CanadianForex Foreign Exchange Services - www.canadianforex.ca

To begin with, you have to make a difference between the Customer Service Team and Somewhere. Please allow me to elaborate on these 2 very different parts of Canadian Forex.

The Customer Service Team is 5 stars, no second thought. They are based in Toronto, if I understand well, and they called me within 30 minutes upon registration.

On the other part, there is Somewhere. Somewhere is the Compliance department. You do not kn ow where they are located. You do not know who is the person you are dealing with because there is no way you can call them to clarify an issue.

In summary, someone, somewhere, wrote me back in an acceptable English that they cannot open the documents provided for my registration. And I cannot call them back to understand what happened. Because one may get confused when one has sent the very same documents to his Insurance company in Canada, and to a company, for a different business purpose, in the United Kingdom.

First thought: How to explain they cannot open the documents? Maybe they are located in Papua New Guinea? How can one know?

Second thought: If they are not able to open a document that is accepted elsewhere, how could you trust with your own money this company with a Canadian name that is not located in Canada?

I really wanted to give a fair try to this company that breaks the toll of the big banks. However, it has been a very disappointing experience, and I really question about the others testimonies of customer entrusting this company with large sums of money.

I will give there customer service and the signup process a 4 star.

However there is a great deal more information not present on their website or their introductory phone calls you should be aware of.

Here is the information they asked to verify your identity.

NOTE: this may be a Canadian regulation requirement.

"Thank you for setting up your account with us.

To finalise your account we need to verify your ID, after which you will be able to book your first deal. Please refer to below which outlines who can authorise the documents and how you may send them to us.

What we need:

1. Certified Photographic Identification in the form of either a current Drivers Licence or Passport.

2. Bank Statement in the form of a bank statement showing source of funds/source account where funds are coming from.

3. Proof of Address - We can accept and of the below documents, letters need to be on headed paper issued within the last 3 months and addressed to the account holder.

• Bank Letter, Bank Statement or Credit Card Statement

• Utilities Bill - not mobile phone bill or car insurance bill

• Letter from Government body

• Current, complete, signed rental/tenancy agreement

Please Note: we cannot accept a PO Box address.

Approved authorisers (or international equivalent)

• A permanent employee of the Post Office with two or more years of continuous service

• Justice of the Peace

• Lawyer / Solicitor

• Judge, Registrar, or Executive Officer of a court

• Magistrate

• A Police Officer

• Notary Public

• Australian Consular Officer or Australian Diplomatic Officer

• A Chartered Accountant

How you can provide it:

Documents must be mailed to the following address:

Compliance Department, CanadianForex, Suite 303, 65 Queen Street West, Toronto ON, Canada, M5H 2M5"

Set up debit transfer following provision of all documentation. Funds were removed from my Canadian institution and held for 4 business days, not 3 as indicated.

Beneficiary U.S. account was not an overnight transfer, but middle of business day on day 5 of process. Consequently, funds were not available when needed. Allow 12 business days to make it happen.

For 3 days, I've tried to open an account for the business. We provided every thing they requested, ask director to sign. Days goes by, and finally they came back to us, told me he needed 2 directors signature. (But its a small company, and the 2nd director only own only a few % of the company, and he is abroad all the time).

So to sum up, the owner of the company(90%+) who can legally take any decision cannot open a foreign exchange account with CanadianForex...

Ridiculous.

what a waste of time...

I completed all the paperwork to setup the account...everything was set and ready to go. On the day of my AUD currency purchase, I received a call from a CDN Forex Rep to confirm the purchase. 4 business days later I check my account only to find that the funds were never withdrawn from my bank to begin the transfer, and as a direct result never arrived at the intended location. Had to cancel the transaction and make he payment using VISA since it would take an additional 3 Days for the funds to be delivered to the intended destination. Their explanation ... Canadian Rep forgot to withdraw the funds for transfer.

Our money was in the Forex account Jan 29th. My son did not receive his living expenses in his account until Feb 17th. It took Canadian Forex 14 business days to wire transfer which was not what I was lead on to believe. Their first excuse was Chinese New Year Holidays, their second excuse was they need to do due deligence and their third excuse when I called, was because the bank in Taiwan was holding the funds for 5 business days. This they claimed was very regular when dealing with exotic funds. When I first contacted Canadian Forex I was impressed with the expedite account opening and setting up the transfer. What I was not told was the multiple delays in dealing with exotic funds (Taiwan$$)and public holidays for Asian banks. I was lead on to believe it would only take 3-5 business day to wire transfer to Taiwan which is faster than giving a bank draft to my son. I believed it without considering the latter. Boy, was I wrong to be misleaded and provided with incorrect information.

Over the years I have tried various mechanisms for what appeared initially to be the simple task of transferring money from my UK to my Canadian bank account. This has resulted in frozen bank accounts, extremely high fees and enormous delays (up to 8 weeks!).

Less than a week ago I found CanadianForex and the timeline has been:

1. Sunday morning: created an account with CanadianForex.

2. Sunday lunchtime telephoned by a chap from CanadianForex presumably to make sure that I wasn't laundering drug money.

3. Sunday evening: uploaded a scan of the top of a bank statement to the CanadianForex site to demonstrate that I have a Canadian Bank Account.

4. Monday lunchtime: Requested money to be transferred from pounds to Canadian Dollars.

5. Monday evening: Made transfer by telephone from UK bank to CanadianForex's UK bank account (no charge at either end).

6. Thursday morning: Money appears in Canadian bank account (no charge at either end).

I am extremely impressed. I got a good exchange rate, efficient service, quick delivery of the money and no fees.

I've used CanadianForex to accumulate US dollars for major purchases, love that there are no fees on many transactions, and that the exchange rates were often the best available to me - even better than the rate reserved for bank employees or preferred customers. I also buy Mexican pesos to transfer to an account there or for paying peso bills. My only real beef is that there is a lack of information/analysis on the reasons for the performance of the CDN$ versus the MXN currency. I suspect there are more of us who would appreciate that analysis.

Used them for a transfer overseas, and they were always available (except weekends) and I did not have to wait. Nor did I have to chat with machines. They were very helpful, and always friendly. But most of all, my money got to where it needed to be, within a day. I had concerns, especially as it was in the tens of thousands. We always think of the safety of our own bank. But they were completely legit, and trustworthy. And I paid no fee as advertised, and the exchange rate was better than the bank.

Great Service all around. I would like to see the minimun reduced to $10,000.00