Natwest

[sufcintheprem]

Just been on the phone to Natwest and I'm pretty much fuming at them.

Step one: I pay cheque to the university for £984. £1,090 available in account.
Step two: University withhold cheque for a week and a half with no warning.
Step three: I got to Bath and Bristol spending thinking somehow I have more money than I thought.
Step four: Cheque bounces and is returned, not to me, but to the university. Bank charges £35, university charges £50.
Step four: Without informing me or checking to see if I have sufficient resources, the bank try to resend the cheque and, thanks to me extending my overdraft after checking my account it goes through. If I hadn't, I would have had to pay another £85.
Step five: NatWest refuse to cut me any slack in spite of general terrible service all year. Call centre guy interrupts me repeatedly and fails to hear my side. I get very annoyed.

Whilst I can see I should have made sure there were sufficient funds, at the time of me presenting the cheque, there were and even at the time Uni presented the cheque, I was about £30 short.

Why can't the bank ever use a bit of flexibility in matters such as these? The extra was covered not more than three days later and it would have saved me shelling out £85.

From their perspective, they wouldn't have lost a customer to a rival High Street bank. Not to mention the fact the whole point of them lending large to students is because they expect tehm to be higher earners and stick with the bank.

I'm pretty disgusted and would recommend anyone to go with HSBC instead.

 

[Guest]

Quote[/b] (sufcintheprem @ Feb. 18 2005,11:22)]Just been on the phone to Natwest and I'm pretty much fuming at them.

Step one:  I pay cheque to the university for £984.  £1,090 available in account.
Step two:  University withhold cheque for a week and a half with no warning.
Step three:  I got to Bath and Bristol spending thinking somehow I have more money than I thought.

Step three was your problem.

 

[CANV]

yup step three.. you cant suddenly think you have 984 more quid and expect nat west to take the blame.. they are a small cottage industry and need every penny they get.. plus all the money they have to pay out employing top notch managers to run the place and ensure that any initiative is beaten out of staff as soon as possible.. consider yourself lucky they didnt have you expelled from uni as well

 

[Interpol Shrimper]

It just sums up any part of the RBS Group for me, speaking as a former employee. Their inflexibility & arrogance in approach to customers is shocking.

 

[sufcintheprem]

Quote[/b] (Guest @ Feb. 18 2005,11:56)]

Quote[/b] (sufcintheprem @ Feb. 18 2005,11:22)]Just been on the phone to Natwest and I'm pretty much fuming at them.

Step one: I pay cheque to the university for £984. £1,090 available in account.
Step two: University withhold cheque for a week and a half with no warning.
Step three: I got to Bath and Bristol spending thinking somehow I have more money than I thought.

Step three was your problem.

Yeah, I feel slightly like that too. Still,if HSBC will offer me an account, then I'll be with them at the drop of a hat.

Just strikes me as ridiculous that both sides charged me and the upshot of that may well have been that I couldn't actually afford my fees.

Still got to go down to Admin 2 and try and get my £50 back from them. God knows where they found that figure from. Sadly, from past experience, they'll be as useful as a chocolate teapot.

 

[West Country Shrimper]

Natwest arent very nice to students. The best bank probably to be with as a student is HSBC. They are flexible and are able to help you out with any problems you have got. I've never had any problems with them so far.

 

[sufcintheprem]

Quote[/b] (West Country Shrimper @ Feb. 18 2005,12:16)]Natwest arent very nice to students. The best bank probably to be with as a student is HSBC. They are flexible and are able to help you out with any problems you have got. I've never had any problems with them so far.

You're not wrong!

In the last year, they've fined me two other times under very trying circumstances and when I had a regular income too.

Also, they failed to deliver my card, my chequebook, my PIN, my statements and failed to let me set up Internet banking. I'm really struggling to work out what they've possibly done to help me.

Statistically, you're more likely to get divorced than to change your bank account. I reckon I'll be having the last laugh.

 

[West Country Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (sufcintheprem @ Feb. 18 2005,12:19)]

Quote[/b] (West Country Shrimper @ Feb. 18 2005,12:16)]Natwest arent very nice to students. The best bank probably to be with as a student is HSBC. They are flexible and are able to help you out with any problems you have got. I've never had any problems with them so far.

You're not wrong!

In the last year, they've fined me two other times under very trying circumstances and when I had a regular income too.

Also, they failed to deliver my card, my chequebook, my PIN, my statements and failed to let me set up Internet banking. I'm really struggling to work out what they've possibly done to help me.

Statistically, you're more likely to get divorced than to change your bank account. I reckon I'll be having the last laugh.

