Brookson charge for Company Closure

[quackhandle]

Would like to keep the company name same so I will go back to PS and see if I can get the fee reduced.

qh

[quackhandle]

Phoned Pay$tream no luck in getting the Ltd Company Transfer fee reduced - apprently it does cost £235 to do this!

Been a customer to them for over four years paying over 150 a month for their "services" and this is how they treat you when you wish to move. Of course they can drop their fee if I choose to stay with them for a slightly cheaper serivce - how convienient!

At the moment the Warchest has all but gone, wife out of work and am waiting for the next gig - which could be in a month's time or in six! I have check my original documentation when I started with PS and there is nothing about any fee for transferring Ltd companies.

Any ideas? Just suck it and pay the fee (not sure if I can afford it) or fight it?

qh

[ziquarat]

Me too and its been dragging out for some time....

I have been having an absolute nightmare of a time with Brookson. In fact, this evening I emailed my previous accountant and asked her if she would take over my books again.

My so called 'Personal Manager' has been off sick for at least a month and no one thought to set her 'out of office' response, so we could be notified. After calling up repeatedly, I was finally told that she was off sick and they had no idea when she would be back. My accounts are in a complete mess and there is no one willing to cover for her. A few people offered but I would always get an email back saying they have passed it onto someone else and they would be in touch with me in the next 48 hours, but then I wouldn't hear from them again. No one responds to my emails. I am paying £143.75/monthly fee for the most appalling service I have ever experienced. There seems to be an absence of supervision or management. I too have called up to ask who I need to contact with regards a complaint and got a cagey response.

I asked about the closure fee and they said there was none, but you have to give a months notice.


And as for the company they referred me to, to file my tax return (tenon) - they were even worse; that endeavor resulted in a £100 fine from the tax office for late filing...

I too am pretty fed up with brookson accounting services..i want to know what they do?

1. their call back service is about as much use as herpes.
2. they messed up my accounts and i had to get them sorted by a seperate accountant twice now.
for some reasons...whilst working out of the country for two years and having no uk earnings, i accrued a VAT bill.
3. my VAT bill percentage changed 3 times in one year, without me notifying them
4. they registered my company as dormant for 2 months...and then...unregistered it again!
5. they repeatedly say they havnt received my mail...and blame the post office
6. they repeatedly say they have posted things to me..(year end accounts) yet i dont receive them.

I have never had the misfortune of dealing with such a disorganised bunch of meddlesome, incompetent fools in my entire life.
9000 contractors and dropping like a lead ballon if you look at the registrars log in companies house

[diesel]

I too am pretty fed up with brookson accounting services..i want to know what they do?

1. their call back service is about as much use as herpes.
2. they messed up my accounts and i had to get them sorted by a seperate accountant twice now.
for some reasons...whilst working out of the country for two years and having no uk earnings, i accrued a VAT bill.
3. my VAT bill percentage changed 3 times in one year, without me notifying them
4. they registered my company as dormant for 2 months...and then...unregistered it again!
5. they repeatedly say they havnt received my mail...and blame the post office
6. they repeatedly say they have posted things to me..(year end accounts) yet i dont receive them.

I have never had the misfortune of dealing with such a disorganised bunch of meddlesome, incompetent fools in my entire life.
9000 contractors and dropping like a lead ballon if you look at the registrars log in companies house

i had loads of problems over 6 years. dont waste your time complaining to you so called personal manager. I had loads of personal managers assigned to me during the years and basically they act as go-betweens between Brookson backroom staff and the customer. They will push you away with woolly answers and kind apologies. But i made several complaints to my pm and realised later that the pm never ever reported these to the customer dept manager or MD - as per ICAEW protocol!
Brookson never let you speak to a real accountant on the phone.
If you are having problems best thing is to write or email (or both is suggested) a complaint to the MD Martin Hesketh. Dont bother writing complaint the customer services manager or your PM, as Brookson dont follow ICAEW protocol and let the MD sort out directly.
I was lucky tehy made the same error on my documents repeatly, that i realised they were taking the p*##.
Keep records of your correspondence to them and received, make it clear you are seeking an ICAEW complaint. Although the ICAEW may advise you on the phone they wont actually do anything significant as i found out they hate to tell their members off.

dont bother with high street accountants who charge £1000 plus....if you have simple finance affairs one should be paying between £500-800 inc tax pa, any nore is really paying over the odds.
Move from Brooksons and give your blood pressure will decrease

[rd409]

Phoned Pay$tream no luck in getting the Ltd Company Transfer fee reduced - apprently it does cost £235 to do this!

