Why Doesn’t PC Financial Make More of an Effort to Work Like a Real Bank (and Issue Proper T5s)?

I’m getting so tired of the ongoing nuisances at PC Financial that I actually took the time to calculate how much I would have to pay to buy each blank cheque from Tangerine (formerly ING Direct) for my THRiVE chequing account. (It’s 25 cents a cheque, by the way.) I’ve had encounters with PCF’s unusual brand of banking in the past, especially when I wanted to update our JOINT account. This time, they issued us a strange T5 then told me I can’t get it fixed without more aggravation. I really wish PC Financial would make a bit more of an effort.

We opened a joint PC Financial no fee chequing account last spring. At the time, they asked us who would be the Primary account holder for our JOINT account. I couldn’t see why it would make the slightest difference (and they gave me no warnings) so we said they should make my husband the primary. After all he needs to get some junk mail too, right?

Ever since, I’ve been hitting a barrier when I call PCF because as the Secondary account holder I’m very limited in what I can do. For example, when PCF ran a promotion offering bonus interest on new deposits, I phoned in to set it up. And found I couldn’t. Only my husband could ask for us to earn extra interest on our joint account!

PC Financial Issues Me My First Incorrect T5

I’ve been getting T5s for so many years some of the early ones were chiseled on limestone slabs. This one I just got in the mail is the very first one I’ve ever received that has a mistake on it.

Specifically, in box 22 they should have reported my Social Insurance Number, or my husband’s SIN, or both of our SINs. They could also have left the box blank. Instead there is a mystery number: 999 999 998.

Like you, this reminded me of those phone numbers in the Simpsons’ episodes that start with 555-.

A little slip included with the T5 states:
“If your Social Insurance Number (SIN) is missing or incorrect, please call President’s Choice Financial Services at 1-888-723-8881.
“You are required by law to provide your SIN for all income tax forms reporting your investment income. Canada Revenue Agency may assess penalties if you fail to provide your SIN.”

(PCF left out the “the” before the CRA by the way, not me.)

What Happened When I Called PCF to Update Our SINs

So I phoned the 1-888 number and waited on hold for the requisite 10 minutes (actually 12) to speak to a human.

Unfortunately, the person I spoke to had absolutely 0 interest in correcting the problem. She said (more than once) that “Oh, the CRA doesn’t consider chequing and savings accounts to be investments so you don’t have to fix it.”

I think I can understand why it was “broken” in the first place.

To be clear, we supplied our Social Insurance Numbers when we filled in the application to open the account. We even showed our SIN cards as requested. Yet for some lame-brained reason, no one has actually input the SINs in the correct fields on our account file.

Anyway, I did persuade the representative to input my SIN into the file for our account.
Of course, I couldn’t get her to input my husband’s. He’ll have to phone in himself to get that fixed. (Presumably with another 10-12 minute delay as she didn’t give me a hotline number to bypass the queue.)

How Can I Get a Correct T5 from PC Financial?

When I asked how I can get an updated T5 showing the correct SIN, I was told I would have to PHONE IN AGAIN after March 24. That’s right. They couldn’t put in a request now, nor make a note to themselves to put in the request later. I have to wait and call in again. (And presumably spend another 10-12 minutes playing Fruit Ninja while I wait.)

Sigh.

Do they know that to get my T5s from Tangerine ING Direct, I just click twice and print?

I counted up how many cheques I’ve used for the kid’s school expenses since we got the account. It’s over 40. So that would be over $10. Hmmm. I guess I’ll stick with PCF for a while longer. But honestly, I wish they could join the grownups and play nicely.

Related Complaining Reading

• PC Financial Joint Accounts are NOT Joint: One Person Will Have All of the Control
• Joint No Fee PC Financial Accounts are Dis – Jointed
• PC Financial’s Computer Can’t Believe My Husband and I Want to Share Our Joint Bank Account

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Have you ever got a T5 with a mistake? Did you have to move up a lot of levels on your current iPad game to get it fixed? Please share your experiences with a comment.