When they fined you before and failed to get all that stuff to you, why didnt you close you account and open another one with HSBC? I would have done it straight away if a bank did that to me, because it would show how incompetent they are.

 

[sufcintheprem]

Quote[/b] (West Country Shrimper @ Feb. 18 2005,12:23)]

Quote[/b] (sufcintheprem @ Feb. 18 2005,12:19)]

Quote[/b] (West Country Shrimper @ Feb. 18 2005,12:16)]Natwest arent very nice to students. The best bank probably to be with as a student is HSBC. They are flexible and are able to help you out with any problems you have got. I've never had any problems with them so far.

You're not wrong!

In the last year, they've fined me two other times under very trying circumstances and when I had a regular income too.

Also, they failed to deliver my card, my chequebook, my PIN, my statements and failed to let me set up Internet banking. I'm really struggling to work out what they've possibly done to help me.

Statistically, you're more likely to get divorced than to change your bank account. I reckon I'll be having the last laugh.

When they fined you before and failed to get all that stuff to you, why didnt you close you account and open another one with HSBC? I would have done it straight away if a bank did that to me, because it would show how incompetent they are.

I had a whinge and managed to get the two fines back.

In all honesty, I had them over a barrel. Shame the bank manager didn't have power to do handouts!!

 

[Einstein]

Quote[/b] (glasgowsufc @ Feb. 18 2005,12:02)]It just sums up any part of the RBS Group for me, speaking as a former employee.  Their inflexibility & arrogance in approach to customers is shocking.

However I would now never bank with HSBC. It started as a principle due to moving all the jobs to India. You cannot even understand them when you call up now. It is also their 'customer service' which is the most useless I have ever encountered with Banks or any other kind of service I have been after. I had a long running dispute with HSBC that lasted nearly a year due to their incompetence. This was within Branchs, Call Centre's, Head Office and at all levels of 'management'!

This is coming from an ex-employee of RBS Group also agreeing that while RBS are far from being the best, HSBC are by far the worst IMHO.

 

[Guest]

Quote[/b] (West Country Shrimper @ Feb. 18 2005,12:16)]The best bank probably to be with as a student is HSBC. They are flexible and are able to help you out with any problems you have got. I've never had any problems with them so far.

Trust me, they are not being nice to you. When they offer to extend your overdraft to help make ends meet they are not doing it out of the kindness of their heart.

What they want to do is get you to run up a nice big overdraft so you will be paying it back for years to come.

Then after you have graduated, worked a couple of years and are earning a decent salary you will receive a never ending bombardment of phone calls and letters trying to sell you things.

 

[Guest]

Quote[/b] (sufcintheprem @ Feb. 18 2005,12:15)]

Quote[/b] (Guest @ Feb. 18 2005,11:56)]

Quote[/b] (sufcintheprem @ Feb. 18 2005,11:22)]Just been on the phone to Natwest and I'm pretty much fuming at them.

Step one:  I pay cheque to the university for £984.  £1,090 available in account.
Step two:  University withhold cheque for a week and a half with no warning.
Step three:  I got to Bath and Bristol spending thinking somehow I have more money than I thought.

Step three was your problem.

Yeah, I feel slightly like that too.  Still,if HSBC will offer me an account, then I'll be with them at the drop of a hat.

I think HSBC will have a very similar policy if you try and spend money that you don't have.

Pay your fees by plastic next time or keep an eye on what is in your account if you pay by cheque!

If you find yourself thinking, "wow, Ive got a grand more than I thought I had, time for a weekend long bender in the West country" then alarm bells should ring.

 

[sufcintheprem]

Quote[/b] (Guest @ Feb. 18 2005,12:45)]

Quote[/b] (sufcintheprem @ Feb. 18 2005,12:15)]

Quote[/b] (Guest @ Feb. 18 2005,11:56)]

Quote[/b] (sufcintheprem @ Feb. 18 2005,11:22)]Just been on the phone to Natwest and I'm pretty much fuming at them.

Step one: I pay cheque to the university for £984. £1,090 available in account.
Step two: University withhold cheque for a week and a half with no warning.
Step three: I got to Bath and Bristol spending thinking somehow I have more money than I thought.

Step three was your problem.

Yeah, I feel slightly like that too. Still,if HSBC will offer me an account, then I'll be with them at the drop of a hat.

I think HSBC will have a very similar policy if you try and spend money that you don't have.

Pay your fees by plastic next time or keep an eye on what is in your account if you pay by cheque!

If you find yourself thinking, "wow, Ive got a grand more than I thought I had, time for a weekend long bender in the West country" then alarm bells should ring.

Perhaps they'll send me my card, chequebook or statements though.

