20yrs with Nationwide and treated with insensitivity

TitchyC

Hi

I need some advice on the way my husband has been treated by Nationwide regarding his credit card.
My husband was made redundant recently from a job he's held for nearly 18 years. Now on hearing this we started to look at options just in case he found it hard to get a new job.
At this point we have my wage which is fairly decent and we have not missed a single payment on anything at all.
So my husband decided to call Nationwide with whom we bank for everything. He's been with them for 20years in total and so thought that if he called them he would get a sympathetic ear.
All he wanted was advice on how they could help us should we have any difficulties in the future - ie offering payment break, transferring to a zero percentage card etc. Just generally giving the 'what if' scenario to them so that they could advise us.
The chap on the phone told my husband that there is nothing that they can do to help then informed him he would be blocking his card to prevent further use!
How is that helpful to us? We havent defaulted on payments and of all times we could do with having a credit card to fall back on, they have decoided we're not fit to use it now he's out of work!
They didnt ask or even look at the other money we have coming in, no questions, no assessment, simply BLOCKED. Until he can prove he';s in work again.
My husband asked to speak to a manager who basically wasnt interested and confirmed he couldnt use the card.

How is this fair treatment and is there anything we can do?

mandy_s_2

That is disgraceful treatment! I would suggest writing to them to complain and see if that helps. Personally I would also consider taking my business elsewhere as soon as I was able to. That is an appalling way to treat long term loyal customers especially considering that you use them for everything.

jon_boy75

probably nothing you can do, but if he gets a redundancy payout perhaps pay off the balance, or look to transfer the balance to a 0% card somewhere else

obviously on the balance transfer application you would say he is still working...right at this very moment

thats what i would do anyway

as for Nationwide's attitude, they're much like alot of banks, they don't particularly care if they hurt your feelings or treat you with contempt

missuscheesy

Personally, I would try going into your local branch - sometimes you get a different reaction face to face. But even if your situation improves I would consider voting with your feet too. I hope it all works out for you

izools

Whilst I agree this is very insensitive and ignorant behaviour of Nationwide, it is their perogative.

I understand that after 20 years with a bank / building society you expect reciprocal respect and understanding given your long standing perfect account conduct; unfortunately no bank see it this way.

They couldn't care less whether you've been with them 20 months or 20 years, all they care about is if they can make money off you.

Be this via your saving lots with them so they can lend more to mortgage applicants, or having affordable credit with them so they can earn interest off you whilst also being confident you'll pay the money back.

They were informed of a potential upcoming situation whereby the credit lines become unaffordable and you actively pointed out to them you might expect something in the form of payment breaks, reduced interest, or 0% deals. None of which earn the bank a penny and all of which expose the bank to risk.

At this point the loyalty becomes meaningless. They want to reduce their exposure to a potential risk and a potential loss leader.

Might be a kick in the teeth, but that's how it works I'm afrad

digitalphase

I agree with izools. It is harsh treatment, but unfortunately not a surprise.

I found Nationwide an awful company to deal with. I had a current account with them. I won't go into details as not relevant, but basically they really do not give a toss about you or your circumstances :mad:

If I were you I'd transfer all monies away from them a.s.a.p. so they cannot make anymore money off of you. Be it balance transfers or savings accounts.

Hope he finds a job soon.

fozmcfc

Completely agree with Izools, doesn't matter a jot to them how long you will have been with them.

Unless you are big and I mean big business to them, generally banks etc are not interested.

Best thing to do, is vote with your feet and move your account elsewhere.

chattychappy

I would complain in writing, and then to ombudsman if necessary.

Yes it is their prerogative to withdraw credit facilities, but this is not an unfettered prerogative. They must treat customers fairly. Based on what you said, it seems like an emotional knee-jerk reaction rather than the outcome of a properly conducted risk assessment based decision making process. You say they didn't even ask for any specifics.

It might not be possible to get the decision reversed - it might well be they'd come to the same decision once they have all the facts. But that is not the point - they should go through a process and be able to demonstrate this to a regulator if asked.

Up to you whether you think the battle is worth it or not, but I do think you have grounds.

Rupert_Bear

I do not tell my bank more than they need to know and certainly would not take them in my confidence. Do you honestly think a call centre operative is really interested in how long you have been with them. I have my currant account with Lloyds (BRILLIANT) and very small mortgage with Nationwide (also Brilliant) but keep them both at arms length.

exel1966

TitchyC wrote: »

Hi

I need some advice on the way my husband has been treated by Nationwide regarding his credit card.
My husband was made redundant recently from a job he's held for nearly 18 years. Now on hearing this we started to look at options just in case he found it hard to get a new job.
At this point we have my wage which is fairly decent and we have not missed a single payment on anything at all.
So my husband decided to call Nationwide with whom we bank for everything. He's been with them for 20years in total and so thought that if he called them he would get a sympathetic ear.
All he wanted was advice on how they could help us should we have any difficulties in the future - ie offering payment break, transferring to a zero percentage card etc. Just generally giving the 'what if' scenario to them so that they could advise us.
The chap on the phone told my husband that there is nothing that they can do to help then informed him he would be blocking his card to prevent further use!
How is that helpful to us? We havent defaulted on payments and of all times we could do with having a credit card to fall back on, they have decoided we're not fit to use it now he's out of work!
They didnt ask or even look at the other money we have coming in, no questions, no assessment, simply BLOCKED. Until he can prove he';s in work again.
My husband asked to speak to a manager who basically wasnt interested and confirmed he couldnt use the card.

How is this fair treatment and is there anything we can do?

You were naive in the extreme alerting Nationwide to such a drastic financial change in your personal circumstances which will have set alarm bells off.
Maybe you didn't fully explain clearly or maybe the CSA didn't fully understand your issue. I'd suggest calling back.
Blocking the card is drastic, but of course they're quite within their rights to withdraw your line of credit if they see fit.
I think the full story would be helpful!

Degenerate

Unfortunately your husband made a big mistake and learned the hard way. He shouldn't have made that call.

If your financial circumstances change for the worse, never, ever discuss this with your account providers until it is necessary to do so, ie when you actually reach the point of being unable to meet repayments. There is nothing they can do for you while your accounts are in order anyway. It's only when you start to miss payments that they will be able to enact their procedures for dealing with customers in debt distress, and possibly offer things like interest freezes, lower repayments etc. Tell them about it before you reach this point and all you are doing is volunteering information you didn't have to, that gives them reason to reduce their risk exposure to you. Nationwide did no different to what any other financial institution would have done. It's nothing personal, it's simply common sense not to offer further credit to someone who is likely to have trouble paying it back.

When you find yourself worse off through a sudden change in circumstances like redundancy, it's basically a case of trying to manage your way through with your existing credit facilities for as long as possible (to avoid trashing your credit file), until you either solve the problem by getting a new job/some other source of income, or find yourself unable to meet your commitments and start missing payments. Sometimes, if you know that a new opportunity is very unlikely to materialize and consider payment problems inevitable, it may be better to default sooner rather than later, but obviously this means giving up on your credit file. Either way, once your problems become known to financial institutions, you can expect all further credit to be withdrawn.