I refinanced my SMSF loan to Firstmac in 2021. I was sucked in by their enticingly low interest rates. However, by November 2023, amidst a series of interest rate hikes, my rate had surged to 7.99%. Despite my repeated attempts to negotiate a rate review through multiple calls to Firstmac, they consistently declined, in stark contrast to experiences I've had with major banks over the past 17 years. The big four banks, often criticised, have shown willingness to conduct rate reviews, typically resulting in marginal reductions between 0.03% to 0.06%. Given the rising cost of living & the significantly higher interest rate of 7.99% compared to standard home loans, I made another plea to Firstmac for a rate review. Unfortunately, they remained resolute in their refusal, displaying little understanding or empathy for the financial strain caused by their elevated rates. Given the rising cost of living & the significantly higher interest rate of 7.99% compared to standard home loans, I made another plea to Firstmac for a rate review. Unfortunately, they remained resolute in their refusal, displaying little understanding or empathy for the financial strain caused by their elevated rates. Disappointingly, after this conversation, three police officers arrived at my home (important to note I did not behave rudely or abusively towards Firstmac). This incident highlights the deplorable & unprofessional manner in which Firstmac handles customer requests for assistance. Their proclaimed commitment on their website, "Helping people is at the heart of everything we do," is a far cry from reality, this statement is actually misleading & deceptive. Their service is horrible, everytime I call, your approximately number 38 in the queue, usual wait time is approximately 1hr. They offer the option for a return call, but it could take up to three days, an insufficient response time. Blaming COVID for these extended waits seems baseless & excuses their inadequate service. Even when they eventually return your call, the constant need to put you on hold for clarifications portrays a lack of professionalism & expertise within their staff. Firstmac ought to be ashamed of their treatment of customers. Having since refinanced, I now have peace of mind knowing my hard-earned money is no longer in the hands of such a money sucking organisation. Firstmac management should reconsider there morals as human beings, when dealing with customers. As navigating their bureaucracy is an ordeal. Engaging with Firstmac seems to invite unnecessary pain & frustration. For any insane reason you do proceed to engage Firstmac, you deserve the pain & suffering that you will eventually endure. Firstmac is useless, hopeless, incompetent, unprofessional, unreliable, unhelpful, just plain useless grubs. In conclusion, Firstmac's track record reflects incompetence, unprofessionalism, & unreliability. They allure customers with low initial rates but eventually burn you & any hard earned money you have. It’s incompetent amateur banks like Firstmac, why there needs to be a royal commission into the banking lending sector again.
Have tried to call keep getting someone over seas that can hardly speak English .have asked if some one from Australia to call me back but have had NO CALLBACK . Bad customer service in fact NO CUSTOMER SERVICE .
Be careful dealing with this company, they falsely advertise the solar home loan product, even if you satisfy elegibility criteria they will wait until the last days of finance due date and advise you that you're ineligible, therefore charging higher interest rate and leaving you no time to apply with any other lender for a better rate. Very dishonest company, avoid them.
Firstmac provide competitive interest rates for their products and have always accommodated our requests with ease for interest rate changes, changing home loan products and also for help with repayments during covid. Have nothing bad to say about our personal experience with them.
Misleading information. Pre approved then not pre approved. Offered loan then cancelled. Re financed then had to re finance again. Took up to 6 months with no answer and still no pre approval. Would not recommend at all very unhappy customer.
Highly unorganised to the point I questioned my broker if they knew what they were doing. In the end, they offered me a loan then withdrew it after I signed the papers. Be very careful with these people.
It was a fast, easy and friendly experience.
We have had a really good experience with FirstMac - they have been really easy to deal with and supported us through through the whole process! Highly recommend.
Got my broker to assist with the process. Fairly easy to use the online system. Had a few delays about the settlement dates which could have been caused by my previous provider. In general, I am happy with the current interest rate. Contacted customer service twice and had no issues with them.
Firstmac held my hand throughout the whole process leaving me with a stress free and easy to navigate home loan. Thank you Firstmac.
Firstmac not only provided a much lower interest rate, but since changing over to them they have been a dream to work with. Secure, user-friendly internet banking and mobile app. Superb customer service on the very few times I have had to ring them. Great rate, excellent products and wonderful customer service. Great to be able to acknowledge a wonderfully positive product.
Had an issue with a stolen card, they could not even cancel my card. Then accused me of not calling and asking for it to be stopped! So while I have no access to the system, no card, no money, I call to see where my replacement card is. They said, "oh you didn't ask for a new card." Customer service person - very very rude. Not to mention a previous matter. I had to go online to dispute a transaction and it took them three weeks to get back to me. Come on! Now I can gladly say I have refinanced since that call.
Customer service is very poor. Their rate and review performance is extremely poor. You will be misguided about the finance provider (Firstmac and loans.com.au). Even if you contacted loans.com.au, you will be redirected to Firstmac. After that, you will not be eligible for any future better offer by loans.com.au
When I moved my two loans to Firstmac back to in November 2019, I was told that both Firstmac and loans.com.au are same (in fact, I contacted loans.com.au first and then redirected to Firstmac - I have those email communications). Now, I was offered an interest rate of $1.99% by loans.com.au. When I informed Firstmac about this offer, I was told that I am not eligible for this rate since Firstmac and loans.com.au are different (completely opposite compared to what I was told in the last year). I am eligible to this rate only if I move my other loans (say, from NAB) to loans.com.au and, in that case, Firstmac will be the finance provider. However, my present two Firstmac home loans are not eligible to get the lower interest rate offered by loans.com.au.
Good company.
WARNING: This comparison rate applies only to the example or examples given. Different amounts and terms will result in different comparison rates. Costs such as redraw fees or early repayment fees, and cost savings such as fee waivers, are not included in the comparison rate but may influence the cost of the loan. The comparison rate displayed is for a secured loan with monthly principal and interest repayments for $150,000 over 25 years.
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