Rest Superannuation

REST holds about $800,000 of my pension fund. In earlier years they provided excellent telephone contact, even having special contact people. Now, there is a 2 business day wait to get a call back. Being busy is not an acceptable reason. Unfortunately, the system locks us in so they do not have to concern themselves with the possibility of losing an investor.

I have not been with rest for 10 years now, and am still trying to have my funds moved to my new Super. While in this time admin and other fees are continually being taken out. I couldn't even say how much I have lost in the last 10 years as I can not see a statement.
Now, after 10 years, they have told me they need a separation letter from my employer! Are you kidding me.
My other supers were transfered in a week to my new one. Via myGOV with my tax file number linking everything together they are still asking me to prove it's me in multiple diffrent ways. Its been 10+ years.
This seems so unethical and I struggle to understand how its legal. I will.be taking it further with a group of other people who are going through the same with REST.
Its so time consuming and exhausting, I belive they count on that so people just forget and let it go. Absolutely disgusting!

I submitted my DASP super claim in May since I have returned to my home country for good, REST requested for my certified passport which I submitted immediately and after that I waited for a whole month with a reply saying that my passport needs to be translated by NAATI translator which again I got done immediately and emailed to REST, afterwards the response has been very slow and according to them it will take 5 business days for it to be processed. I waited for another whole month with emails saying that there has been a delay due to large work volume and etc, I sent them another email saying it has been months and I want them to process ASAP, an admin officer name [name removed] sent me a reply after waiting for another week saying "I can confirm that your claim is currently being authorised and should be in your account by the end of the week" well guess what I followed up after a week has passed since nothing has been sent to my account, and there is no response until now and it has been 5 days since I followed up. I submitted my DASP in May and it is now August I have received nothing, my emails are not constantly ignored and service is very bad.

I have been a member with REST super since 2010 and I left Australia recently as I have finished my work commitment and visa. Never had any significant contact with REST until I submitted my online DASP application. No issue with submitting it on ATO website and 2 weeks after that REST contacted me to request important details, this is when my nightmare began. It has been extremely frustrating that I honestly wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

On the 26th of June, REST sent an email requesting for a certified passport to be MAILED to their NSW office. DASP is Departing Australia Superannuation Payments, for non-citizen/non-resident who has left Australia permanently. How efficient is it to ask people who are no longer in Australia to MAIL an "important detail" from overseas when email would've been a much easier way? Immediately I sent my certified passport via email to 2 different email addresses (rest@rest.com.au and info@rest.com.au) I could find on REST website and received an automatic reply from contact@rest.com.au but no update from their team for a couple of days. On the 1st of July, I went on an online chat to make sure email submission is acceptable and the online agent confirmed it is okay. As per his advice, I resent my certified passport to contact@rest.com.au and was informed it would take 5-7 business days for the fund to be transferred to my Australian bank account. I am keeping my bank account open for this purpose.

Again, no update about the progress of my DASP application and instead I received a reminder to send the required document on the 8th of July, exactly 1 week after I have sent my certified passport to 3 different email addresses. The chat was always busy (EOFY, understandable) and I managed to chat with one of their agents Hamish on the 12th of July to check if everything was okay. To my surprise, Hamish mentioned REST hasn't received my certified passport. This is after I have sent it to 3 DIFFERENT EMAIL ADDRESSES listed on REST website and given by the previous agent. He asked me to resend it and at this point my patience was very thin, but I sent it again and ensured he received it. I also asked him to check if the document was good and he replied that was all they need to process my application. However, when asked how long the fund will be transferred, I was told it would be within 28 days after the admin team receives my additional document and that IF ANY FURTHER ISSUES, THEY WILL CONTACT ME.

