Be Warned about Nationwide Credit Card Centre

jam1977

Be warned about Nationwide Credit Card Centre; i have had the most amazing ordeal. I applied online for the classic card early January 2006, 3 weeks to receive part of the information, the rest was missing, subsequently i was advised to take a trip to my branch in the city centre to gain the missing forms also to produce ID. This I did and they advised they would forward to forms etc to the Credit Card centre, 3 weeks on still no progression, after chasing and chasing the credit card centre now confirm they have not received any ID or completed forms. Where has my ID gone and the forms with all my details???? Nationwide are incompetant to say the least and i would warn anyone to re-consider applying for the Card.

johnmoney05

yes...when I first applied their current account from the internet...I recevied nothing after almost 3 weeks! After serval phone calls...all sorted out in the end...a bit hassal...but credit card without this problem

magentadreamer

I must be lucky then - I applied for a Flex Account plus a Visa on the 28th Dec - all up and running by the middle of Jan. Only problem I had was locking myself out of the online banking as you have to have new pins etc sent by post. I've found queries are dealt with promptly via the online messaging centre and by the call centre.

Catseyez

jam1977 wrote:

Nationwide are incompetant to say the least and i would warn anyone to re-consider applying for the Card.

I would agree that they can be disorganised particularly when accounts are first set up. However, I don't think that should be a reason not to apply for their products. I have a lot of praise for Nationwide and I really hope they remain mutual.

I have found that Nationwide's service, once accounts etc have been opened, is very good. On the occasions where I have missed payments on my credit card, they have very kindly removed the late payment fee, without me having to argue.

I also think they offer very attractive rates with a lot of their products. They're also the only building society/bank that allows you to use the current account abroad with out paying fees!

I have banked with Barclays for 10 years and held their credit card for much of the same. I can't say the same for them as I can Nationwide! Barclays have caused nothing but aggravation and don't seem interested in their existing customers, unlike Nationwide.

So let's big it up for Nationwide instead!

Portia_2

Just opened a flex account and a credit card. Only problem so far encountered was lost credit agreement forms and not returning my phone call. All sorted with second phone call. Early days but as Catseyez says "at least Nationwide are trying to attract & keep customers unlike the big banks".

Reluctant_spender

absolutely no problems here, just opened two accounts and swopped my mortage to them - quickly and no dramas. I did however deal with my local branch.

Milarky

It is unfortunate that they lost the I.D. as supplied but surely all you have to do is phone the branch and they should have retained a copy for themselves which can be forwarded again.

Interesting that NW requires proof of I.D. on opening a credit card account. I assume the OP has no other accounts with them at present since existing customers can apply 'direct' without further bona fides. Other C.C issuers must do their I.D. checks online via credit refernce agencies as I have never been asked for I.D. documents - only bank a/c details on application.

goldmercury

are these the same jokers as RBOS credit cards?

I appiled for a student RBOS it took 3 months to process!

niceshoes_2

I have banked with Nationwide for the whole of my 26 years, and have always found them to provide me with a 1st class service.

6 months ago I went into an unauthorised over draft by £15.00 for a week, and rather than bill me for this, they reviewed my overdraft and extended it. They did not charge me for the unauthorised £15 that I had overspent - not many other banks would do this.

I also agree with Catseyez about the fact that they don't charge you for using your debit or credit card abroad - again there is not many other banks that allow this perk.

My only complaint I have with Nationwide is about 4 years ago now, I separated from my ex and had to buy him out of the house. In total I needed a mortgage of £55,000 and being a long standing customer of Nationwides, I approached them first. They would only lend me £53,000 and at that point, I did think "thanks alot" Never had run up bad debt, or missed payments on anything, or even gone into my overdraft and they couldn't help me out, in a time of need. looking back it shows, responsible lending I guess, but that has been the one and only time that I felt let down by them.

I have found that any new accounts that I have set up, have been processed quickly, but I guess, this has something to do with the fact I have other accounts, so they have less checks to perform.

They also don't put you through to an India Call Centre, unlike Lloyds, which is one of my major pet hates!

westernpromise

Catseyez wrote:

I have a lot of praise for Nationwide and I really hope they remain mutual.

I think of them as the John Lewis of financial institutions. They aren't leading edge at anything but they are pretty good at most things.

SpencerCourt

I'm interested to see the praises of Nationwide being a mutual, operating for the benefit of members (and I am a saving member), but their credit card arm seems to operate as a separate entity. I had a similar problem to johnmoney05 who posted on 14th Feb on the "Egg card - most Audacious Scam" title a comment relating to Nationwide credit card direct debits.

Apologies if this topic is already discussed on other threads, but having paid off my credit card balance in full (direct debit for minimum and undisputed payment of the rest by bank transfer) I was charged interest, because the bank transfer payment had been received before the direct debit was due, so they did not take the direct debit, leaving me with a balance outstanding and an interest liability on the lot!

I thought, and I still think, that the wording on their statements is misleading "your minimum payment of £..... , less any SUBSEQUENT payments will be collected by direct debit". The extra payment I made was prior to, not subsequent to, the direct debit.

When I rang to query this I was told that membership of the society was irrelevant - "banks and building societies expect to make profits from credit cards", and "your other business with Nationwide is nothing to do with the credit card business".

Admittedly, when I complained in writing they agreed to refund the interest charged and said that the statement wording was being reviewed, but the impression I got from my phone conversation was that the credit card arm of Nationwide is a bit different from the reliable part of Nationwide.