, it was only available to members who have taken out a plan after the launch date, so that we could evaluate real world performance of the portal and seek member feedback, making adjustments where needed. We are now beginning to onboard members who took out plans prior to July of this year, and will do so in a phased manner, starting with the most recent plans, and working our way back so as to be able to manage the volume of invitations and subsequent sign-ups. We expect to send your invitation to register to the Portal early in the New Year and will be in touch to notify you when it becomes available for you to register. Kind regards, Foresters Friendly.

“Although the product was what I was looking for, the administration and backup is poor. Phone calls not answered or answered and subsequently cut off, e-mails taking ages to receive a response and letters clearly addressed with the published Freepost address returned marked 'addressee unknown'! I would think carefully next time before I invest in another product.”

Helpful Report

“Have been promised online access now for nearly as long as I’ve had the account without that I am reluctant to invest anymore money I have spoken to customer service who seem genuine but can’t say I’m satisfied”

Helpful Report

Hi Harris, We appreciate your frustration regarding your current inability to register for and make use of our member portal. We launched the member portal in July of this year, and it is currently accessible only by members taking out plans after the launch date so that we could evaluate real world performance of the portal and seek member feedback, making adjustments where needed. Additionally, as a multi-brand business a significant amount of work has taken place so that members who hold plans from across our various brands are able to see and manage them all in one place. We hope that you'll appreciate that delay in inviting you, and other members who have taken out plans before the portal launched in July of this year is because as a member-focused business, we want to make sure that we’re offering the best possible portal experience when the time comes, and that a significant amount of technical work needs be done in order to do so. The work mentioned above is ongoing, but we are now beginning to onboard members who took out plans prior to July of this year, and will do so in a phased manner, starting with the most recent plans, and working our way back so as to be able to manage the volume of invitations and subsequent sign-ups. We'll be in touch to notify you when the registration for your account becomes available. Thank you for your patience. Kind regards, Foresters

“The service has been ok. Would like for the online services to be available for better understanding of my account and flexibility.”

Helpful Report

Hi Shah, We appreciate your frustration regarding your current inability to register for and make use of our member portal. We launched the member portal in July of this year, and it is currently accessible only by members taking out plans after the launch date so that we could evaluate real world performance of the portal and seek member feedback, making adjustments where needed. Additionally, as a multi-brand business a significant amount of work has taken place so that members who hold plans from across our various brands are able to see and manage them all in one place. We hope that you'll appreciate that delay in inviting you, and other members who have taken out plans before the portal launched in July of this year is because as a member-focused business, we want to make sure that we’re offering the best possible portal experience when the time comes, and that a significant amount of technical work needs be done in order to do so. The work mentioned above is ongoing, but we are now beginning to onboard members who took out plans prior to July of this year, and will do so in a phased manner, starting with the most recent plans, and working our way back so as to be able to manage the volume of invitations and subsequent sign-ups. We'll be in touch to notify you when the registration for your account becomes available. Thank you for your patience. Kind regards, Foresters

“I was supposed to receive a gift card upon taking out a policy and I never received it”

Helpful Report

Thank you for taking the time to post us a review. We have looked in to your query and it appears that the amount you pay into your plan doesn't qualify for a gift card. Our gift card offers are tiered and the value of the gift card varies depending on the amount invested. Please do get in touch with our Member Services team if you would like to discuss this further. We are available Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm on 0800 988 2418 or by email memberservices@forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk. Kind regards, Foresters.

“I’ve not been given an online login for my ISA at all since joining in April 2023, despite chasing multiple times via email and over the phone. The rates look good but I’m not happy with your customer service quality so far.”

Helpful Report

Hi Roberts, We appreciate your frustration regarding your current inability to register for and make use of our member portal. We launched the member portal in July of this year, and it is currently accessible only by members taking out plans after the launch date so that we could evaluate real world performance of the portal and seek member feedback, making adjustments where needed. Additionally, as a multi-brand business a significant amount of work has taken place so that members who hold plans from across our various brands are able to see and manage them all in one place. We hope that you'll appreciate that delay in inviting you, and other members who have taken out plans before the portal launched in July of this year is because as a member-focused business, we want to make sure that we’re offering the best possible portal experience when the time comes, and that a significant amount of technical work needs be done in order to do so. The work mentioned above is ongoing, but we are now beginning to onboard members who took out plans prior to July of this year, and will do so in a phased manner, starting with the most recent plans, and working our way back so as to be able to manage the volume of invitations and subsequent sign-ups. We'll be in touch to notify you when the registration for your account becomes available. Thank you for your patience. Kind regards, Foresters

“They made be unhappy when they switched to E card having no regard for their older most loyal customers who cannot cope with this tortuous Prezzies situation who fail to respond to request for help and the failure of Foresters to respond to emails requesting help”

Helpful Report

Hi Robin, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback regarding the recent transition to the Prezzee eGift Card. We understand that changes can sometimes be frustrating, and we sincerely appreciate your patience as we work to improve our members' overall experience. We recently changed our incentive to an eGift Card to offer a greater choice to our members. The eGift Card can be swapped, in full or in part, for more than 200 of the UK’s favourite brands including M&S. We have reviewed our records and noted that you have already reached out to one of our dedicated Member Service staff who assisted you. Please do get in touch with our Member Services team if you would like to discuss this further. We are available Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm on 0800 988 2418 or by email membersalesandservice@forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk. Kind regards, Foresters.

