I needed a bankers draft in canadian dollars for my application. Thinking it was pretty straight forward I went to the bank and asked for one.

First of all they couldnt give me one because there was a restriction on canadian bank drafts and secondly i had to phone a number to order one...

So I phoned up and they told me i would be charged £15 and it would take four working days for it to arrive at my bank.

So I still have to go to the bank to collect it yet they couldnt give me one when i went there...

Makes perfect sense does'nt it?

Yes you're right. I think they are now called international money orders and have to be ordered then collected. I'm sure mine was in the following day, but still meant two trips into town.
I think Thomas Cook can supply them but i don't know if you still have to order them.

Thomas Cook - Order by 10am and they will be ready that day other wise it is the following business day

Ugh! My mum gave me a bankers draft in USD when I was leaving Canada to come back here... brought it to my bank (Nationwide) the day after arriving home and was told by the lady at the counter that I would be charged £20 to cash it and it would take 5 days... ok fair enough, even tho its SUPPOSED to be good as having a cashed/certified cheque, maybe they just need extra time as its foriegn currency..

About a week later, get a letter in the mail from my bank saying that they will have to mail the bankers draft to the originating bank in Canada and once they recieve the money from Canada I will recieve the £ exchange on the date they recieve the money, and will include deductions for any fees the originating bank charges them. Now thats not so bad but the time frame they put on the letter?
8 bloody weeks!!

Never EVER going to accept a bank draft again!

i have to order 2 from hsbc , one i ordered whilst in Florida , I ordered it over the phone and my dad collected it for me , he had to take id but it was okay and the other i collected myself , both took four days.

my son was given one when he did some temp work in the USA , it was in dollars , i asked our bank the best way to deal with it and they said it would have to go to London Lloyds , be sent back to usa , at an exchange rate , then back to him at an exchange rate 8-10 weeks and 45 gbp worth of charges.

i have an account in the usa , i phoned them explained the draft was made out to him , they said send it to their head office in New York with a cover letter and account details explaining our relationship . 9 days later it was banked into my account , no questions , no problems !

i feel sometimes it a lucky draw

thats VERY Strange I send bankers drafts in pounds to my mum in england to deposit in my UK bank account (lloydstsb) and they NEVER Charge me

And it clears like a UK cheque

Are the bankers drafts you send in foreign currency or in UK £? Mine was issued in USD and had to be treated differently according to the counter lady at Nationwide.

I'm tempted to call them and complain as its now been 2 weeks and no sign of the money in my account... but first doing a bit of Google research so I know what I'm talking about before calling!

Ahh that’s the thing it was in pounds, BUT ive send Canadian cheques to the UK before from my Canadian bank account ( in cdn $$) and they said it would take a month or so clear and I would receive the exchange rate into pounds on the day that it cleared but I wasn't charged any fees, that’s why I send Cheques in pounds now to avoid waiting a month for it to clear, maybe your problems are because its a US bank, my partner used to have US Bank account when living there and when he moved to Canada it wasn’t easy sending money to the US bank account ( maybe it’s a US thing I don’t know )

probably you have a better account then us.. we just have a basic cashcard flex account with Nationwide, dont think it entitles us to any freebies *lol*

Well I cant find anything on the internet justifying an 8 week waiting time for a foreign bank draft to be cleared, so going to call my bank Monday and complain (seeing as a bank draft is SUPPOSED to be like a certified cheque!) to the person on the letter that was sent.

I just have a basic lloydstsb visa/debit account, the problem most be nationalwide

We're with First Direct.. Ordered the bankers draft in canadian Dollars to be paid to Canadian geezer (forgot proper official title!)...and a few days later it dropped on my door mat!...just sent it off to CIC..No problems

Same here. I get my drafts from the TD Bank in British pounds, no fee, no hassle. At the other end, the UK bank allows 2 weeks for it to clear (I never understand that, it's a draft, not a personal cheque!) and there's no charge at that end either.

Well I'm fast coming to the conclusion that its my crap bank thats doing this.. 2 weeks I can understand (in a bizarre way) as it is a foreign currency bank draft, but 8 weeks??? Someone is taking the piss on the job!