Still owed fees from downgrading Private account which has triggered charges

[mcb1975]

Afternoon all.

 

In late May 2009, NatWest automatically took £237 from my account in ‘Private account fees’, to cover the next 12 months.

 

As I am on a payment plan with various creditors at the moment, I spoke to my banking manager the same day and told him I no longer required the Private service, requested the account be downgraded to a current account, and the £237 refunded as I could ill afford it.

 

At the time of writing, the £237 STILL hasn’t been refunded (the account was only officially downgraded a couple of days ago) As a consequence, I was unable to honour three payments on the account, and today had £105 in charges taken from my account.

 

Given I would have been able to meet these payments if they had not taken the £237 (or at least refunded it in a timely manner) do I have a solid case for complaint here? I find it astonishing that nearly eight weeks later the money still hasn’t been returned.

 

I wonder if anyone has any knowledge of this process. Is it worth taking it to the Financial Ombudsmen?

[yourbank]

Have you made a complaint in writing?

Did your relationship manager agree to refund the charge when you spoke/wrote to them?

[mcb1975]

Have you made a complaint in writing?

Did your relationship manager agree to refund the charge when you spoke/wrote to them?

 

Hi,

 

Yes, he agreed they would be refunded. That was nearly eight weeks ago. Apparently there is a 'backlog of processing'.

 

I submitted a verbal complaint on the 11th July with the Private banking customer care team, from which a case reference number was issued, and sent an additonal complaint letter around a week ago to Natwest head office.

 

No response as yet.

[yourbank]

Hi,

 

Yes, he agreed they would be refunded. That was nearly eight weeks ago. Apparently there is a 'backlog of processing'.

 

I submitted a verbal complaint on the 11th July with the Private banking customer care team, from which a case reference number was issued, and sent an additonal complaint letter around a week ago to Natwest head office.

 

No response as yet.

 

In that case it is being dealt with.

[mcb1975]

In that case it is being dealt with.

 

It depends how you define 'dealt with'. How long should one one wait to have fees refunded? A week, a month, a year? Additionally, this is costing me money in a very real sense if you take the £105 in charges into consideration.

 

Whilst I appreciate I am pre-empting the outcome of my complaint, the charges have still come out of my account, despite advising my relationship manager in advance that he should really get them stopped/reversed given the circumstances.

 

I will post the response to my complaint once I have it.

[yourbank]

Hi,

 

Yes, he agreed they would be refunded. That was nearly eight weeks ago. Apparently there is a 'backlog of processing'.

 

I submitted a verbal complaint on the 11th July with the Private banking customer care team, from which a case reference number was issued, and sent an additonal complaint letter around a week ago to Natwest head office.

No response as yet.

 

What else do you think I can say? You went Private Manager, Care Team and then Executive complaints level. You have a case reference number so I would ring up and quote the number and ask that they read you the notes as to the progress of the complaint. If it does not include Direct Debit return fees then make sure they are added to the complaint.

[mcb1975]

What else do you think I can say? You went Private Manager, Care Team and then Executive complaints level. You have a case reference number so I would ring up and quote the number and ask that they read you the notes as to the progress of the complaint. If it does not include Direct Debit return fees then make sure they are added to the complaint.

 

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a criticism - I am most grateful for your feedback. It was a general observation on the timescales inherent here, given the original request was raised back in May and we are now nearly in August.

 

Moreover, were the shoe on the other foot, one suspects the bank would be far more timely and efficient in their response; it's one way traffic where remuneration is concerned.

[yourbank]

You have the reference number which is a complaint number. I think you need to get that update and the person can read the notes to you to be able to at least tell you what the current status is. Make sense?

 

Don't give NatWest that much credit though

[Rhinoagainstcharges]

In these days of computerised banking it probably takes a minute to refund charges. However, the delay is probably due to the fact that the instructions to refund them have to be sent half way round the world and then sit at the bottom of a pile before being dealt with. Go into your Bank, tell them it has been agreed the charges will be refunded and the only reason you incurred further charges was because they did not do it quickly enough. If they agree, and there is no reason they shouldn't get them to press the necessary keys on the computer there and then. Problem solved. Whilst I would be surprised if they will not agree to this simple solution please post their reasons for not doing so.

[rickyd]

Hi MCB, I happen to know a fair bit about Private Banking at the RBS group and have to say that I am suprised that Natwest take these fees in advance, over at RBS its charged in arrears @ £18/month.

 

Yourbank & Rhino, as always you're spot on with your comments here.

 

I'm also wondering if you should be in the Private Banking channel given the payment plans currently in place. However, as you have a relationship manager I strongly urge you to make use of him/her.

 

They are severely limited in the level of refund they are authorised to make and as this has now become an official complaint, the customer relations team will decide how much is to refunded. They do have a process to follow and there will be lots of other cases going through their systems, but as yourbank has pointed out, there will be notes to read on the complaints system. I would make the case that its not money that's owed by you (you never took it out of the bank) its just income they are not going to receive.

 

Once the decision is known, as Rhino says, its a few keystrokes to pay the funds out. The decision process is what's slowing this down.

 

Why not make an appointment with the Relationship Manager to go through this?