Today, 2 weeks after my last contact with REST, I started online chat again and talked to Cat. She proceeded to tell me that my certified passport is not acceptable and that I need to resend a passport that has been certified within the last 12 months. Information or mention about this particular timeframe is NOWHERE on their website or on the link Cat sent me (https://www.rest.com.au/NEW-Document-library/Factsheets-and-Brochures/Member/DASP_Fact_Sheet_A4_WEB_SAFE.pdf?ext=.) or in any email they sent me or in any previous chat. Nowhere. In fact, I have never received any confirmation from REST admin team that they have received my document or that it is not valid. The only non-automatic reply I ever received from REST was from Hamish, who kindly informed me that he has forwarded my email to REST incompetent admin team.

Cat apparently also couldn't find anywhere that says certified passport must be within the last 12 months, so her supervisor or someone in the admin team told her to tell me that "it is a JP business rules for REST that your passport is required to be certified within the last 12 months". THEN PUT IT ON YOUR WEBSITE!!!!! Amazingly, Cat gave me a different information again about pay out timeframe. She mentioned it will take 28 business days for payment and also charmingly tried multiple times to end the chat when I was getting increasingly frustrated with the entire REST team.

I'm sorry but when your admin team is so unprofessional and never got back to me despite multiple emails I sent them, and your customer service cannot give me clear, consistent answers, I am entitled to be angry. It is very concerning that REST assigns this kind of teams to manage millions (probably billions) of dollars that belong to hardworking Australians. It's their/our money, REST. Not yours. Keep that in mind.

If I ever go back to Australia to work, I will never trust REST to manage my superfund again.

I was with Rest for years.
I am very disappointed with how Rest has operated and the lack of transperancy/honesty with which they dealt with my situation. I would not recommend this fund.

I have been trying to claim my super since May and have been told it would take 5 business days a couple times by different staff. The last contact I had with a staff, he said he could not even locate my file. He said he escalated it with the payments team and again told me it would take 5 business days. That was over 2 weeks ago. He mentioned in the email that someone will contact me if there are any problems, but no one has contacted me. It seems like I have been neglected again.

UPDATE: contacted them again through live chat today, and they told me to contact ATO as REST is waiting on ATO's approval to release the fund. Called ATO on the spot, and ATO said ATO does not need to be involved and they have not received any report about my DASP claim. Incredible lie. Don't believe rest.

As everyone knows is now tax time and people need to lodge tax returns and also have deadlines to stick to. Lodged my notice of intent form to be able to claim back my contributions the 4 of July and I got told to allow 5 business days to receive the precious piece of paper. Do your counts it has been almost 20 days still nothing. I keep getting told an extra day and so on and still nothing. My wife received her form from another big fund in 3 days. When you deal with these big companies and it comes to asking something or claim you never come first. Very disappointed.

July 31st 2019 Update: Here we go again

I gave 2 stars in the previous review and I have decided to give Rest one star this time. I am still waiting on my notice of intent letter after a month and I got given another delay over the phone by the lovely lady. I'm new to Rest and I really like how everything is set up but If this is the way everything is managed including my money well I'm not happy. Cannot afford to hang off a stupid piece of paper and I am wondering how they deal with a possible insurance claim or anything like it. I'm very disappointed.

My employer paid my salary sacrifice to Rest, and after a few weeks I thought it strange that I'm unable to see it when I log in. I contacted them 3 times, and each time they say "they definitely have not received it". I then went back to my Payroll manager and they sent me proof that it has. I then made an official complaint to Rest, and what do you know... it miraculously appears in my account the day after. I also was never notified that they have 'located it' as I have never received a response to any of the emails I sent.

Worst customer service.

REST_ Is Anybody There?
My dealings with REST started 3 weeks ago, & to be honest I find it absurd that I have to air my grievances on a public forum to get a response from REST. I am writing this to put a shout out to your company to give me some Customer Service, it’s that simple. I’m talking about YOU pick up the phone and ring YOUR customers back. And when YOUR customer is in a crisis situation you actually extend that Customer Service to mean prompter callback times and delivery of services according to priority of Customers’ needs.

