NatWest Advantage Gold/Current Plus Account (natwest failure to close)

timmyburns22

I have just been to natwest to get a copy of the entire statement works of the downgraded account, which as printed on the statements, is a Current Plus account.

As I see it, the base original fee at the very beginning was a sum of £5.08 which may have been regarding the monthly fee for the advantage gold status of the account. I also see that this fee was paid by me in order to bring to account back to £0.00 for its closure.

The next entry is a monthly fee of £28.00 which brings the account back into the minus and it is at this point that i do not realise the account is still active. Then there is an entry for each month up to December 2009 each incurring another £28.00 charge.

And to reply to your first post, catflea, yes that is exactly what happened

"Sounds like the OP had the account opened as an advantage gold (which does carry a fee) then went to the branch, to cancel the account. The branch then downgraded it to a current plus rather than cancelling."

And regarding your second post, I completly agree with the charges that were not originally removed hence the snowball effect.

I will raise this as a formal complaint right now. If someone knows the right telephone number/web address that would point me in the right direction i'd be very appreciative.

Regards,

- Timothy

rb10

timmyburns22 wrote: »

I will raise this as a formal complaint right now. If someone knows the right telephone number/web address that would point me in the right direction i'd be very appreciative.

https://www.natwest.com/secure/global/contact_us/complaints_procedure.htm

Although Natwest generally seem to be useless at most things, my own experience of their complaints procedure is good - they have resolved problems quickly and efficiently for me (just a shame that things always go wrong in the first place when Natwest is involved!).

mclaren32

timmyburns22 wrote: »

I have just been to natwest to get a copy of the entire statement works of the downgraded account, which as printed on the statements, is a Current Plus account.

As I see it, the base original fee at the very beginning was a sum of £5.08 which may have been regarding the monthly fee for the advantage gold status of the account. I also see that this fee was paid by me in order to bring to account back to £0.00 for its closure.

The next entry is a monthly fee of £28.00 which brings the account back into the minus and it is at this point that i do not realise the account is still active. Then there is an entry for each month up to December 2009 each incurring another £28.00 charge.

And to reply to your first post, catflea, yes that is exactly what happened

"Sounds like the OP had the account opened as an advantage gold (which does carry a fee) then went to the branch, to cancel the account. The branch then downgraded it to a current plus rather than cancelling."

And regarding your second post, I completly agree with the charges that were not originally removed hence the snowball effect.

I will raise this as a formal complaint right now. If someone knows the right telephone number/web address that would point me in the right direction i'd be very appreciative.

Regards,

- Timothy

When you speak to them you need to focus on the fact that you should have never paid the £5.08 - that fee should have always been waved and never have appeared on your account. The £5.08 charge meant the account went into an unauthorised o/d position and this then generated the £28 maintanance charge.

They will say that statements were sent bringing your attention to the £28 charge but based on what you are saying you have done nothing wrong, the charge was not generated as a result of anything you have done and therefore is bank error. You not dealing with the problem before is not your fault.

When you lodge the complaint make sure you get the reference number this means that you will be able to track the status of it.

catflea

Rough draft of a letter for you, obviously customise/alter to suit.

Dear Sir/Madam

I write with regard the £xx.xx you are demanding me to pay. I wish to inform you of how this matter has arisen.

On (date) I visited your branch in (town) to open a first reserve savings account. During this visit I was persuaded to open an Advantage Gold current account. I re-visited the account on (date) to cancel the account and was told that this was completed. This was actioned well within the 60/90 day timescale I was quoted.

I have not used this account at any time since this point. The only transactions have been charges levied by you. From studying my statement these all seem to result from the charge you made in relation to the cancelled Advantage Gold subscription on (date) this charge should not have been taken as the advantage gold was cancelled within the prescribed period.

These charges are therefore as a direct result of Natwest error, and should be refunded immediatly. Further to this, any entries made to credit referencing agencies should be corrected.

Yours Faithfully



Hope that helps