Many of these tips will no doubt apply to Computershare US and Australia, etc., too. I’ve been thinking about Computershare again lately as I try to get two more DRIPs up and running (if you don’t know about DRIPs, read about why I think you should be in them or how they’re perfect no matter what your age or investing experience is). One in particular has been going through strange administrative difficulties, mostly due to luck and timing, I think. In none of these cases do I blame Computershare for anything. They’ve almost always been very personable and pleasant enough to deal with if you’re organized and know what you’re talking about. I’ve dealt with Computershare for nine years now and I think I’ve only had one frustrating customer service conversation. Others’ experiences differ, of course, and everyone has their own level of tolerance for different things.

So this is what I’ve learned from the last few bumps in the road:

(1) Always keep a record of your certificate number and the date the certificate was issued (which is not always quite the date you paid for it or ordered it; you’ll have to check your brokerage records and/or the certificate itself). You’ll need these especially as security verifications of your account for those times when you need to get in touch with Computershare about something but your account hasn’t been set up yet because it’s too new and you do not yet have a holder account number. So write these important numbers down AS SOON AS you receive your certificate.

(2) Make sure that you always register each certificate and/or each new account in the exact same name and address, so that you can access them altogether under one online account. If your name is John B. Herrington, make sure you always register new certificates and accounts using that middle initial, otherwise you’ll end up with one online account showing all the shares you registered under “John Herrington,” and another online account for everything you registered under “John B. Herrington.” This may not sound like a big deal, but it is after the fact if you later decide you want to put everything under the same name. You’ll end up having to re-register shares by transferring them to yourself in a process that could take weeks. As an example, I’ve recently been through this process myself, and I am still trying to get a DRIP running for a share that I bought back in April 2008. These comments apply to your address too. If you live on Bonds Street, make sure that you always register things using the same consistent spelling. You might not think it would matter and that everyone would know that “St.” means the same thing as “Street,” but I’ve had accounts go unregistered and share transfers not take place on time because my address “did not match” for this very reason!

(3) If for some reason you need to place a stop payment on a cheque that you had sent in for an optional cash payment, make sure that you also call in and tell Computershare about it before they cash it. This point might apply to using stop payments with all kinds of companies, but this was the first time I’d needed to use a stop payment and was surprised to be charged an extra $25.00 by Computershare because they didn’t know a stop order had been placed and they went ahead and tried to cash the OCP cheque. And I’d already paid $12.50 at my bank in order to place the stop payment in the first place! So this point brings up another one:

(4) Just an extremely simple good budgeting and records tip, here (students pay extra attention!): keep very close track of what cheques you have coming out of your account as well as all other debits that might be coming out. I tend to run my chequing account down to the wire, that is, I don’t leave any cash in there “floating.” All cash goes immediately to bills, expenditures or investments. But this runs me into danger when sometimes I have too many cheques at crosshairs and end up with not enough money in there to cover something. Don’t forget about end-of-month bank fees that might not be withdrawn until 11:59pm or even early morning the next month. For all of these reasons, it might be a better idea to just leave a float of $100 or whatever size cushion in your account just in case. Some people will use overdraft for this purpose, but overdraft often costs you money as well.

(5) If you think you might want overdraft protection on your account, get it while it’s offered (or available) to you. My bank has offered it to me on the phone several times before (you know, at the end of the call when you’re really put off by extra sales gimmicks) but I always turned it down. Then when I really needed it and applied for it, the bank refused me. Needless to say I was overdrawn and had to pay hefty fees around $40.00.

(6) Finally, if you call into Computershare and talk with someone and you receive confusing or less than satisfactory service for whatever subjective reason, (a) don’t take it out on the representative; this will cause angst and that representative might just keep passing that angst on throughout the rest of the day and to other callers (people just like you); b) just call back and you’ll probably get a different agent on the line. This agent might know more or have more experience than the other one and will have a different answer to your question. While this is a simple tip, it helps to keep it in mind. Remember, these are your investments you’re dealing with. You want to treat the people that help you with them with royal gloves (in all reasonableness, of course. If an agent is truly abusive or brunt, it might help to tell someone else about it, but do so in a diplomatic, non-hostile manner). Let’s remember that Computershare provides an excellent service and ultimately I think you want to be thankful about that. At least in Canada, anyways, there are less options for DRIPs than there are in the States, and we don’t want to take it for granted. This is the way I feel about it, anyway.

What about you? Do you have other tips for dealing with Computershare that I’ve left out here? Anything else to tell new “DRIPPERs” about? Leave a comment (or questions!) below or send me an email. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to the free feed to receive future posts.

Recently I opened an account with eNorthern primarily for the purposes of ordering share certificates (registering the share in my name as opposed to the street name). What’s great about eNorthern is that they have the cheapest prices for share certification of any Canadian broker. It only costs $20.00 to order one. And no, there aren’t any extra fees for “registration” or sending it by registered mail, etc. You’ll pay $20, nothing more. This beats the $52.50 that it currently costs at TD Waterhouse and it beats the great discount (by comparison) of $40.00 that it costs at Canadian ShareOwner, too (read my post on ShareOwner here).

If you’re thinking of starting a DRIP, go with eNorthern for the cheap certificate rates.

It was very easy to enrol with eNorthern. You sign up online and then send in two photocopies of your ID (I think they ask for the front and back of your driver’s licence, plus a cheque for $1.00 - in order to verify your identity through your bank account. They deposit that $1.00 into your cash account, so it’s waiting there ready for you to spend it.).

It was even easier to order the certificate for the share I bought. You can order it online through one of the forms on their website.

But it takes a while for the certificate to make it over to the Transfer Agent (and then to you). This is the only downside that I’ve encountered with eNorthern so far. (They have excellent customer service - always a live person waiting to talk - and you get the sense they’re not too busy over there, either - they have the time to properly deal with your call.) In the past, I ordered certificates through TD Waterhouse. While these were hugely expensive, I got them quite quickly. They always tell you it could take 2-3 weeks to receive your certificate, but there were times when my certificates arrived but a week later.

With eNorthern, it’s been almost a month now and my Transfer Agent (Computershare) still does not have the certificate. This raises my next point. I’m not sure why the certificate has to go to Computershare at all. TD Waterhouse didn’t do that. TD Waterhouse, I think, printed them themselves (either that, or the info was electronically sent to Computershare, who printed them right away). But the guy I talked to at eNorthern said it would be a while because they needed to send it over to Computershare, then Computershare would have to send the certificate back to eNorthern, who would mail it to me. Can anyone explain the difference here?  Is this another case of “you get what you pay for?”

This pretty much sums up the experience I’ve had with eNorthern so far, but whatever else transpires I’ll be sure to update you. This alone isn’t enough to taint my opinion of them. I still recommend them as a broker. Regular commissions there are only $24 (compared to the $28-29 at all the other big banks).