I’m in the midst of lodging a claim for Income Protection on my sister’s behalf, who 3 weeks ago, out of the blue discovered she had stage 3 cancer, and as a result cannot work in her current position as a carer/ support worker, due to immediate start of chemotherapy treatment.

She has been with REST for many years, has paid, and is entitled to Income Protection.
It has taken me the first 2 weeks of my dealings with REST over the phone to get the authorization signed off. It was not appropriate for my sister who was in hospital at the time with serious complications to be talking to a REST representative, so I attempted to provide written authorisation signed by my sister. This literally took hours being put on hold for many days, I’m talking an hour minimum each time. I’m astounded your company would not think to have a crisis hotline for urgent claims- why should a grieving or upset family member deal with this? Let alone the patient themselves, who is YOUR customer.

So now I have gotten as far as “Reviewing Claimant Details,” this is the first part of the online claims process. The details of which have been recorded incorrectly by REST representatives, I have gone to modify said details & am hit with a screen telling me my only option to modify the details is to ring your company. The only other option was to click on “If you need some support” which offered nothing in the way of support for the online claim, just promotional material for REST services complete with happy snaps of a kid with their dad- warm & fuzzy stuff- nothing on how I could actually update the details that REST incorrectly recorded.
So I encountered this issue on Monday 8th, July 2019. I emailed the Claims Department at REST as I was in no mood to ring yet again. But come Friday 12th, July 2019, today (and having sent 3 more emails later) I have only received 3 automated responses. The automated responses said they would respond as soon as possible, so I’m guessing in such departments as Claims, that could mean anywhere up to a week or 2? I would be hazarding a guess if it was to sign up a new customer or sell another service, that timeframe would be considerably less? So I rang this morning, to be told someone will ring back usually within 24-48 hours, which from previous experience doesn’t hold much weight with me.
In the first 2 weeks I was given an explanation of lengthy call wait times due to end of financial year, and now that we are 2 weeks into the new financial year it’s now “just a back log of claims.”
Considering the wait time for actual moneys paid is 90 days (60 day wait period, then a month in which you are paid in arrears), I’m flawed that REST would make anyone wait this long and to also make this process so tedious and unnecessarily stressful, for something my sister is legally entitled to receive, because she’s been paying your company for it.
REST can say it’s a back log of claims or End of Financial Year enquiries as to why my repeated attempts to make contact go unanswered. BUT End of Financial Year or not, it has no bearing on my sister’s situation and anyone else in this predicament, she still has rent and bills to pay while incapacitated.
It’s exhausting to continually make the effort to contact REST while nothing is reciprocated, it’s a total disappointment. I asked the representative today how I go about shutting my own account with REST, and thankfully I won’t be hit up with a cancellation fee due to new government regulations - that's one good outcome.
I’m still waiting... call me (I don’t want to talk to [name removed] the virtual assistant- he can’t help me).

If you are using rest I implore you to find another fund.

They take advantage of the fact people don't often think about and check Super to fleece you of your money. They are the fund for some of the lowest income earners in the country and their behavior is sad and predatory.
I wanted to leave rest 3 years ago so I lodged to move my funds through the ATO.
I was bemused when checking online that the transfer was still pending.. 3 years later. In that time my super had been drained of 15% of its funds (aren't super funds meant to make money) checking here I would say I am also a victim of their shady insurance scam.
I called rest wanting to know what happened.. After an hour and fifteen minutes on hold I spoke with a lady who informed me my request was not honored due to an issue with my date of birth.. I asked what dob they had for me and it was the correct date of birth... go figure. I called the other fund and they informed me they never even received the paperwork for the transfer, so they just ignored the request, lied to me saying they had an incorrect d.o.b and stole 15% of my super in fees.. thanks guys
I am extremely disappointed with REST and believe the spotlight needs to be placed on them by government regulators and will be suggesting as such.
I sent a complaint by e-mail a week ago and haven't heard back.

