Nationwide problem

Stormybay

Hi all,

After reading all the great stuff on here, and in other advertising, about the Nationwide flex account and how good it is for using abroad, I decided to transfer all my holiday funds of £2700 into this account to use in Turkey. (I just got back last night!). I pursuaded my husband and son to put thier money into the account also, against my husbands' better judgement, I might add.

I bought us all £100 worth of YTL online from Travelex as recommended and set off, happy in the thought that my cash was safe in the bank and I wouldn't be charged for the service of using my nationwide card.

We went away for 2 weeks and on the 4th day, the ATM swallowed my card saying 'your card has been retained by the card issuer'. As you can imagine, I had all our money in this account and was devastated. The ATM had been used before me and straight after me and I know I didn't enter the wrong pin number. I set off back to the hotel, where I had a printed e-mail from the nationwide, after informing them I was going abroad. I rang them at about 10pm Turkey time (8pm bst) and the cs I reieved was appalling. I explained, calmly (although I wasn't calm!), what had happened and the operator confirmed that I had entered the correct pin and had available funds, but basically she said it was the machines fault and there was nothing she could do. She also said I didn't inform them I was going abroad..................even though I had the e-mail in front of me, and that I should have a back up card for these situations. As it happened, I did take my FD credit card with me and was able to withdraw funds without any problem.

The point is, I was taken in by the great offer from Nationwide and using their cards abroad (although the lady on the phone basically said tough luck) and now I have incurred cash advance charges for having to use a CC not to mention my mobile phone charges to the Nationwide and First Direct, and the embarrassment of my husband saying 'I told you so'.

There was no reason (according to NW) that my card should have been retained and now I think I should reclaim my charges made by FD from Nationwide. Does anyone know how I can put this in writing and whether I would be able to do this. When I mentioned this on the phone to them, I was told.........huh, we wont be doing that!

Any advice would ne greaty received

Stormy

btw, when I rand FD, very upset, they were fantastic on the phone and offered to ring me back as I was in Turkey!!!!

Stormybay

OOoppps, I should have added that I'm off to bed shortly, but I will return in the morning for any replies,so, thank you in advance. I've not slept for about 23 hours and have just completed 8 loads of washing!!!!!!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...................

Aletank

Do any other Nationwide card users inform Nationwide that they are going abroad ? Is a Email sufficient

johnmoney05

I am so sorry for your experience. Sometimes ATM does swallow card by no reason, I worked at the card department years ago. Sometimes I collected at least 5 to 10 swallowed cards on a weekend in one ATM. So it is difficult just to blame Nationwide. And I don't think they will accept that is their fault. For me, I have one Nationwide credit card and two Nationwide debit cards. It is very easy to apply one more current account on top of your old current account from Nationwide. If anything happens in one of my debit cards, I can easily transfer money between my two Nationwide current accounts on the internet. And I never put these three cards in one pocket. Sometimes accident does happen, be happy, you had a nice holiday and you are safe back home now.

YorkshireBoy

Stormybay,

I'm afraid you will have no 'comeback' on Nationwide, since it was clearly a defect in a Turkish bank (presumably?) run machine which caused the problem. I suspect the most you'll get is a "sorry you're not happy with the level of service you've received" letter.

I'm assuming you've repaid your FD card (plus a little bit extra to stop the interest), so the total cost will be around 2.75% of your spend for the conversion and a little bit of interest on top. However, I'm sure these costs will be offset somewhat by the better interchange rate you will have enjoyed (instead of changing here first).

Thank you for reminding us that it's best to have a back-up supply of funds and/or access to the internet for online banking transfers whilst we're away, and I hope it didn't spoil your holiday too much.

I wouldn't dwell on this particular memory, otherwise it will spoil the better memories of your holiday.

Sleep well!

YorkshireBoy

Aletank wrote:

Do any other Nationwide card users inform Nationwide that they are going abroad ?

Always, and not just with Nationwide. I inform the providers of every card I'm taking with me.

Is a Email sufficient

I prefer to ring with the dates. I then ring back a week or so later and let them tell me the dates I'll be away to confirm it's definitely logged on their systems.

Compound_2

I think what you should’ve done is contact the Turkish bank. There is an argument that they should compensate you for stealing your card – Nationwide has confirmed it was unauthorized and not their fault. In an ideal world, Nationwide would compensate you and claim against the Turkish bank.

Regarding informing Nationwide about trips abroad, I think it’s unnecessary if you are just withdrawing cash as the PIN guards against fraud. As for Visa purchases, I think it’s UK transactions only (when you should be using the top cashback payers) that should be deemed unusual. Using abroad is about the only thing the Nationwide card’s good for!

Stormybay

Thanks for all your replies, I did also go into the branch to inform them of my holiday, another just in case back up. Anyhow, I'll nip in there today and inform them of what happened and see if there is any explanation as to why the card was swallowed. I suppose I could have gone to the nearest town to find out where my card went to, it was a stand alone ATM, but by then I had cancelled it anyhow! It worked out at about £31.00 charges in all, not very much, I know, but also not very MSE!!!!!
Never mind, I had a great holiday nevertheless and now it's back to my MSE ways to save up for next year!!!!!!

Stormy

ioscorpio

I never inform any of the banks when I go abroad, although once when I used my Smile credit card in Mexico for a £2500 transaction, they put a block on it, but when I contacted them to confirm that it was me making the transaction it went through ok.