Natwest = the worst, most stressful and soul destroying time of your life! (Natwest Bank)

Member Name: At the end of my sanity...

Product:	Natwest Bank
Date:	01/08/08 (867 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None I can think of - there are so many other banks out there.

Disadvantages: Definitely not a bank for people with medical conditions that could be exagerrated by stress

I would like to apologise in advance for the length of this review but please be assured, the length is necessary to fully explain my concerns and hopefully, upon reading this you will look elsewhere for your financial needs.

I have never experienced such incompetent and blatant rudeness from a supposedly professional organisation in my life. Here's my story:

In December 2007 I was experiencing a temporary cash flow problem. I told natwest about this as I had breached my overdraft limit - my fault and they were charging me. I was more than happy to pay the charges but in my calling them to explain that it will have to wait until my pay day (end of the month) the rudeness and arrogance I was greeted with riled me. I decided that actually, as a consumer in a world where consumers are spoilt for choice - I don't need to take this from a bank, there are plenty more out there. I swapped my account and smittenly, called Natwest to advise them that I was no longer banking with them as I felt their customer service had failed me. Admittedly, I have always found the people in the branches to be quite pleasant and helpful (bar one in Haywards Heath who constantly constantly looks and acts like she's chewing a wasp) in the main the 'rudeness' I'm referring to is demonstrated by their call centre staff. I was advised that as I had a Natwest loan - I was unable to close my accounts as a Natwest loan has to be paid from a Natwest bank account. I explained that the loan payment date would not allow me to transfer the money in time from my new bank and therefore, requested that my loan payment date be changed to accomodate this. I was told that this was not possible, and that it was only possible to change the date by one day either side of the agreement. I advised them that this was surely nonsense, as if a loan customer were to change jobs, then this could mean that they would experience a 15 day change in pay dates. I was advised that the only way to change the payment date was to pay two months loan payments in one go - I explained that my financial budget would not allow me to cover this expense.

Getting no where I resorted to going to my new bank each month on my pay day and then withdrawing the necessary funds, and paying the amount into my Natwest account manually. As I have to Travel overseas for work I knew that at some point this was going to be problematic.

That point came at the end of May when I was scheduled to be overseas for my payday. Courteously, I called Natwest to advise them that due to their inflexibility, the payment for June would need to wait until I returned to the country. I was due to miss the date anyway and was advised that setting up an automated transfer that would miss my due date would make no difference to the situation so I decided I would sort it out personally when I returned. Upon my return I called the bank and advised them that I need to make the payment. I was expecting a charge to have been applied but was suprised when I was advised that I needed to pay over £1000 in two seperate payments to get the account back up to date. The payments were only £332.36 monthly so I'm unsure as to why this was the case.
Nevertheless, I made a payment over the phone of £500 and agreed that I would contact them again on my next pay day to pay the remaining £550 that I was advised was necessary. I decided to call them the day before my payday to get to the bottom of why I needed to pay the extra money. The advisor advised me that I had been misadvised and that my loan account was fully up-to-date on account of me having paid the £500 payment. Feeling that she was actually trying to help me (I know, I had to sit down during the phone call and checked several times that it was actually Natwest I was talking to) I asked her why I could not change the payment date. Again she told me that this was incorrect, enquired as to what payment day I would like and changed the date across - as simple as that despite me having requested this for 7 months with no avail.

Skip to August and by virtue of a tragic family bereavement and an inheritance I am in a position to pay off my loan in full. I called the loans department to ask for a settlement figure and was quoted £18,502.54. I was also advised that my loan account had actually gone into credit by a sum of £700. I explained that this wasimpossible as I had only ever paid the agreed amount. It was explained that the credit figure was due to a miscalculation of the cancellation of the loan insurance premium which I had cancelled some three months earlier. I asked the advisor to check no fewer than 5 times that he was correct. He assured me he was and in his words commented 'this is your money, enjoy it'.