Been with them for many years, tried to call multiple time only to get a hang up message everytime. If you can't manage a que how could you manage a superfund.

Been with rest for 30 odd years. Performance is ok service disgusting. You get moved around from 1 department to the next. Don't try & access your income protection impossible you think you've done everything required then they come up with something else! Been off work since the 24th jan 2019 & still no wages they didn't mind taking my money for income protection for 30 odd yrs!!

I made a claim after being diagnosed with cancer in late 2017, was told I must first apply for sickness benefits (by Rest) which were then used by AIA to offset payments, when I raised this issue with the assessor I was informed this was policy, questioned him repeatedly why my insurance income policy of which I have paid thousands of dollars for is being offset by Centrelink payments which I should not be receiving, what am I paying AIA premiums for??? Didn’t smell right but was told over and over again that this was policy, repeated my concerns several times that this wasn’t right, low and behold, after submitting my tax return received notification from Centrelink that I owe them $5051!!!! Currently trying to get REST/AIA to pay the money they should have paid, they have incurred a substantial government debt in my name!!!! Have found them to be dishonest in their policies, at a time when I should be celebrating 2 years cancer free I am in fact stressing out dealing with their incompetence, 10 months fighting cancer was less stressful, at least with the cancer I knew where I stood, their policy says $2500 or 75% of your income, whichever is greater, with the Centrelink payments used as an offset they only payed me $1700 a month, not only didn’t they honour the $2500 a month which is the greater, they didn’t even pay 50% of my income, but they were happy to take the full premium payments, payments which they are still taking!!!!! Never asked me how was doing when they would call for monthly assessments, even though most times I would be laying in hospital with chemo lines in my arms, the calls were more about when I would be back to work,or dead?!?!?(I hate to say it but that’s the impression I got) so they could stop paying, that was their primary concern. I would like to believe that they will do the right thing, but in all honesty I don’t think they will.

Update, to cut a long story short, Rest/AIA (they like to refer to themselves as separate entities when it suits their purposes, AIA now claim it was REST that told me to claim Centrelink and not them, even though AIA clearly used said monies to offset payments) have left me holding the bag to a 3 and a half thousand dollar Centrelink debt so they could save themselves $627.16, clear now why I was made to apply for Centrelink payments, unethical to say the least and it was a mistake on my part to refer to their incompetence, it is not incompetence, these people knew exactly what they were doing, I was naive in that I trusted them and took them at their word and strangely the assessor who processed my claim and who’s name appears on all paperwork and whom I spoke on a monthly basis seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth, when asked to speak to said person was told simply he is no longer with this department, coincidence? I think not.
Update, have received a letter from REST/AIA (Yes, both company names side by side on the letterhead!!!) Apparently as per our discussion mid June 2019 the under payment was identified, funny, I raised and identified that exact issue with the assessor in late 2017!!!! So have paid the money they were supposed to pay in the beginning, problem is I am still left with the balance of the Centrelink debt, the Centrelink benefits that they made me go on, which they deny vehemently, so now, not only am I left with the payments I owe because I was not entitled to them (like I said to the assessor in late 2017) but because REST/AIA say they don’t owe Centrelink any debt (which they don’t because they incurred that debt in my name) I now also owe the balance of the money REST/AIA used to offset their payments, after numerous times, REST/AIA cannot answer my simple question. If REST/AIA have not been unethical, why do I owe $3500 on an income protection claim on an income protection policy I have already paid for? They cooked their books and washed their hands of me to save money and make their figures look good for that financial year, in the words of another reviewer, snakes in the grass.
Have received messages from REST representatives saying they wish to investigate my case and come to a resolution, I already know the how, what and why so what is left to investigate? The damage is already done, should have been dealt with when I first raised my concerns, having been treated like this do REST/AIA honestly believe I will now continue to trust my retirement to them? I do not think so, so while REST/AIA may have saved a few hundred dollars in the immediate at my expense, it will now cost them tens of thousands in the future as I will be transferring the balance of my Super fund, instead of looking at the long term big picture they chose short sighted penny pinching, not the type of people I want managing my money and I say my money, because that is my money, not theirs, I think that is something they have forgotten, I no longer trust them in any capacity.
So now I find out I have to redo my entire previous years tax, because REST/AIA have done this my tax return is all wrong for 2018, REST/AIA, the gift that just keeps on giving, what really annoys me is that they have actually charged me thousands to do this to me.

