Nationwide treated me like dirt for trying to pay money IN to my account

goldeneagle69

:mad: I just had the worst experience ever from my Bank Manager, all becuase I wanted to pay money into my bank account.

My family and I have been put 50p, £1 and £2 coins into a saving tin for extra spending money when we go on holiday this year. Over the weekend we opened the tin and found that we had saved £120. Great I though, I'll get some bags from the Nationwide and pay the money into our account ready to be converted to dollars. I was given the bags and brought them home, then sorted the money into their correct amounts ready to go back to the Nationwide today.

As soon as I gave the bags to the cashier she said "you've got 6 bags, I can only take 5". She wanted me to come back tomorrow with 1 bag containing £10. So I would have had to pay for the petrol and an hours parking in the car park. I said that this wasn't acceptable and asked to speak to the manageress.

The manageress came storming over a few minutes later and said "this is Nationwides policy and they don't have room to store money". I started to say that we were only talking about 20 coins and that it would be a bit daft for me to have to come back. I only got half way through saying this because she asked me to be quiet and listen to her! She asked what I thought would happen if everybody tried to pay extra bags in? Well for one thing the banks would have more money! She then said that on this occasion they would make an exception, but I was never to do this again!

I left the branch feeling really angry and upset. My wife and I have banked with this branch for 22 years and to be treated like a pile of sh$t in this way and spoken to like a 5 year old is not acceptable behaviour in any form what-so-ever. How dare she speak to me like this. They are supposed to be professional.

It's nice to know that the Nationwide are in such a strong position that they are able to turn money away as when they feel fit. Money that my family have saved hard for, not buying sweets and things just so that we can fill up the tin and buy something extra on our holiday. We don't have a lot of money, so every penny is important to us. I'm just sorry that the Nationwide don't feel the same.

I have now lodged a formal complaint against the manageresses behaviour with the area manager, but to be honest I will be very surprised if I hear anything from them. I have now made an appointment to going and speak to the Halifax. They said that they have the same 5 bag policy, but never enforce it strictly. If somebody walks in with 7, 8 or 9 bags then it isn't a problem.

Sorry for such a long winded rant, but this has really p#£%ed me off and I just wanted everybody to know.

bengal-stripe

goldeneagle69 wrote: »

I said that this wasn't acceptable......it would be a bit daft for me to have to come back......How dare she speak to me like this.

Why do I get that "pot-kettle-black" feeling?

Lokolo

I feel sorry for the poor cashier having to put up with you!

Rules are rules. If they make 1 exeption for one person, they have to make it for others. And as they had stated, they haven't enough room to keep more and more coins.

Inactive

What was all the fuss about, you can spend a tenner in the Supermarket etc.

So you are moving to Halifax that has the same policy..

withnell

Whether it's a rule or not, there's no reason for the manager to be so short with the customer - I know the rules are put in place due to space restrictions (they can't sell you any more products just because they pay for a larger safe remember) but Nationwide seem less flexible than most; even my local Abbey lets you pay in more than 5, and they're the bank that are supposed to have the badcustomer service!

Heath84

Next time take the extra bag to the supermarket with you and ask the woman/man on the till if they can swap it for a note for you. Most will and that will solve the problem. What happens next time if you move to halifax and the girl on the till there is new and has been trained to only take 5 bags and doesnt want to risk being shouted at because you turn up with 8 bags next time and expect to be served? Rules are rules and arent made to be broken.

opinions4u

goldeneagle69 wrote: »

The manageress came storming over a few minutes later and said "this is Nationwides policy and they don't have room to store money". I started to say that we were only talking about 20 coins and that it would be a bit daft for me to have to come back. I only got half way through saying this because she asked me to be quiet and listen to her! She asked what I thought would happen if everybody tried to pay extra bags in? Well for one thing the banks would have more money!

That extra bag will potentially make them around 40p a year profit (assuming it was £20) but would cost a lot more than that to accept, process, store, rebank via a security company etc. Spend it in the airport. You'll have more fun with it there.

She then said that on this occasion they would make an exception, but I was never to do this again!

Seems fair.

I left the branch feeling really angry and upset. My wife and I have banked with this branch for 22 years and to be treated like a pile of sh$t in this way and spoken to like a 5 year old is not acceptable behaviour in any form what-so-ever. How dare she speak to me like this. They are supposed to be professional.

They are. Were you reasonable throughout the debate too?

It's nice to know that the Nationwide are in such a strong position that they are able to turn money away as when they feel fit. Money that my family have saved hard for, not buying sweets and things just so that we can fill up the tin and buy something extra on our holiday. We don't have a lot of money, so every penny is important to us. I'm just sorry that the Nationwide don't feel the same.

Sorry, but if you paying in half a dozen bags of coin leads to a saver with £30k in their account going elsewhere because they're stuck in a queue behind you and your transaction, then they are right not to want your piddling amount of money.

(I have though carefully before wording this, but I'm sorry, £120 is not a lot of money to any bank or building society and certainly not worth pursuing at the risk of upsetting other customers who are bigger savers).

I have now lodged a formal complaint against the manageresses behaviour with the area manager, but to be honest I will be very surprised if I hear anything from them. I have now made an appointment to going and speak to the Halifax. They said that they have the same 5 bag policy, but never enforce it strictly. If somebody walks in with 7, 8 or 9 bags then it isn't a problem.

Depends on the branch. Personally they're fools to accept more as the procedures for taking it, holding it and banking it via a security company are time consuming (impacting on service to others) and expensive.

Enjoy your holiday.

Zazen999

I'm never one for the 'rules is rules' comment; and like to look at it from another angle; I think all banks should really reconsider this 'rule' in light of the banking crisis; 'come and open an account with us for your mall change, we take as many bags as you have'.....might just attract a new customer base.

opinions4u

Zazen999 wrote: »

I'm never one for the 'rules is rules' comment; and like to look at it from another angle; I think all banks should really reconsider this 'rule' in light of the banking crisis; 'come and open an account with us for your mall change, we take as many bags as you have'.....might just attract a new customer base.

But it won't increase the amount of money saved in banks. That would remain exactly the same across all banks. So as a source of liquidity this won't work. As a source of delays for other customers, it's a great idea.

Even if every single person in the country magiced up an extra tenner of coin and paid in to their bank it wouldn't make the slightest difference to the credit crunch.

I'm sorry, but a bag of coppers is not going to grow a bank's deposit base. Over a third of all money saved in banks is held by people who have more than £50,000. They are rightly more worried about losing these customers than gaining £10 from a whisky jar.

gazelle8760

£120 wouldn't even buy The Gazelle one shoe, hmmmmmmmmm how the other half live.

dunstonh

Building societies and the ex building societies have had these rules in place for decades. They dont have the large safes that the traditional banks have and cannot store large amounts of coinage.

Sometimes they may break the rule when they dont have much in the safe but when its getting full up or they have too much of one coin they will reject you. Banks and building societies are also charged for notes and coins they hold. The security company also charges them as well. The big problem is that the security company will not take the coins off them until they have a certain amount. So, they could end up having too many of one or more coins and not able to get rid of it and no space left in their safe to keep it.

If you want your bank to have a full cash service then you need to go to a traditional bank and not an ex building society.