Post Office Instant Saver Review

Overall Rating

Unclear answers to payment queries regarding the maturity of a post office growth bond.
Customer service to recently bereaved client.

3 year Post Office growth bond matured on 30 September 2008. This is joint name with my husband. He died on 15 September 2008, so contacted the Post Office with letter of intent and death certificate etc. at the end of September. Post Office returned all the relevant documents to me together with pin number so that I could access my bond details over the telephone. This is the only cash I have. My husband was disabled and we have no savings apart from this. I have an outstanding funeral expense bill which I cannot pay at this time because I had expected to receive the proceeds of my investment within 15 days of the maturity date (this was told to me when I phoned the Post Office at the beginning of October. Despite being told that a cheque would be with me by the middle of October, this did not happen. I contacted Post Office on 5 other occasions, speaking to different people and was assured that the cheque would be on its way. Last week, I was promised by a Manager within the Post Office that a cheque had been raised and would be posted that day (30 October). This has still not materialised. I have been given unclear information from all persons concerned, and in spite of being told that a cheque would be in the post by the middle of the month of October, it transpired that the cheque had not even been raised by the end of the month.
It is now nearly six weeks since the bond matured, and I still have not got my money. Hopefully, when I do eventually receive it, the Post Office will recompense me for all the distress this has caused. I have spent countless hours on the telephone, getting nowhere during a time when I have obviously been very low and distressed. I understand the new Issue 7 has been heavily over subscribed. I trust that when people's investments come to fruition. They will not have the same problems I had in getting hold of their money! Just to add insult to injury, the same department that handled the death certificate (Widnes).
Sent a letter to my husband dated 28th October to tell him that they had opened an account so that he could view his bond details!