Natwest have closed my account

emjtay78

HI,
I'm hoping someone can help me, i have been with natwest for 13 year the only accounts i had were a basic step account and a first reserve which suited me fine for the purposes i needed them for.
My step account was unblemished up until about a year ago where due to direct debits all coming out together it left my account around £100 over drawn. To avoid this happening again i applied for a £100 overdraft but was told that i have to wait 3 month before i could apply for one even though they stated that i had a good unblemished history on my account it was company rules after being over drawn this was the time period for everyone.
Before the 3 months came along the balance was paid off and i had got myself back on my feet and no longer required the overdraft but regardless they persistently bombarded me with calls and letters saying that i could avoid ever going over drawn again if i upgraded my account to an Advantage Gold account i eventually agreed not realising i get charged £12 a month for having this account whether i used it or not. I never used this account once didn't put a penny in it so when i recieved a statement saying it was over £300 over drawn i instantly called the bank explaining i had never used it and didn't know i got charged for the account. Eventually the lady told me that she had removed the charges and the account was closed.

However 3 month ago i went into branch to order a new debit card for my Step account and to change my address details, where i was informed that the dreaded Gold account still existed and was now a staggering £700 + overdrawn, again i explained the story and was told the bank couldn't do anything about it and to write off to the Ombudsman which i did but it has a 8week wait for reply, while i have been waiting for a reply i went to draw some cash out of my step account only to find my account had been froze when i rang the bank said i had to speak to connections the debt handling part of natwest. I spoke to someone who rudely implied i'd known about this all along and chose to leave it thats why it had ended up like this and the only way i could access my step account was to agree to a repayment plan on the Gold account, of course i refused and the conversation ended leaving me feeling deflated that i couldn't access any money and was left penniless.
After i calmed down i thought if i agree to a repayment plan then they'll lift the stop off my step account and i can claim my repayments back when it had been sorted so i rang connections again and spoke to someone called Paul who eventually agreed that he would ring me back with the repayment plan details and would lift the ban.
I instantly went to the nearest cash dispenser and found to my delight that i could access my money and waited on Pauls call which never came. a week later i again have had a ban on my account when i called explaining AGAIN the situation and that i'd agreed to a repayment plan the lady said the ban was never lifted and there is no record of a payment plan being discussed, i also would never be able to access my step account and would have to make plans to bank elsewhere as my account will be closed. This is on a saturday where i can't do anything about it i have no money there was over £450 in my account and i don't know what to do PLEASE PLEASE help me i feel as though i'm fighting a losing battle.

mrstginger

My husband had similar problems with NatWest.He made numerous phone calls and wrote numerous letters but never had a satisfactory answer to any of them.Every time he called he was told a different thing by a different person.

He has just closed his account and has started banking elsewhere.

Good luck, I wish I could offer some good advice but my husband was so fed up with getting nowhere he just gave up.

natweststaffmember

Can I ask why you didn't spot the pre advice statements every month which stated you would get charged £12 a month? And then the pre advice statements saying that you would get charged £28 plus the £12?
With regards to the phone call with someone called Paul, have natwest ever stated that a payment plan was agreed or was discussed? I would ask Customer Relations Unit to look into this as you had agreed to something and that they audit trail the account as they would have to have accessed your account to make the payment plan.

Sol00

Natwest seem to be messing up and closing people's accounts a lot these days. I think I'll be stearing clear of them

natweststaffmember

A lot of commercial decisions are being made.

