Natwest/RBS 2.85% esaver

housesitter

I appreciate the back pedalling from their email about the 2.82% but I got the impression from this thread that the website also said it was 2.82%.
Does anyone have a screenshot of that too please?

Are they in fact now denying that the website also said 2.82% ?

They word it very clearly that we should have seen the correct amount on the web which is obviously their way of saying "it's ok, you knew really despite the booklet we sent being wrong"

Will all the dishonesty in this thread, I don't quite believe them.

neilsedaka

agrinnall wrote: »

The net rate applicable to your account was quoted correctly on our website.

NatWest are incorrect in their assertion.

I made a print to pdf copy of the e-Savings information on the NatWest website on 29th September 2010 that shows 2.82% net. Send me a private message including your email address if you would like a copy. The pdf is seven pages.

housesitter

Thanks neilsedaka.

So they have in fact sent out an email with a blatent lie.

Le73Uq86Uv

Thanks, neilsedaka.

h176

Received an e-mail (copy of a letter being sent in post today) from Head of Savings, re my request for a copy of the original e-savings advertisment.

'The offer we have made is a generous offer. At this stage we cannot see any value in entering into any further correspondence with you on this matter. It will not affect our decision in any way. Should the Financial Ombudsman Service contact us we will provide them with all the relevant material relating to the bonus offer.'

They could have simply attached the original advert to the e-mail. They therefore refuse to provide their advert to their customers......

"Helpful Banking"?!........

alanq

As indicated in post #21 the website net interest rate was incorrect for at least part of the day on which the account was launched.

I don't understand what NatWest hoped to gain from all this procrastination and denial. They should not have made ambiguous and incorrect statements but having done so they should have urgently made all of its staff aware and issued corrections to customers. Only 3 months later has an unsatisfactory email been sent. The brand has been damaged far more by the poor handling of complaints than the original incompetence. This account will be the last I will open with NatWest for a very long while.

"Why was the Net Interest Rate quoted in the ‘Important Information’ booklet wrong?...
Our website has always shown the correct interest rate."
http://www.natwest.com/global/esavings-bonus.ashx

Given that the section title refers to the net rate this statement is untrue. The website has always shown the correct *gross* interest rate.

I referred to the initial error in the Net interest rate on the website when complaining about the error in the printed book.

SnowMan

neilsedaka wrote: »

NatWest are incorrect in their assertion.

I made a print to pdf copy of the e-Savings information on the NatWest website on 29th September 2010 that shows 2.82% net. Send me a private message including your email address if you would like a copy. The pdf is seven pages.

Many thanks neilsedaka for emailing me that pdf.

As mentioned I am going to forward that onto the FSA pointing out that the pdf seems to suggest that Phil Sheehy has provided incorrect information in the email we have all received i.e. the incorrect net rate of 2.82% was on the website as well as in the printed material.

As those who have been following the thread will know I am in correspondence with the FSA (not the ombudsman) about the incorrect advertisement at the moment so it seems a good idea to forward this on in the hope that this will find its way to someone at the FSA who will look at this.

SimonM_2

D1zzy wrote: »

Just got this from them - so looks like you've all forced them to admit the error of their ways at last

Shortly after you opened your e-Savings account recently, we sent you a booklet entitled 'Important Information'. This contained the terms and conditions applying to your account including details of the interest rates. Unfortunately the booklet incorrectly quoted your net interest rate (applicable during the time the bonus interest rate applies) as 2.82% when this should have read 2.28%. (The net rate is the interest rate that you are paid after the deduction of income tax and this includes both your bonus rate and underlying interest rate). The net rate applicable to your account was quoted correctly on our website. This is what you would have seen before you applied to open your account.

Your gross rate of interest of 2.85% was quoted correctly within the booklet.

We'd like to apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused you and to reassure you that the interest you've received to date is correct. We'd also like to take the opportunity to give you some further clarification about your bonus and when it's paid.

Your bonus runs for 12 months

Your bonus would have started to accrue from the 15th day of the month following the month in which your account was opened. It is paid monthly for a full 12-month period. This means you will receive a bonus interest rate of 1.85% (gross) on top of the standard interest rate of 1% (gross), for 12 months.

But nothing about the 2.89% AER headline figure quoted on the website, which isn't achievable within the 12 month period from account opening and is therefore misleading.

Nothing about the incorrect AER rate printed in the leaflet (they have only noted the Net rate being wrong, and gone on to detail the bonus details, which were also wrong in the leaflet) which was listed as 2.88 when it should have read 2.89.

They don't have my email address, so I look forward to receiving a printed copy of this.

SimonM_2

h176 wrote: »

Received an e-mail (copy of a letter being sent in post today) from Head of Savings, re my request for a copy of the original e-savings advertisment.

'The offer we have made is a generous offer. At this stage we cannot see any value in entering into any further correspondence with you on this matter. It will not affect our decision in any way. Should the Financial Ombudsman Service contact us we will provide them with all the relevant material relating to the bonus offer.'

They could have simply attached the original advert to the e-mail. They therefore refuse to provide their advert to their customers......

"Helpful Banking"?!........

Ask them if that is their "final response", and if not, for them to issue you with the banks final response.

SimonM_2

alanq wrote: »

"Why was the Net Interest Rate quoted in the ‘Important Information’ booklet wrong?...
Our website has always shown the correct interest rate."
http://www.natwest.com/global/esavings-bonus.ashx

Given that the section title refers to the net rate this statement is untrue. The website has always shown the correct *gross* interest rate.

I referred to the initial error in the Net interest rate on the website when complaining about the error in the printed book.

Not only that, but it doesn't answer their own question "Why was the Net Interest Rate quoted in the ‘Important Information’ booklet wrong?"

And on top of that, why wasn't it checked and picked up by QA and the product manager before the information was issued to customers.

Why did NatWest continue to issue the wrong information to customers even after the issue had been raised to them via formal complaints.

Why has it taken so long for NatWest to admit their errors and notify customers of the issues.

What are NatWest doing to ensure that this can never happen again?