I have been paying insurance premium for the last 10 years to this moron and now that i was about to make a TPD claim, they said: oh, you were not part of the insurance and will refund the premiums paid. Upon questioning their bizarre answer, they posted me a letter stating that once you leave the employer and the balance on the account is less than 5K then you loose the insurance component. so i asked them why would you still continue to deduct the premiums for this long and the fees associated with the insurance and they go ... must have been glitch or some technical error....i am conned with the impression that i might have some insurance money for the future just in case if anything goes south.
Had the super fund through my previous employer way back in 2005 or something.. and unfortunately now that i have MS and need the support at this stage, they show me the door.. its really disgusting and the other part is every time i log in to their website it used to say Insurance premium/amount IP etc. and now its all gone. They have taken down my account from their system so not really sure what they are doing at the back door. These guys should not be taking care of our money. They have done a really bad bad thing to me.
I hope they get it back one day.

Since 1999 trying to claim TPD made 4 requests rest say I need to talk to the insurance team but the AIA insurance team tell me I cant talk to them this is ridiculous I have been on the phone for hours tried the chat they can't help, emailed 2 days ago they said they would be in touch still not heard anything this is not the first time I have had problems with rest

Recently I've changed super to another fund and closed the REST fund. The company i previously worked paid out super quarterly instead of monthly so they sent out to my REST fund, instead of the new fund. So instead of returning the payment to my employer because my account no longer exists, they opened up a new account for me without me knowing and charged me admin fees and also all the insurance you can think of.

Spoken to a payroll officer with 20+ years experience and he suspects that REST is doing something dodgy behind the scenes in order to absorb as much money as possible from their customers. Would stay AWAY from this fund and just stick with industry funds.

Just recently I recieved an opt out message on insurances I had on my super account. I had no idea I ever has insurance attached to my super not never requested it. I have not been working for nearly ten years nor receiving government benefits. So the insurance I had protecting my income was not necessary or valid. I have lost thousands of dollars in unnecessary insurance that I never knew I had, so never knowing to opt out. I have lost thousands of dollars in interest. This is an absolute farce and rip off. Do not use them. This is no different from the banking insurance schemes.

Unlike the poster below I was very happy to have Income Protection Insurance tagged onto my Super. I, also, wasn't aware of this at first, and this should indeed be made clearer, but when I fell ill I forwarded a claim which they paid out backdated. It could have been done swifter as from claim, after the already 3 month waiting period, it took another 2 months to payout. So 5 months all up.

However, I found the team easy to deal with and despite numerous people warning me it could be a difficult and drawn out process, this including my doctor, it got approved on first application without too much hassle at all.

I do suffer from a chronic condition which has been well documented for years, but despite the validity of illness many people, as I understand, do get turned down. I really was expecting the worst but was pleasantly surprised by the relatively pain-free outcome.

They charge for services not requested which include selling us a lot of unnecessary insurance products. This is automatically instigated upon contribution by your employer. So they deplete our super funds over multiple years through fees. This would seem like it's by design as they make minimal effort to contact you and tell you in simple and explicit language that you are paying close to $1000/yr for insurance that you never requested. Hopefully the class-action again Colonial and AMP goes well and then these guys are next in line. Don't use these guys and if you're with them, I'd move.

Eats up super when employment ends put a grand in within a year apparently fees ate it. They lie say $88 went in ATO says othwise. Will never trust again.