Natwest/RBS 2.85% esaver

Devonjem

SimonM - Ok so they want to treat my case differently. I wonder if it has to do with the amount of the deposit - I deposited a large amount.

As they are attempting to vary the rate for me, they have implicitly admitted that the contractually binding initial net rate was indeed 2.82%. They have not given a reason for the change, which they must do, so I expect they will say it was an error. The issue then becomes whether a party to a contract can avoid misrepresentation by simply serving notice to change a term. That seems wrong to me, particularly in the case where parties do not have equal bargaining power.

SimonM_2

Devonjem wrote: »

SimonM - Ok so they want to treat my case differently. I wonder if it has to do with the amount of the deposit - I deposited a large amount.

I doubt it has anything to do with the amount (mine was also what I'd consider a large amount) and more that NatWest fail repeatedly to treat complaints "fairly and consistently" as they claim they will, and simply apply one rule for one and another for everyone else, without any real link between one case and another. That's one of the issues that the FSA picked up on in their damning report of NatWest/RBS's multiple failures when they were fined recently, that the complaints handling staff were not always aware of the outcome of investigations and so were giving differing information to people who had complaints. They even contradict themselves in letters to one customer, so no surprise they give completely differing advice and findings to different customers, if we didn't know better you'd think it was intentional...

T2010

I've just spoken to Natwest customer services on the phone and they said the e-savings account no longer pay any bonus! I said I thought it applied to any account opened during the offer period towards the back end of last year (and then for 12 months). Their response was it stopped paying the bonus rate from 31st January 2011!

Can anyone confirm this?

T2010

More info. Spoke to their chat advisor on the nw website. This information is WRONG. The accounts still pay a bonus!

oramgepekoe

T2010 wrote: »

I've just spoken to Natwest customer services on the phone and they said the e-savings account no longer pay any bonus! I said I thought it applied to any account opened during the offer period towards the back end of last year (and then for 12 months). Their response was it stopped paying the bonus rate from 31st January 2011!

Can anyone confirm this?

They could have been referring to a different Natwest esaver account. There have been several, and confusingly they've all been called esaver.

One of my esavers that's been open a few years did have its bonus removed at end of Jan 2011. Its interest rate was 2.43%. Natwest did write about a month ago to remind me the bonus would be removed, although they didn't put the account number on the letter so I had to check my records to work out which account they meant.

alanq

oramgepekoe wrote: »

There have been several, and confusingly they've all been called esaver.

Despite the title of this thread, the account paying 2.89% AER launched on 29th September 2010 and the account currently on offer are called e-Savings not eSaver. I don't know what previous issues were called.

SnowMan

Have received another holding letter from the FSA about my complaint that they refused to take evidence on and act on the Natwest misleading advertisement.

A development that might stop a Natwest fiasco happening again is that HM Treasury have published a paper (that is a link to HM Treasury website) on the proposed changes to consumer protection.

Interestingly in relation to financial advertisements the proposal is that the FCA (who will take over from the FSA in protecting consumers) will be given powers to force immediate withdrawal of advertisements such as the misleading Natwest one. I quote the relevant section below:-

New power to direct firms to withdraw misleading financial promotions

[FONT=&quot]4.82 The Government agrees with stakeholders that greater visibility of the regulator’s actions and decisions in relation to misleading financial promotions will increase confidence in the FCA’s ability to protect consumers and increase regulatory accountability, and that greater transparency around misleading promotions will engender better practice across the industry by making firms’ misconduct more visible. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]4.83 The Government will therefore legislate to give the FCA a new power to direct a firm to withdraw or amend misleading financial promotions with immediate effect, and to publish the fact that it has done so...................

[/FONT]

SimonM_2

I appear to have had £100 paid in to my account today by NatWest, no doubt I'll find out more when I receive a letter from them, although I still want my Final Response and will be taking it further.

SimonM_2

Can MSE forum members confirm what they see when you go to the following pages:

Go to the NatWest website (www.natwest.com), scroll down the page and click on "Website terms & conditions and FSCS", this brings up a page listing some PDF documents - just after the (very out dated message about them being updated in 2008).

* Click the first PDF document, and scroll down to the bottom of the page, what date does it show?

I'm seeing 4 January 2011 (these are the old T&C's which were replaced Feb 1st 2011)

* Click the third PDF document, and scroll down to the bottom of the page, what date does it show? (carefully check the year)

I'm seeing 1 February 2010 - the date doesn't seem to be a typo as I originally thought, it's a really old document with the old T&C section numbers (compare the Interest section [10 in this document] with section 11 in the current terms and conditions), this old document gives completely differing information from what applies to customers, a higher level of days for interest rate notification on non-payment accounts, and totally misleading information about overdrafs (as changes to overdrafts came in to effect on Feb 1st 2011)

Go to the Savings section of the website (or Current Account, it doesn't matter), scroll down to the bottom of the left hand menu, click on Terms and Conditions. This brings up a page which links to the terms and conditions.

* Click the PDF document link, scroll down to the bottom, what date does it show?

I'm seeing 24 February 2011 (...it's only the 20th of February today)

All three documents are the same thing in effect, the T&C's, the Fees and Interest, and the Commitment to You. However the current document which came in to effect on February 1st 2011 isn't on their website (it was as I have a saved copy of it from earlier this month).

Considering I've had a long running complaint with NatWest from the summer of 2010 about T&C documents on their website, which they are completly disputing they are/were in the wrong, I feel this completely backs up my complaint and proves yet again that NatWest are failing their customers.

rb10

SimonM wrote: »

Can MSE forum members confirm what they see when you go to the following pages:

[cut]

Can confirm that I see exactly the same as you do with regards to the dates of the documents.

Doesn't really surprise though; this is Natwest that we are dealing with, after all. Not known for being particularly competent at anything.