I do not think it is a ‘maybe’ 
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Thanks everyone for helping out and sharing your tips. It’s pretty disappointing that Coles has made it so difficult to contact their customer service - this is a financial product not stopping in at a supermarket after all.
In any case, let us know how you progress @Guitarfish, if the problems continue we might be able to help out with some further advice.
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When all else fails, I resort to Facebook! I’ve had several problems resolved this way as these corporations really don’t like negative comments on their Facebook pages.
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I’ve been using the new Coles Financial Services website with Safari also, but on a computer not an iPad. I had some difficulty when the site first launched but it’s been working fine for me since then. It sounds like their website just hasn’t mastered iPad yet. I hope they get it fixed for you soon. All the best.
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I just went to have a look at their FB page, and there are a LOT of unhappy users. I feel so much better now to know I’m not the only one! I’ve added my two cents worth, and will just ignore the crappy website for a while. Hopefully they’ll sort it out…
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Good luck with it Guitarfish…cheers
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One of the features the CFS website now lacks is a button to log out - unless it is somehow blocked by my myriad ad- and other nasty-blockers. The website is minimalist and user-unfriendly.
Worse, I can no longer import statement transactions to Excel! The statements are just as much of a mess as the website.
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At least you can see your statements!! I still cannot 
. The most honest response I got from CFS was a reply from them after I posted a critical comment on Facebook, where they openly admitted there are ‘issues’. If you are a FB user may I suggest you post your comments there too? The more public calling out of the numerous ‘issues’, the greater the pressure will be to resolve them speedily.
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I became one briefly, but also left rather quickly - years before the current ‘crisis’, it was obvious how FB was going to make money.
My wife has also - finally - abandoned the platform because of the scum and villainy portion of the community. If she wants any smack talk she has but to ask - and sometimes not even that ;)!
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The sad reality for the ‘IT guy’ trying to fix something is the time it takes for resolution is often inversely proportional to the amount of pressure from his management. Putting pressure on ‘him’ often causes bad decisions or just errors from pressure to try to get something, anything, working. Once the organisation accepts there is a problem and it is made a priority, adding ever more pressure can be counterproductive. At some point the organisation will filter out additional customer pressure to enable people to work rather than panic.
That being written, public pressure is sometimes necessary to get that priority, and to ‘encourage’ the company not to replicate rolling out such dodgy software.
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Yes BBG, I understand and agree entirely with both your points (and my partner is one of those IT guys and is forever bemoaning the exec level who would rather do things cheaply and/or quickly rather than properly!).
Social media’s ability to influence is a powerful tool, but subject to abuse (think all those negative reviews some at least likely written by someone in a bad mood or who enjoys the little power trip…), and I rarely resort to it, preferring a direct approach.
In the case of CFS, if they’d been honest with me during my direct approaches I’d have been much happier. Not owning up to the problems creates mistrust and lack of confidence. Moreover, if only they tested the site thoroughly before launch all this would have been avoided. No doubt there was a deadline to keep, no matter what…
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Hi guitarfish,
I have been having problems, too, and I find it a very user-unfriendly site. I rang and finding no options even close to my problem, just pressed the lost or stolen card option, thinking that the most likely to be answered quickly. I had a statement mailed out for no charge because I couldn’t access my statements online. Mind you, it took two weeks to arrive. Then I received a letter telling me I hadn’t paid- but the letter was just an error.
And as a matter of interest, the credit free days have been reduced from 63 to 55 days. That info is buried very deep in the paperwork we got in January. I was also told the pay date is now 25 days after the statement period ends. So if your statement period ends late in the month (as did mine), the pay date will vary each month, according to the number of days in the month your statement period ended. So be aware, your statement period may have been extended to early in the month and your pay date changed to avoid this, as was done to mine. Would have been nice if they told me this was being done, especially as their Terms and Conditions state they must give me 20 days notice in writing of any changes.
And oh, should you wish to see the Credit Assessment done on you, they must give you a copy free of charge, if you ask for it. (But first they must know what it is!!!)
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Very interesting! I hadn’t noticed the changes, though I still rely on (and choose to pay for…) a paper statement and pay the bill accordingly. This is because I am the secondary cardholder on the account and don’t entirely trust the primary card holder to pass on electronic statements, they are likely to get buried in his inbox! Much easier to fish out of the real mailbox (though I guess we could use my email address…).
It’s been a good product until this glitch. I think someone mentioned in the thread they have been taken over by another company, Citibank?, so perhaps there have been changes and consequent problems because of that. Still, it shouldn’t affect the users.
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My problem with the new coles system apart from the problem getting to my statement was that the amount owing was greater than the sum of the transactions.
I had the same problem accessing a person when I rang but finally got through and resolved the issue but still had to pay the amount owing and the overcharges will be credited to the next statement (I hope it works!).
Suggest you check the additions.
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Thank you John, very timely since my paper statement has arrived and I’m about to pay it, will check it very carefully indeed. I’m surprised you have to pay the overcharge; I would be tempted to refuse. Perhaps they should also pay you extra in the form of their own interest charges!!!
I am also thinking about asking them to waive the cost of the paper statement since they offer me no other choice at the moment 
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Well, I’m even more confused after speaking to CFS Customer Sevice just now…
Apparently because I’m not the primary card holder I can’t see our statements and, wait for it: “could I please log in as the partner (primary card holder) to view them?” (So, you mean, ask him for his password?) “Yes” (And breach your own T&C? Really?
)
At the same time, they already know the online site does not work with Safari, so even me breaching the online banking T&C won’t help.
Sigh…I’m over it, too much time spent on this already. They have agreed to waive the paper statement fee for a month until they fix their site so I can use it with Safari on an iPad. That’ll do for now.
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That’s quite a story @Guitarfish, I wonder how many times they have offered that advice…
At least you have the paper statements for now, thanks again for sharing the saga with us.
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Looks like Coles is not the only one who has different accessibility rights with primary and secondary cardholders. I am a secondary cardholder with 28 Degrees (Latitude) and when we have contacted them in the past, it was easier for the primary card holder to do the phone contact about the account. They did however offer for the secondary card holder to gain most of the rights of the primary card holder (primary cardholder had to give authorisation), we we took up.
Maybe CFS might be able to do the same thing?..it may be worth asking if snd when you contact them next.
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I did ask, the answer was a definite no. But they could email the statements to me - oh no they can’t - the emails go to the primary card holder! Not allowed to change the email address to mine either (which begs the question, what if the primary card holder wanted to change their email address?)
I did get escalated up the line to a supervisor today, but it felt as though they too were powerless to help. I feel sorry for the call centre guys, stuck in the middle of cross customers and bad web design.
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EEK!
I am glad that although I can no longer copy/paste transactions into Excel, I have decided to keep recording them in there manually for review - and so my spreadsheet checks the maths.
Not the perfect solution, but have you considered installing another browser onto your tablet for the time being?
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