How's this for treatment - Natwest + Me

[norvernrob]

Hi all

 

Note: Please don't move this mods as it isn't about a Natwest claim.

 

The first part of this story is a common one! Last friday (29th) around 5pm we transferred the money for all our bills, mortgage etc from my girlfriends Natwest account to the Natwest account we use to pay the bills from. I never thought anything of it, until I checked the account on wednesday. The bank had bounced our mortgage and all our bills, a total of 7 direct debits for over £900, and charged us £114.

 

A telephone call to customer services proved useless, as apparently we had made the tranfer too late on friday and the money needs to be in by 3.30pm. The fact that we do exactly the same on the last day of every month and my girlfriend doesnt even finish work until 4pm was lost on the totally unhelpful muppet I spoke to. We'd also made a transfer the night before at 9pm and that had gone straight in.

 

My transaction page clearly shows the money going into the account BEFORE they refused all the DD's. After the customer services guy telling me I couldn't claim my charges back as i'd agreed to any further charges applied to my account, I laughed, told him a letter would be in the post and hung up.

 

Anyway, onto the 2nd and best part of the week: As my mortgage payment had been refused I called thursday and made a card payment to pay it. My girlfriend went for her hair done today and took the card, then telephoned me to tell me there was no money in the account. (there should have been £500) I checked the account and the card transaction for over £630 had been taken twice.

 

I telephoned the bank and was told that it was THEIR error - apparently it had happened a lot this week, and the money would be returned to the account at the close of business on monday. Obviously that wasn't good enough, so they told me if I could get to a branch I could withdraw some money. So after driving 10 miles to get some money to my girlfriend I then went to the bank. They couldn't give me any money at the counter, so I went to customer services. They then told me they couldn't authorise any withdrawals - even though they knew it was their error! I demanded to speak to the manager who came out and spoke to me, but I might as well have spoken to a brick wall as they wouldnt give me any of MY money.

 

God i'm furious, I asked for the official complaints address and had to laugh when I got the Borehamwood address, I already know it off by heart due to claiming!

 

I told them I had no money for petrol, no money to go out and no money for the weekend and they didn't give a monkeys. It was literally a case of 'computer says no'

 

As it happens I knew I can borrow some money (and have), but thats not the point.

 

So how's that for treatment from a bank? And is there anything I can do with regard to claiming for the error that has left me penniless and potentially unable to get to work?

[Holdred]

I think from what you have said that their behaviour is shocking. If it has been a known error on their part about the transaction for £630 then they should make provisions for your to access your money.

 

I would be sending in a very stern letter to them about this. Whether or not you'll get anywhere I don't know.

[norvernrob]

They are fully aware that it's their fault and it's a 'shadow' transaction caused by their system.

 

On another note, I transferred 1p today from my girlfriends account to the mortgage account and it went straight through instantly. I also can't remember a time when the transfer hasn't been instant, apart from last week.

 

Why did a transfer I made on a friday afternoon not show until the monday, which just happened to be the day I had all my direct debits coming out? Yet today I can make a transfer and it goes straight in.

 

I'm going to experiment with this and keep transferring these small amounts at different times, because i've got a funny feeling Natwest are blatantly not putting certain transactions through in order to profit from the charges incurred.

 

Paranoid? Moi?

[steven4064]

Keep us posted on your 'research' - it could be interesting. I am currently working on an argument concerning the banks' abuse of their position of trust. If what you suspect turns out to be the case then this is corroboration (more than that really) that they are abusing their position.

 

Steven

 

If this post is helpful, please click the scales

Any opinions are without prejudice & without liability.

Almost everything I know concerning the law I learned from this site

[norvernrob]

Will do, i'm convinced we've been literally 'had over' by Natwest. We'll also be sending a letter about the double payment, I worked out yesterday that I had spent over £10 just on petrol and telephone calls to try and get my money.

 

Seems this has been our week for shocking treatment. We've just been to the cinema and went to the food counter to pay for our drinks. When the server lifted my girlfriends cup to take the 2nd cup it was inside, my girlfriend told her she wanted the 2 cups as just one was too cold on her hands. To which the server replied 'sorry, we cant give out extra cups' and took the cup away!

 

They charge you £11.20 for 2 medium cokes and 2 small nachos and they refuse to give you a paper cup, I was that stunned I just stood there laughing!

 

What the hell has happened to customer service?

[norvernrob]

After my money still not being returned to the account today, I telephoned customer services again to be told it would be back in the account tomorrow! AND that the bank should have given me some cash on saturday!