“In the main I think this is a good savings account if my other accounts are anything to go on although I would like to keep track of it which so far I have been unable to do also the gift for taking out the account is rubbish why you couldn't stick to M&S vouchers I don't know at least they were manageable with no fuss”

Helpful Report

Hi Edward, thank you for sharing your feedback with us. The initial phase of our member portal has just been launched in July this year and is currently accessible for new plan holders only. Existing plan holders, like yourself, are being issued invitations during a phased introduction throughout the rest of 2023, and once you have access you will be able to keep track of your savings. We appreciate that you are eager to sign-up for the portal and we will be in touch to advise when you are able to register for your account. We also recently changed our incentive to an eGift Card to offer a greater choice to our members. The eGift Card can be swapped, in full or in part, for more than 200 of the UK’s favourite brands including M&S. If we can provide some assistance for you with this, please contact us by email memberservices@forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk or call 0800 988 2418. Kind regards, Foresters.

“Friendly service but wish I could view my account on-line and not have to ring in to check my account”

Helpful Report

Hi Keith, thank you for your review. We understand the importance of providing online access to our savings plans, and we are investing in our digital capabilities to enable this service for our members. In the meantime, we want to assure you that we are still here to support you with your plan. Our Member Services team is available to provide you with plan values over the phone, and we send out annual statements regarding your plan's value. If you would like any further details, our Member Services team are available Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, on 0800 988 2418 or by email memberservices@forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk. Kind regards, Foresters

“Could do with an app to log in with”

Helpful Report

“Friendly, personable customer service which is nice, just wish I could see my account online! Or get a monthly statement sent to me.”

Helpful Report

“was a bit of wok to apply took a while to set up, was an offer for a £75 m and s voucher when i signed up, heard nothing about that. seen alot reviews saying its a scam”

Helpful Report

Hi Mica, thank you for your review. We’d like to reassure you that our customer incentives are not a scam and, as long as the offer terms and conditions are met, we automatically send out vouchers. We don’t expect our customers to redeem any offers neither do we put up any barriers to them receiving their incentive. Having looked into this for you, we can see that the plans you applied for were processed quickly after your application and well within our published service levels. In keeping with direct debit rules, we provide all customers with 10 working days’ notice before we start collecting regular premiums so there may be a slight delay before we start your plan’s collection. There have been Royal Mail strikes recently with more planned for the coming months so we will re-post your documents via first class post on the assumption that these may have been caught up in the postal delays. Our Member Services team have tried to make contact with you to ensure that you have everything you expect and to offer any assistance that you may require but unfortunately have been unable to reach you. Should you wish to speak to a member of our team, please call 0800 783 4162. Best wishes, Foresters

“I haven't heard anything since I put £1000 in an ISA. Also I tried to invest in another monthly policy not realising that tho I am 74 I am in my 75th year so ineligible...silly me.”

Helpful Report

Hi Jane, thank you for your feedback. We are sorry to hear about the experience you have had and would be happy to look into this for you. If you could please contact us by email memberservices@forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk or call 0800 988 2418 to provide some further information we’d appreciate it. Kind regards, Foresters.

Hi Jane, our Member Services team have advised that they have sent another policy pack to you by post (it was sent on Friday 25th March). If this still doesn't arrive, could please contact us by email at memberservices@forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk or call 0800 988 2418. Thank you. Kind regards, Foresters.

“I invested with Forresters because there was a good cashback offer via Quidco, but this has not tracked and I have had to set up a claim for it to be investigated, so first impressions have not been great.”

Helpful Report

Hi Alice, Thank you for leaving us a review. We're sorry to hear about your experience via Quidco and have found that on occasion this does unfortunately happen. We can however get in touch with Quidco on your behalf to ensure the claim is progressed. If you could please contact us by phone on 0800 988 2418 or by email memberservices@forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk with your Quidco claim reference number we would be happy to do this for you. Thank you, Foresters

“Staff are very helpful but an app to keep track of savings is needed”

Helpful Report

“Lack of online account management is a shame and makes harder for clients to monitor their account balances.”

Helpful Report

“Lack of online account management is a shame and makes harder for clients to monitor their account balances. Also, been waiting for months my M&S voucher.”

Helpful Report

“Never got the information pack I ordered before actually applying for the LISA. Would also be nice if you had an online account to view your account etc.”

Helpful Report

“Easy to talk to and fast replies”

Helpful Report

“I asked for a LISA to be transferred from another provider, but you failed to do this correctly and promptly.”

Helpful Report

Hi Georgina, The quality of the service we provide is important to us and we aim to review/improve this as much as we can, based on feedback received from our members, so we appreciate you leaving this review for us. Having looked into this we can see that on this occasion the delay was due to the provider transferring your existing LISA to us, which is, unfortunately, out of our hands. If there is anything further we can assist you with, please do not hesitate to contact us either by email membersalesandservice@forestersfriendlysociety.co.uk or phone 0800 988 2418. Best wishes, Foresters Friendly

Foresters Friendly Society is rated 4.4 based on 653 reviews