FX Broker - are they ripping me off?

[desreb]

I need to move some money into Australian Dollars - a fair bit, the proceeds of a house, because we're moving to Australia next year - and my IFA recommended a foreign exchange broker that they use.

The GBPAUD was quite strong until recently, at 1.85, so I asked them to exchange some GBP into AUD. They didn't reply to my email for 2 days, by which time some more Brexit news had taken its toll, and the rate had dropped to 1.75.  When I confronted the broker about this, he said he was on holiday, and whoever was supposed to check his email, hadn't.

So - we set a series of market orders in case the GBPAUD bounced a bit - which it didn't. Then I asked to set a rate of 1.75, so if it bounced up to that level, it would buy the AUD. Again, I didn't get any notification, so I emailed him again. He replied "Oh yes, the trade happened overnight", and soon after I received a confirmation from them for a buy - at exactly the rate we had agreed ,1.7500.

However - I checked the overnight interbank rates, and the rate had always been ABOVE this level - it never crossed a threshold that would have triggered the buy. I asked him about this, and he said that the rate included their commission, so it had been waiting until touching that level before triggering. However - again, the interbank rates doesn't look like it reached a peak overnight that it hadn't already hit the day before, which should have triggered at whichever rate they had set as a trigger that included their commission.

So - the question is... are they completely useless, and are now trying to claim the several thousand pounds' commission for the invaluable service they they provided me? If so, the morals of this infuriate me, as I'm paying them several thousand pounds to do something that I could have done with a low-cost DIY platform, because they're supposed to set the limit order.

The question of whether I can claim recourse from them is probably much harder, but I just wanted to understand if it's likely I can get to the bottom of what happened so that I can at least claim a discount on their service feeds, if not reverse the trade.

Thanks!

D

[rammygirl]

Not sure about compensation. Their fees look pretty high though.  I have used forex services before and set limit orders without paying any extra for the service though.

i would give them a call and say you are disappointed with the service though, see what they can do for you

[RandL]

I have used OFX in the past , moving money both ways UK <> AUS. Once you get yourself a login you can set up an order to trigger on a selected exchange rate you decide on, so if it happens over night you don’t miss it Once it hits your desired rate, the order goes through and you have 24 hours to transfer your funds. Never had any issues with them, Great phone support if you need it. Rates have been very good too , marginally under the   XE.com values advertised. No transfer charge if you move over 10k.

BTW: I have no interest in OFX, this is just my experience I had with them.