ESUPERFUND (esuperfund.com.au) Edit

In Dec 2011, we signed up with Esuperfund who offered to set up our SMSF for free and will prepare the 1st year (2012) accounting, tax and all other compliance requirement for free. Annual fee from 2013 is $699.

5 July 2012 - I emailed Esuperfund and asked who should I contact since we would like to investigate the “Transition to Retirement” option and have a few specific queries.

6 July 2012 - Mark Needham (Client Services Manager) replied "Please forward your queries to info@esuperfund.com.au"

6 July 2012 - I forwarded queries, all administrative in nature and related to information and examples on their website.

16 July 2012 - Mark refused to answer queries. I replied and reminded him that their website says they answer customers' queries.

18 July 2012 - Bill Nicholas (Director) sent email stating "If you are unhappy with our service please advise and we will terminate your Fund as a client."

18 July 2012 - I cut & pasted an image from their website advertising “Clients are permitted to contact ESUPERFUND about any administration or taxation queries concerning their SMSF. ESUPERFUND attends to all client queries for FREE. Consider how our fees compare to the market for this service: ESUPERFUND – Free; Market Fee: Time Costed but typically $500 per annum".

18 July 2012 - Before I know it, Bill sent an email terminating our fund as their client. "Be advised that effective immediately you have been terminated as a client. ESUPERFUND has been removed as the tax agent for your Fund.
All documents relating to your Fund have been previously forwarded to you and no documents have been retained by our office.
Be advised that you will need to appoint a new accountant to attend to your SMSF requirements at your own additional cost.
This decision is final and no further correspondence will be provided in relation to this issue.
Desist from any further correspondence to our office."

They are really nasty. They cut you off just like that. I don't think what they did was lawful.

They have (1) engaged in misadvertisement and misrepresentation; (2) they dropped us as clients without our consent and left us high and dry; and (3) they are supposed to do our FY12 return so they renig on their responsibilities.

This Bill Nicholas (Director, but apparently is their CEO) is very uncompromising and confrontational. He doesn't care about his clients at all. I have filed a complaint to the ASIC.

Please think twice before you sign up with them.