Been a customer to them for over four years paying over 150 a month for their "services" and this is how they treat you when you wish to move. Of course they can drop their fee if I choose to stay with them for a slightly cheaper serivce - how convienient!

At the moment the Warchest has all but gone, wife out of work and am waiting for the next gig - which could be in a month's time or in six! I have check my original documentation when I started with PS and there is nothing about any fee for transferring Ltd companies.

Any ideas? Just suck it and pay the fee (not sure if I can afford it) or fight it?

qh

I've moved from Paystream to NW earlier this year. The transition is quite smooth, and I did'nt have to pay anything to Paystream. The service is quite sad, and they are horrible at communication. The account manager even had guts to say that he could not respond to my emails, because they ended up in Junk. No calls answered back, and everyone apart from junior/trainee account assistants are always busy in meetings.
All that I did, was emailed paystream about cancellation of the direct debit from the business account after 1 month, and keep a record of the notice email, in file for future reference. If your appointment letter does not say anything about transfer fees, you dont have to pay anything.

[Alex76]

Brookson Rip Off!

Hi,

Would it be possible to contact me regarding these questions, I would like to answer your questions personally. My contact number is 01925 235 727 or andrew.sloan (at) brookson.co.uk.

Regards

Andrew Sloan

I have a serious problem with Brooksons, I initially complained about the 'expensive postbox' service at the start of 2010 & they bent over backwards for me not to leave (only time I think they actually earned the fee) I stayed with them and in the summer of that year my assignment finished and I was told I'd be charged a non-trading fee of £20 a month.

I have been seriously ill over an extensive period and just now getting my accounts back in order (to start a new assignment) only to find they've been charging me £150 a month for over 12mths (whilst providing absolutely NO Service whatsoever) Absolute disgrace.

So Andrew if you could help me resolve this issue 'Urgently' without having to take it to the next level.

You have my details:- Alex Buckley - Buckley, Strategic, Projects Ltd.

[Fred Bloggs]

Sorry to hear that, I usually use the words "Brookson" and "bargepole" in the same sentence.

[AndrewSloan]

Brookson

I have a serious problem with Brooksons, I initially complained about the 'expensive postbox' service at the start of 2010 & they bent over backwards for me not to leave (only time I think they actually earned the fee) I stayed with them and in the summer of that year my assignment finished and I was told I'd be charged a non-trading fee of £20 a month.

I have been seriously ill over an extensive period and just now getting my accounts back in order (to start a new assignment) only to find they've been charging me £150 a month for over 12mths (whilst providing absolutely NO Service whatsoever) Absolute disgrace.

So Andrew if you could help me resolve this issue 'Urgently' without having to take it to the next level.

You have my details:- Alex Buckley - Buckley, Strategic, Projects Ltd.

Alex - I have received your message and will investigate with the appropriate people and be in touch shortly.

[Alex76]

Brooksons Service

Alex - I have received your message and will investigate with the appropriate people and be in touch shortly.

Many thanks Andrew, I now have confirmation of a refund of £915 in back dated charges to the beginning of this year. Still for a service that cost's £1800 a year, I'm struggling to see any value you add for such a fee.

I initially went with Brooksons on a recommendation from a colleague due to being new to the contracting game and that it was a straight forward online service.

Now being more clued up and understanding the process (& what you actually do) I am at odds to see how Brooksons can justify the fee.

You've developed software that works with your bank account & developed money manager which the client inputs and does 80% of the work for you. Were is the personal service? how are you minimising my corporation tax being paid? how do you justify the fee you demand?

In my opinion going off quotes I've been given across the industry your overcharging by at least £70 per month. Yes you have a USP of the internet and money manager but that USP in itself save's you thousands of man-hours a year. So you get the impression that your double dipping.

In my view your charges should be cheaper than a general accountants (approx £800 pa) as its an automated service with no direct personnel service to ensure your tax liabilities are minimised.

If your going to provide an expensive post box service why not reflect that in a far more competitive price?

Regards

Alex

[Alan @ BroomeAffinity]

I've often wondered how Brookson can justify their fee. Paystream as well for that matter. Aside that is from the fact that they have customers willing to pay it in such a comptetive and transparent market. So maybe justification isn't necessarily required.