emjtay78

Thanks for replies,
Regarding the statements for the advantage gold account i received the one that was dealt with by the lady who said the account would be closed, with this statement i had a conversation about the fact i wasn't properly informed of the monthly charges. I would never have opened an account had i known i was going to be charged for it not being used, i have recently been informed that i needed only to upgrade my account to a current account which would have cost me nothing. Its not the fact i have been charged the £12 monthly fee for the account its the fact i have never used it and have had endless phone calls each which have told me things that haven't happened ie the account being closed and recently the payment plan, that never was set up. Paul informed me that he would call me back to set the plan up that was a week ago and he also told me he would set the advantage gold account up as a current account as not to incur more charges.
The changes HAVE been made to the account yet when i mentioned the payment plan details the connections team said there is no records of a conversation with any Paul logged. There has to be as it was Paul that said he'd change the account over to a current account.
All i am worried about is the fact that they have my step account and all the money in it, surely they can't close my account and keep all my money over an account that i have never used and had made complaints about.
I feel as though all the 13 years of loyalty and good account keeping was disregarded i have never been a bad client i have 3 children including a 10 month old baby and they have taken every last penny off us. It has taken its toll on me and feel helpless if i had have abused this account then i would hold my hands up but i was informed it was closed and solemnly promise i received no correspondence regarding this account which i didn't question as i thought it no longer existed.

natweststaffmember

The bank need to audit trail the account. Did you keep a record of the date you called? If yes or you know the month ask the bank to audit trail the account because it would have to be accessed to do so.
I am getting sick and tired of the Collections Team blatantly either lying to customers or simply not doing as they have said. The Advantage gold account should have been queried earlier in all honestly but apart from that, there HAS to be a way to find out who you spoke to(Paul that is).

emjtay78

This is my biggest part of the problem i took the full name of the first collections team Which was Ryan K******* and that conversation is logged but stupidly forgot the surname of paul as i was in tears by this time but he was the one who lifted the ban off my step account and changed the gold account into a current account.in the call yesterday it showed on the computer that the account HAD been changed but did not show who made these authorisations and i was then told that no one has the authority to lift the ban on my step account and there is no recollection of the ban being lifted yet i was drawing money out of the account all week. I also got told by the collection team that there is no one higher that i could speak to. I am not a little girl and i know that they get told what to say by a team leader and the team leader will get directions from someone higher.
Also even £12 a month for 12 month accumulates to no where near the amount i am being charged. Are Natwest that much of a well respected bank that they can just pick up customers and throw them and their lives away after 13 years of service in which i have never had a problem with apart from this one account? I can't understand how they could let it get to this point and fully blame me and how they can throw me out of their bank when i haven't done a thing wrong and if they look at their records they can see that, Why was the account not ended on the first time i had to ring up when they said they'd cancelled it, Why did they not contact me earlier as they claimed they had done, Why have they been given the right to access funds in my step account where does the secure bank policy come into it, you think your account is secure but then get told that they have every right to freeze my account and keep the funds leaving me without anything to live on, also doing this on a saturday where they know i can't do anything about it till monday, I can't believe i feel that helpless that between sitting and sobbing and tending to my children the only thing i hold onto is the hope that my branch can let me have a little of my money to get by on on monday but i'm not holding much hope there, my child benefit gets paid into my account on monday and it will be too late to put a stop to that.

natweststaffmember

Ok Scrap EVERYTHING i have said before.
"I never used this account once didn't put a penny in it so when i recieved a statement saying it was over £300 over drawn i instantly called the bank explaining i had never used it and didn't know i got charged for the account. Eventually the lady told me that she had removed the charges and the account was closed."

When did they say this? This makes more sense now....
I want to apologise to you because I missed this bit and it is the most important bit.

emjtay78

This was said to me in may 2007 so no correspondence about the account wasn't a worry to me as i thought it had ceased it wasn't until June this year it was brought to my attention the account still existed and was now over £700 in the red, when i visited my branch to order a new debit card. Obviously i asked if i could speak to someone about it which the assistant disappeared for a while then reappeared saying she has spoke to one of the managers and they have apologised as they can do nothing about it and gave me a leaflet on hoe to contact the ombudsman, which i immediately did, (still waiting a response).

Incisor

emjtay78 wrote: »

... the assistant disappeared for a while then reappeared saying she has spoke to one of the managers and they have apologised as they can do nothing about it and gave me a leaflet on hoe to contact the ombudsman, which i immediately did, (still waiting a response).

Good grief, a bank out of control, even the managers cannot sort out a problem, they have to send people to the ombudsman.