Nationwide Stopped Me Seeing My Father Before He Died!!!

[ssshooter]

I'm not sure as to whether this post is in the correct place,anyway...

 

I recently informed The Financial Ombudsman Services of the way in which Nationwide Building Society treated me,relating to seeing my Father before he died.*Please note,this is not about compensation for myself,as if i was to gain anything it would all go to charity,it's purely about respect,lack of sympathy & understanding.I'm also wondering whether i've hit a brick wall on this one or if i should continue to take it further in respect of my Dad,any advice or suggestions would be most welcome,thanks.

This is what happened:-

 

I was on holiday in Tenerife over xmas 2008,during this period my father was in hospital for what was supposed to be a routine operation to have his kidney removed due to a tumour being found.unfortunately he took a turn for the worst,as the cancer had spread to his lymph gland & liver.Because of this i needed to geta flight back home as quick as i could,so on 20th Dec my brother paid £100 into one of my Nationwide accounts so that i could get back,but my card was retained when i tried to withdraw the money.I phoned the international number for Nationwide & explained my situation,& asked them to transfer the cash into my other Nationwide account so that i could get a flight home A.S.A.P.

My request was declined due to the fact that my account was overdrawn,my wages where no longer paid into this account & because they where only recieving token monthly payments from Consumer Credit Counselling Services on my behalf.

 

They told me that they could not help me,i eventually got home the day after my Father died (Xmas day),i did not get to see my Father before he died.I did not recieve any notice prior to this that my cards would be retained from Nationwide,stating that my cards would be retained if i tried to use them.I set up my account with Consumer credit Counselling Services(CCCS) in sept 2008 due to financial difficulties & short time working/loss of 2nd income due to an operation on my arm( i was a plasterer).

During the period of Setting up my account with CCCS i had no correspondance from Nationwide,they could of contacted me to ask for me to return my cards,they had from Sept to Dec to do this.

 

 

I THEN RECIEVED THIS FROM NATIONWIDE:-

 

 

I am writing further to correspondance recieved from the FOS 6th April 09,

i am very sorry to hear that during a difficult time your card was retained whilst you where attempting to withdraw cash abroad.Unfortunately Nationwide has no control over foreign ATM's retaining cards.I understand that this would have caused you considerable inconvenience & with regards to your telephone call to one of our contact centres i would like to assure you that it was certainly not our intention to upset you or appear unsympathetic in any way & i would ask you to accept my sincere apologies if this was the case.

 

I note from yor letter 7th Feb 09 that during your call on 20th Dec 08 you had rquested for money to be transferred from your second flex account to this account.Due to our data protection policy we where unable to grant this request.However,i'm sure you can appreciate this policy is in place to protect our customers.In this circumstances we would reccomend using online banking services to ensure your funds are transferred securely & safely.

 

After careful consideration of your request for compensation,we are sorry that we can not agree to this due to the absence of society error.I realise that this answer will disappoint you however we trust we have clarified our position.

 

I would also like to add that customer service is very important to us & so it is always disappointing when a member feels let down.So i would like to thank you for letting us know what happened & for telling us how you feel.

Yours sincerely,

********

 

 

I THEN REPLIED WITH THIS:-

 

Dear Madam,in reply to your recent letter,i am very disappointed in your decision & would like you to forward my complaint to your membership complaints service department for review,the main reasons for this is that i am not satisfied with your explenations as to the way Nationwide has treated me.

 

You say in your letter that"Nationwide has no control over foreign ATM's",i find this hard to believe, as the bank in question was asked to retain my card,not on one account but on both,this would have applied to ant ATM machine that i had used.I know the reason for my cards being retained...because for several months i have been paying off my overdrafts on my accounts through CCCS,due to financial difficulties & short time working.However, i did the decent thing & made arrangements to pay my debts to you ( which i am still doing),but Nationwide failed to have the decency to inform me that my cards where to be retained,even though i had not made a withdrawel on either card since the arrangements where put into place.I find this most underhand.

 

Secondly,you state that i "requested for money to be transferred from one account to the other, Due to our data protection policy we where unable to grant this request.However,i'm sure you can appreciate this policy is in place to protect our customers."

NO i cant understand your data protection policy,due to the fact that when i phoned Nationwide i was asked several security questions (due to your data protection policy),which i had to pass before i could even explain my situation.As for "on line banking",you also blocked me from accessing that when my overdraft repayment arrangement was put into place,again Nationwide did not have the decency to inform me of this,& even if i could have accessed internet banking my card would have been retained,whether i made the transfer or not.My brother put money into my account to help me get home to see my sick Father,this was my money not part of my overdraft repayment arrangement & you had no right to deny me access to it.

You also had no right to deny me from seeing my father before he died,which is something that i will have to live with forever.

I have banked with Nationwide for many years,mortgage,loans,insurance etc,it is now unfortunate that i have to stay with you due to financial difficulties & the current economic situation.I find the way that i have been treated as very unfair & underhand.I do not believe Nationwide has heard of the words help,sympathy or has any concience.

I await your reply,

ME

 

THIS WAS THERE REPLY:-

 

Dear Sir,

once again, i am sorry this matter has caused you concern,& we appreciate the time you have taken to contact us.

 

We discussed that you wher in Tenerife in Dec 2008 when you needed to get home urgently.£100 was credited to your account but your card was retained by the ATM when you tried to withdraw it.You contacted us to ask us to transfer the money to your other flex account,which we where unable to do,but as we discussed your other flexaccount was also inhibited so that card would have been retained had you used it.

 

I am so sorry for the circumstances surrounding this matter,& as confirmed i have investigated your concerns that we did not tell you your accounts had been inhibited prior to you going away.However,when you opened your flexaccounts you agreed to abide by the terms & conditions.I have attached a copy of these for your information,from which you can see they state "All cards issued by us remain our property & must be returned on demand.We can revoke or suspend your right to use cards & pin(s) without notice."

 

I know this is not the answer you were hoping for & i do sincerely apologise for the distress this matter caused you.But i hope you can understand that we are able to inhibit accounts without notice & when accounts are being dealt with by our flexaccount collections department it is not always a given that the full facilities will be available for use.

I realise that you have already contacted th OFT,but i still enclose their most recent leaflet,which you may find useful.You will notice that if you wish to persue this matter with the ombudsman you should do so within six months of the date of this letter.

Thank you for giving me the chance to clarify the societys position.

Yours sincerely,

****

 

Thats as far as its got,i feel better for typing this all out & getting it off my chest,but still thinking...do i take it further or not,& if so on what grounds?

[ssshooter]

Does anyone actually have any opinions on this as to what i should do next?,or should i just put it down to experience,forget about it & just remember what a great bloke my Dad was?

[gyzmo]

Certainly the latter. I would say not to let your father's passing, his memory and you grief be tainted by the actions of Nationwide. You know your father would understand. Continuing this may cause more pain and heartache than you deserve. But I cannot imagine how you must have felt and don't know whether I would follow my own advice.

 

If you do want to pursue the matter, then writing to the Financial Ombudsman Service would be the best move, imho.

 

Best wishes.

[Tezcatlipoca]

Sorry ssshooter, but I'm finding it difficult to be critical of Nationwide's behaviour, as you have dictated it.

 

Whilst I'm no friend to financial institutions, they do appear to have acted within the law and their own guidelines. It's unfortunate that this hit you at the worst possible time, but I'm afraid that is not their [Nationwide's] fault.

 

They did not "deny me [sic] from seeing my [sic] father before he died", which I think you realise. What you're actually upset about - which I fully understand - is that Nationwide didn't operate outside their guidelines to make an exceptional case for you, or, to put it another way, cut you some slack. Again, they've no obligation to do so.

 

It's a ****ty situation, I agree, but it's nobody's fault. Like gyzmo says, I think the best thing you can do - for both your father's memory and your own wellbeing - is to put this behind you.

 

If you do feel the need for psychological recompense, then write to the OFT, and/or move your affairs away from Nationwide to another establishment.

Edited August 6, 2009 by Tezcatlipoca

[ssshooter]

ok,thanks all,appreciate your thoughts & views (after all that is why i asked,& i appreciate your honnesty).

Think i'll wrap this one up,put it behind me,otherwise i think i'll end up getting very bitter & just dwell on it too much.(probably dosen't help with the other S**t i've got going on with Nationwide,(see other threads).

 

Thank you all again.

[ssshooter]

Sorry ssshooter, but I'm finding it difficult to be critical of Nationwide's behaviour, as you have dictated it.

 

Whilst I'm no friend to financial institutions, they do appear to have acted within the law and their own guidelines. It's unfortunate that this hit you at the worst possible time, but I'm afraid that is not their [Nationwide's] fault.

 

They did not "deny me [sic] from seeing my [sic] father before he died", which I think you realise. What you're actually upset about - which I fully understand - is that Nationwide didn't operate outside their guidelines to make an exceptional case for you, or, to put it another way, cut you some slack. Again, they've no obligation to do so.

 

It's a ****ty situation, I agree, but it's nobody's fault. Like gyzmo says, I think the best thing you can do - for both your father's memory and your own wellbeing - is to put this behind you.

 

If you do feel the need for psychological recompense, then write to the OFT, and/or move your affairs away from Nationwide to another establishment.

 

Thanks but i don't think that they did act within the Law,as a repayment plan had already been set up to repay my overdraft with nationwide & it had been & was been adhered to.The money that my brother put into my account,was not part of my repayment plan & was not theres to take...in my opinion this was very sly & underhand,considering i had explained my circumstances & told them why i needed to get home.

All it says to me is,we don't care...we want our money & we don't care of the circumstances where going to get it by whatever way or means we can.