It's easy when you talk to the right people (Nationwide Building Society)

Member Name: WierdNatox

Product:	Nationwide Building Society
Date:	13/12/03 (774 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Helpful branch staff, Low Interest Rates for borrowing, Cheap to remortgage

Disadvantages: Poor communication within direct mortgage centre, Misleading website

Recently I found myself wondering what would happen to my life if interest rates went up. It wasn't pretty. Rates were at their lowest at the time and I started to think about remortgaging. This would allow me to select a fixed (lower) rate and also borrow some extra money at the same time.

We started off by checking out our current lender (see my review on Abbey National) but this was a complete waste of time. Knowing, therefore, that we would have to change lenders I began the long trawl on the Internet. This was not as easy as it sounds because banks and building societies don't seem to want you to be able to compare each other?s products and services. Anyway, I eventually found a fantastic rate with the Nationwide. Now to start dealing with real people, not just clicking around in websites.

This is where I encountered most difficulty, but to say the process was difficult is to do it a disservice. I work 30 miles away from home, so I went to the branch closest to work to discuss our move with them. There would be no problem, but rates were increasing by the end of the week and there were no more appointments that week. The best way to proceed would be to fill out an application and reserve the fixed rate online. I duly went home and attempted to do this.

The first step was to get a 1-minute mortgage promise. No problem.
Then I thought I would be able to apply online, but it said to ring a number to proceed there and then. It was before 8 pm so I thought I would give it a go.
I rang the number and was told I would need to speak to a financial adviser. Was put on hold until one came free.
At various points someone would pick up my call and I would repeat the conversation and be put on hold for a financial adviser.
At 8pm they all went home and I was left unanswered.

Now bear in mind that this really was a fantastic rate, so I didn't give up.
Next morning I rang again and was put straight through t
o an adviser. It's obviously much quieter in the morning.
I was then informed that the Mortgage Centre direct couldn't do what I wanted. I needed to ring another number. (I bet so many of you are cringing inside for me now. This seems to happen to everyone whenever they ring up a company for service).
Anyway I rang the number (I think this was a proper Nationwide branch) but was given a message that I had to what until 9.30am because of staff training. At 9.30 I rang back thinking I was on the home run. Unfortunately, I was returned full circle, the only way I could proceed was to go into a branch in person so I could sign the forms and hand over my money.

A little voice in my head told me to give up, but I'm so glad I didn't.
I contacted my local branch this time and got an appointment for 1 hour later and at this point it all turned into a dream. I went to the branch and was looked after by very friendly, helpful and professional people and within another hour the deed was done. All I had to do was sit back and wait for the process of remortgaging to take place. All I had to pay for was a booking fee (about £180), Nationwide paid for everything else.

All through the process my wife, who used to be a financial adviser, kept saying "so when is it all going to go wrong?" Knowing what this sort of process is like usually I had my doubts too, but we were mistaken. Everything happened exactly when they said it would and without a hitch, and we are now the proud owners of a Nationwide Mortgage. There was very little requirement for us to do anything, just sit back and relax.

So, I suppose this is a tale of two halves. The direct mortgage centre and the web site seem to be at odds and give misleading information. This was cleared up quite quickly; it was just a bit painful. Once within the branch network, however, things went swimmingly and I would be happy to recommend them to anyone else.

Summary: