Letting off steam in a Nationwide branch!!

[harrassed senior]

I have banked with Nationwide for over 40 years. I had a Building Society Account for most of those years, but when Halifax threw me out after me winning in Court for my Charges I went to Nationwide to open a Flexaccount. They were quite happy to do this until they checked my CF and there was my default from Halifax because I refuse to pay back the overdraft on the account they had closed down out of spite. They then said I could not have a debit card until I 'proved myself reliable and trustworthy' their words not mine. Didn't think I had much chance with the Halifax Default hanging over me for 6 years so agreed.

 

That was 3 years ago and still no Debit Card. No overdraft either, but I did not want this anyway.

 

Yesterday I received my monthly statement from Nationwide together with a second sheet telling me £30 would be deducted from my account 28 days from the date of my statement for an unpaid Direct Debit. Now I manage my money (what little there is of it) down to the last penny with a program on my computer. No debit card means I can only withdraw cash to spend so no lurking surprises there. So I studied my Statement and low and behold I discovered my 'crime'. A payment to E-bay for my monthly account charges of £4.10, but I only had £3.60 in credit until the next morning when my regular as clockwork pension is credited!!! So yet another Worldwide banking crisis had to be avoided at all costs, and I have been left to pay the price!! (and to add insult injury PayPal will only let me use e-cheque now until I 'prove' myself again'.

 

As the heading said I fumed into my local Nationwide branch today and had an almighty eppy fit - very polite but very loud. No naughty words, but I head rumblings in the waiting queue of 'quite right too', 'disscusting' etc. and I then whipped them up in a discussion of how awful the banks are today.

 

Step into an office, I am sure we can work this out - I was told - no thank you I said, changing banks, and swept out like royalty.

 

Getting home there was a message already on my machine say they had 'sorted out' my little problem.

 

Ohhhh I do feel SO MUCH BETTER:D:D:D

[saintly_1]

Well Done you :D

[creditcardmug]

Just to add to this, the co-op insist funds are in your account the day before, so if a DD is due monday, and funds are paid in monday to cover, but were not there the previous friday, they bounce the DD on the monday, and charge you £30:mad:

[babybear39]

Good for you sticking up for your rights HS

 

£30 charge for going overdrawn by 50 pence...WTF!!!

[harrassed senior]

Hi CC - yes the cashier duly quoted that to me, and I have always made sure of that, they apply the debits before the credit daily smack bang at Midnight. I was also informed (as if I didn't know) that everything is computerized these days - I very grandly pointed at myself and said I am not a computer, are you?

[yourbank]

First offence refund, seems fairly standard. Nice one.

[creditcardmug]

Hi CC - yes the cashier duly quoted that to me, and I have always made sure of that, they apply the debits before the credit daily smack bang at Midnight. I was also informed (as if I didn't know) that everything is computerized these days - I very grandly pointed at myself and said I am not a computer, are you?

 

Yes but my point is that, if everything is computerised, i.e. instant, when the DD is to be paid, the computer checks funds are available (which they are cos its monday), then why not pay it, it doesn't matter what the position was last friday:-x

[harrassed senior]

Yes, I see your point, and I have queried it on several occasions and they just repeat Debit out first then credits, sooooo......round we go in another circle - we will never win against computers.

 

Many years ago I went on holiday to Florida. Because of the time difference and with confirmation from my bank I had timed it to arrive at 6pm Local Time (11pm UK). By the time I got to the Car Hire Desk it was gone Midnight in UK so tried to pay by my Debit Card - Declined and their rule was you could not put it through again within 24 hours - so we were stranded. Apparantly, debits come out at middnight credits anytime up to 6am!!.

 

Guess whos' favour that works in!!!

[JonCris]

Yes but it's often the attitude of the staff that's doubly galling.......for myself they can all get the bleeding sack for all I care.........perhaps then they won't be quite so dismissive of those in difficulties ........They may even realize the devastating effect their banks greed & mendacity can have on ordinary people

[welshwizard]

From what I undestand, the computers check the account once and once only to see if the money is there to pay a DD. If the computer checks at 8:15am and the money isn't there, it won't check it again, it'll just bounce it - I worked for Lloyds in the early 1980's and then they had to wait unitl midday before processing the returned DD's, cheques and Standing Orders - but in those days people did that job not a machine.