Already being an emotional time, I decided to use my newly found money to change the shape of my life and become debt free - I just wish the person had had the opportunity to see me turn this mile stone. I asked for this to be sent to me and was advised that this was best actioned by a branch. A week later after returning from overseas I visited the branch near where I work in Haywards Heath and asked for the printed settlement figure (I needed this to unlock some of the money that was locked up in trust - my solicitors had discovered that there was a
loophole that allowed me to unlock this money under the terms of the trust if I could prove it would put me in a more financially stable position). I was given a printed settlement figure of £19,700. I was shocked and asked why the amount had increased by over £1000 in the space of a week. I was advised that this was due to ever changing interest rates. I explained the lack of logic in the explaining by commenting that surely this would mean that it was near on impossible for someone to ever repay a loan - it had to be wrong. I was barked at with the words "I can only tell you what the system tells me". I asked to speak to someone who could properly explain the increase. I was asked to take a seat and wait. About 5 minutes later, the lady from customer services returned and invited me to go into one of the small rooms with her. Once in there, she shut the door and then explained that there was no one who was able to help me and therefore, advised that I was welcome to use the phone to call the lending centre and get to the bottom of it myself! The absolute cheek of it - I mean, she was wearing a badge with customer services advisor on it....

Nevertheless, I called the lending centre and was advised that I should disregard the new figure and that the £18502.54 figure was correct. I had been advised that this was valid until the 6th August 2008 and as it was only July it confirmed what I thought to be the case. As I left the side room - I bumped into the branch manager and explained to him my suprise at him being on the premises given that I had been told there was no one there who could help me and had been ushered into a side room to sort out my own problem.

I sent the 'proof' to my solicitors and received a cheque. I went to bank this in Natwest Crawley and was dealt with by perhaps the most professional person I have dealt with in the organisation. I was advised that she would check the account the coming Wednesday (it was Thursday when the cheque was banked) and that she would transfer the funds from my current account to pay the loan off.

Skip to today (1st August). I receive a phone call explaining that it was Natwest. I started to smile expecting them to advise me that the loan was all paid off. Instead, it was explained to me that the loan was not paid off as there was a problem. The problem turned out to be the fact that the settlement figure had not taken into account the fact that they had transferred the money that the loan was in credit by and that therefore, the revised figure I needed to pay was £1000 more. I was advised that I need to make up the difference or the loan would not be paid off. I explained that this was a loss the bank would have to suffer as I had been mis-informed about the amount and had printed proof that of the settlement figure quoted which included a validity period up to the 6th August. I was advised that I needed to contact the lending centre to discuss this.

I took the advice and called the lending centre and the response from them left me shaking and in tears. I was advised that they were not prepared to take the initial figure to settle the loan and that therefore, the loan would remain. I explained that the branch NOT ME had already cancelled the standing order due to collect on Monday (4th August) as we were all expecting this to be paid off. They advised me that should this fail to collect, the account will go into arrears, should I not then remedy the situation they will advise the credit reference agencies and I will be blacklisted for 6 years. I was also reminded that my car was listed as an asset on the loan application and that they would therefore seek to repossess this. At no point was there an apology and when I explained my desired outcome I was advised that the employee I was speaking to was not in a position to make that decision. When I asked to speak to someone who was - it was explained to me that there is no one who can make a decision which 'goes against the system'. My fist nearly went through a wall.

I have now been advised that I need to write to the customer relations department to explain my complaint. This does nothing to relieve my worry over the threats that were made today. I have also advised the financial ombudsman who will be writing to Natwest in addition to myself. I have no idea what the outcome will be in the end but will post the result on this website. I am also concerned that I have breached the terms of my trust and as such, could stand for the trust to be ceased.

Has this happened to anyone else? Or does anyone have any advise that may be of help?

Summary: A catalogue of bank errors for which the customer has to pay, and then pay, and then pay....