 

So I've written a letter to them today, here it is:

 

 

 

I am writing in complete disgust at the way in which I have recently been treated by your bank. On the 05/07/2007 I made a card payment for £637.27. This was duplicated (an error on your part) and instead of having nearly £500 in my account I was left nearly £160 overdrawn (I do not have an overdraft facility, this account is used purely to pay bills from).

 

I found out about this when my girlfriend telephoned me from Chesterfield where she was attending a hair appointment, to tell me she was unable to get any cash from the account. I checked the account online, saw the duplicate transaction and telephoned your customer services to enquire about the problem. I was told by them that it was an error that had happened a lot and if I made my way to a branch I would be able to take out some cash as they would be aware of the problem with the duplicate transactions.

 

I travelled the 12 miles to Chesterfield and visited the branch at 5 Market Place, so I could get some cash to my girlfriend and for the weekend. I firstly went to the counter, to be told that I would need to go to the customer services desk. This I did, and after speaking to the manager the customer service advisor told me I would not be able to take out any cash. They were fully aware that the problem was a bank error. I asked to speak to the manager, who came and saw me. She said she was sorry but she could not authorise giving me any cash. Despite my arguments that I wanted some of my money she would not listen and kept refusing.

 

It is now 7pm Monday 09/07/2007 and I am still not able to get any of MY money from my account due to your ‘error’. I had to go to the hair salon on Saturday after I had visited the branch and completely embarrass myself and my girlfriend by explaining to the staff who were waiting to start my girlfriends hair that we did not have any money. We had to cancel a meal we had arranged with my parents Saturday night and a day trip to the coast we had planned for Sunday. Today I have had to borrow money just to get to work.

 

To make matters worse this has all been brought about by the fact that the direct debits for my mortgage and bills were all returned by yourselves on Monday 02/07/2007, despite us making the transfer from my girlfriends account Friday evening 29/07/2007. Upon enquiring about this I was told that a transfer has to be in the account by 3.30pm for direct debits that are due to be taken the next day. This is complete rubbish, as we make transfers at all times and all go instantly from one account to the other.

 

We also transferred 1p from my girlfriends account to my account this Saturday night, 07/07/2007 and it went straight into the account. In fact every transfer we have done has done this, so why did a transfer we made on a Friday not enter the account until Monday, which just happened to be the day all our bills were due? My transactions page clearly shows a transfer of £914 entering the account on Monday 02/07/2007, after which all the direct debits were refused.

 

Is it not the case that when the direct debits are scheduled to be taken from an account, no transfers are put through after the close of business the day before purely to make sure the customer incurs charges on the account? If this is not the case then could you please provide me with an explanation as to how this transfer was delayed when we can make instant transfers any other time, even over a weekend.

 

And to add insult to injury, after not being able to get any money today (yet again), I telephoned customer services (yet again), and was told the bank should have given me some cash on Saturday.

 

In the last week your bank has charged me £114 that I should not have been charged, taken all my money for a whole weekend and not given me access to it, caused me to miss a meal with my parents, a day out, and my girlfriend a hair appointment, for which she now has to wait 2 weeks before she can get another appointment, as well as the inconvenience of attending the salon again and wasting another saturday.

 

 

Would you like recieve ‘service’ like this from any company? I am absolutely shocked at the way I have been treated. I fully expect you to recompense me for the costs of petrol, telephone calls, missed appointments and activities, and sheer distress this has caused me and my partner. Should the matter not be resolved to my satisfaction, or should I not receive a reply within 7 days I will lodge a complaint with the financial ombudsman.

 

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

 

Me

[Thailand]

They just don't now when to stop do they. It's not supposed to shock me anymore, but it still does.

 

I hope they're enjoying the interest on thier precurred funds, not. I can see your not the sort to let it go, and I don't blame you, so if that letter doesn't get the reaction your looking for, keep at the muppets.

 

After all that inconvienience and embarrasment, and your wasted time, I'd be out for blood!

 

Its not vexatious to sue them for this, is it?

 

Thai.

[midge61]

HI

 

Nat West did exactly the same thing to my hubby week before xmas 2005 clearing his bank account out completely. This happened on a Wed but not noticed untill Thurs when hubby went to check he had got paid. Well he had but they had swiped it . He had made a payment over the phone for some goods on the Wed and they put the funds on hold but on the Thurs put the transaction through twice.

 

After several hours of the retailer chasing their bank first and then going to Nat West to explain what had happened Nat West checked and said oh dear it is a fault on our system!!!!!!!!

 

Anyway branch did offer money for the weekend and said money would drop back into account overnight. Did it hell as like!!!!! Had to keep phoning and it didn't get returned untill the Tuesday.

 

Wrote a strong letter of complaint to head office and got an appology and £100 compensation.