 

I had a huge row with Natwest over this very issue a couple of years ago and that is what they told me. Personally, I think these DD's should be taken at the end of the working day not the start of it. This would allow customers time to get money into the account to cover them.

[SteveH2508]

This smacks of lazy/cheap programming. It would not be difficult to cache all of a day's transactions and action them all at close of business that day.

 

Mind you, they still seem to be unable to process same day electronic transactions like they promised. If I can video call my brother in Australia in real time for free (Skype) then sending a few electrons across the City of London should not be beyond the wit of man.

[saintly_1]

Personally, I think these DD's should be taken at the end of the working day not the start of it. This would allow customers time to get money into the account to cover them.

But that would remove a very profitable way of gaining charges from unsuspecting customers ....... or am I just being cynical

[ODC]

I have a DD which is supposed to pay 10 per week from my current account into a savins account with the same Bank. I hadnt enough money in my account so they twice tried to debit it and charged me £60 for the privelige of not being able to debit my account by a tenner,

 

Yes BANKER does ryhme with ******.

[the_shadow]

....and they wonder why peoples perception of banks has gone from being seen as somewhere where trustworthy people work and pillars of the community (1950-60ish) to the blood sucking vultures they are these days.

 

EVERYTHING is about the bottom line and EVERYTHING is stacked against the "consumer" and towards the bank

 

S.

[Gary29]

When we banked with Nationwide we queried why we were getting DD refused and bank charges applied when we had sufficient funds in the account. We were informed by the manager that dd were taken from the account between midnight and 3am, and that credits were applied between 3am and 6am. With rules like that, you've no chance.

[Huff&Puff]

And yet on every Natiuonwide statement I've had, it always shows credits before debits

 

The entire industry is bent from top to bottom (and left to right too) :mad:

[Stressed150]

Harassed Senior, love ur thread!

[Gary29]

And yet on every Natiuonwide statement I've had, it always shows credits before debits

 

The entire industry is bent from top to bottom (and left to right too) :mad:

 

I don't know if this is still the case. It certainly was 2yrs ago.

[yourbank]

some banks do have systems in place to pay an item that would be returned otherwise on the date of payment, however, it doesn't seem to take into account online payments(from my reading across the forums). Furthermore, to JonCris comment about bankers, got the T shirt now

[harrassed senior]

Well, Nationwide certainly have it in for me.

 

I have a severely disabled granddaughter (20 years old). I am her legal appointee and as such I have all of her Benefits paid into my bank account so that I can deal with all of her bills etc.

 

Her Housing Benefit did not appear in my account this week and when I queried this with Benefit Office they said it had been returned by Nationwide because it is on behalf of a third party and because of Money Laundering Rules they are not going to accept these payments anymore. Now her rent is due on 28th April and this was the 2nd 2 week payment for April. So I am now not able to pay her private landlord!!

 

I telephoned my local branch, and I have to admit the Manager (the one I shouted at last week was very nice - she understood the problem and was very upset that HO had not even informed her or me that they had done this. I am getting a cheque through the post from HB in the next few days, and she has said she will treat this as cash until we can sort this out!

 

This is going to cause big problems for me as I cannot even open a basic bank account at present, even though I have no CCJ's I have still been turned down!

[babybear39]

Barclays do a basic cashcard account.

[creditcardmug]

How much more ridiculous is this damned country going to get?

 

A BANK/Building society wont accept payments from the GOVERNMENT

 

Its getting beyond a joke...complain to your MP, everyone...im just getting sick of all this nonsense now:-x:-x

[babybear39]

It's virtually impossible to live without basic banking services...

[harrassed senior]

Someone on here recommend a Citi bank basic account as they do not credit check unless you request an overdraft, so I didnt, but they still credit checked and turned me down. So I really don't need to get too many checks on my file at present - this is what is worrying me!

[babybear39]

I went into a Barclays branch and they didn't check me, but then I had a £4000 compensation cheque to pay in...