Reading a few other threads, Natwest seem to hold out as long as possible, but I'm quite prepared to play the long game & see it through.

I called into my branch yesterday, to request copies of all my statements since I opened my Advantage Gold account with Natwest. I was seen by one of te supervisors, who asked me why I wanted copies and I advised that it was because I intended on reclaiming the charges I had paid on my account. The supervisor proceeded to tell me that this was just a myth and that I would just be wasting the £5 it cost to get the copies (nice try!). I replied saying that this was not a myth, mentioned office of fair trading and that I know people who have already been successful (my uncle has just received 6 years worth of Halifax charges refunded). To this I simply received a dirty look and the response that I'd find out that I was wrong, and once again that I was just wasting £5! £5 well wasted in my book. Next she asked me what date I wanted my statements to go back to. I asked for everything back to when I originally opened this account, and was very surprised when she informed me that they had no way of telling when I originally opened the account and I would have to tell them when this was! I know my account was opened around March/April '04, so I have asked for everything they have going back up to January '04, just to make sure. Finally after a lot of moaning & trying to put me off, she wrote out the request form, took my £5 and has advised that I will receive the copies within 7 days. Due to losing my job and being out of work for a month, as well as having to move house a few months later, I was stung heavily by Natest for honoring my smaller direct debits and bouncing the larger ones, as there was not enough money in my account. I even called them at the time to advise them of my situation, but was told that there was nothing they could do to help! At the time I was forced to sell my motorbike (my pride & joy!!) for much less than it was worth, just to cover the hundreds of pounds in bank charges that I received in the space of 3 months, which at the time, I just saw as a neccessary evil! Over the 3 years that I have been with Natwest, I must have paid thousands in charges, and can't wait to find out exactly how much. Mybe it'll pay for a new bike for the summer... I'll keep you updated on how I get on.

Thanks for the reply. My thoughts exactly! I'll be visiting them again this week with account number in hand, so all is still good. I'll keep you updated of how I get on. I also have 3 years worth of Natwest charges to recover. I called in just after I'd been to the Yorkshire bank yesterday, and had an interesting chat with one of the supervisors who dealt with me. I'll start another thread on the Natwest forum about that one...

Hi, I've been following threads on various sites regarding reclaiming my charges for some time now & have finally decided to give it a go. I opened an account with Yorkshire Bank around 6 years ago and closed it 18 months later due to their excessive bank charges. I went into my old branch this morning to request copy statements, as I no longer have any of them. As I do not know my old account number, they have told me that they are unable to find any record of me ever having an account with them, and would have to supply an account number to get any records. Although this will not pose a problem, as my employer keeps much better records than Yorkshire Bank, and will be able to advise the account my wages were paid into, I was wondering whether they have any obligation to provide me with details of my account even if I was unable to supply the account number. Is this just a tactic they may be using to put people off claiming?