Do you not think that it would have paid, from the bank's perspective, to have a small amount of flexibility with cheques on un-arranged overdrafts as they do with card transactions? It seems like a very dated system to me.

They may have made £35 but so far, they haven't made any money out of my investments as I've been in debt since being with them. Basically, if I move now, all that has occurred is them giving me an interest-free loan which I plan to pay off then owe to, say, HSBC instead.

As my degree is financial, I know that the core earning capacity of banks is speculative investment with bank deposits. If I haven't given them any money, the rate of return on the money that they have given me means they have carried my account at a loss due to the opportunity cost of having the money in hand.

Ah well. As I say, it's really annoyed me and the 'customer service' has compounded this so as I said in no uncertain terms to the bloke on the phone, I doubt I'll be banking with NatWest come the end of the month.

 

[RobM.]

OK how about this? The Child Support Agency informed me that I was due a refund of £1,700. When I rang them to hurry them up, I was informed there had been ' a mistake' and I was in fact £600 in arrears!
Wanadoo - I tried to cancel my account with them only to be told twice that I didn't exist! No record of me anywhere - yet they still kept taking my money. I tried to ring my bank - A&L and got one of those infuriating "If you have a diddly dah query press 1". Took me half an hour to actually speak to someone.:angry:

 

[sufcintheprem]

Does anyone actually think positively of their bank?

 

[West Country Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (Guest @ Feb. 18 2005,12:40)]

Quote[/b] (West Country Shrimper @ Feb. 18 2005,12:16)]The best bank probably to be with as a student is HSBC. They are flexible and are able to help you out with any problems you have got. I've never had any problems with them so far.

Trust me, they are not being nice to you. When they offer to extend your overdraft to help make ends meet they are not doing it out of the kindness of their heart.

What they want to do is get you to run up a nice big overdraft so you will be paying it back for years to come.

Then after you have graduated, worked a couple of years and are earning a decent salary you will receive a never ending bombardment of phone calls and letters trying to sell you things.

I havent even touched my overdraft...... yet

 

[West Country Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (sufcintheprem @ Feb. 18 2005,12:55)]Does anyone actually think positively of their bank?

I also bank with the Halifax. My advice with them is, dont do it, cos they mess you around a lot. Also the cashiers at the Basildon branch aint exactly helpful. One bird refused me to take some of my wages out when I was going to take my neice shopping. Apparantly it hadnt been in there enough time for the cheque to clear, and this was over 11 days. So I went to the Lakeside branch, and wouldnt you know, I was then able to take it out. He couldnt work out why I was refused in Basildon. This lady is now one of the managers now in Basildon. God help us....

I only think good about HSBC to be honest. Ive never banked with any others apart from those two.

 

[Mad Cyril]

Quote[/b] (sufcintheprem @ Feb. 18 2005,12:55)]Does anyone actually think positively of their bank?

My accounts in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands are very well managed thankyou.

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

Quote[/b] (sufcintheprem @ Feb. 18 2005,12:55)]Does anyone actually think positively of their bank?

Yep.  I'm with Barclays, and they've been the mutt's nuts with me.

As a 16 year old, through a failure to add up properly - and through someone failing to cash a cheque for about 2 months - I went £9.72 overdrawn.  I was with Shat West at the time, so naturally had no overdraft.

They charged me £25 overdraft fee... which in 1990 was quite bloody expensive.  They refused to withdraw the fee - so I closed all my accounts.  I have never, and will never, darken their door again.

The following year, I made a similar mistake - this time with Barclays.  I complained, pleaded my case... and the manager said "OK, but please try not to make the mistake again... and come and see me about opening a student account with an appropriate overdraft."

He waived the bankcharge.  14 years later, I remain with Barclays.  They treated me well as a student, gave me an overdraft, and even now - I still have an account with them, with an overdraft, into which my salary now goes...

Looks like Barclays have sussed that having a human face, and doing the occasional sensible and human act, means that customers stay with them.  It's why, unlike Shat West, they don't need to spend loads of money on TV ad campaigns, pretending that somehow they're a "human" or "local" bank... adverts which, frankly, are bullsh*t from start to finish.

I also have another account with Citibank and I feel pretty positive about them.  They have an instant access interest account paying well over 4%, which is linked to three interchangable current accounts - Sterling, Dollar and Euro.  With a phone-call, I say "link my card to my Euro account please" - so that when I go over to Europe, I draw Euros out of my Euro account and pay no commission and no charges.  Same goes for the US and my dollar account.

Again, I'd say that was pretty damn good.

Matt

 

[CANV]

just get rich.. all banks will love you then