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Nationwide problem, complaint online ignored
salop
Posts: 15 Forumite
October 2009 Nationwide offered £50 reward for those agreeing to let Nationwide transfer Direct Debits to Nationwide flexaccount from another bank. I took up the offer.
The transfer process was a nightmare quite contrary to Nationwide's assertion that 93% of customers found the transfer ran smoothly. I found it did not! I had to contact Gas Electric Water O2 TV licensing myself. They said Nationwide had not given them new account details. I lodged a complaint online.
Nationwide refused to clarify I would not receive the £50 reward, although I asked several times when I would receive it. All correspondence is recorded in their online messenger service.
It was not until early 2010 on completion of the transfer they said I was not eligible as I had no Debit Card with them! I felt tricked as I held a Debit Card with the bank I transfered from
and had held a Nationwide Debit Card some years previously. The reward offer stipulated "Must hold a Nationwide Debit Card or be eligible to hold one".
Too late, in August my debit card was renewed, apparently having had to serve a probationary period! Having held my Nationwide flexaccount for twenty years, albiet in credit but seldom used, as my banking had been conducted elsewhere.
I wonder how many others were duped in a similar way? I bet new non-Nationwide custom transfered over to get the reward ok!
In January mobile-firm O2 took a Direct Debit sum they were not entitled to. Using my internet account secure message service I requested Nationwide refund this under the DD Guarantee rules. In all I repeated this request five times over several weeks, only to meet spurious reasons for refusal. As a last resort I reported Nationwide abuse of the Guarantee rules to BACS who confirmed Nationwide were in breach of their rules.
I was offered £100 compensation for the BACS "mistake" but wanted the Ombudsman to also review Nationwide conduct of the shoddy DD transfers, the £50 reward trick as well as the BACS affair.
In the event the Ombusman closed the case in August but only upheld the £100 BACS compensation saying the other complaints were too difficult to prove conclusively. I am still in November waiting for Nationwide to honour the Ombudsman decision.
18th October I used the secure messaging service to lodge a complaint. Since then despite a further 8 messages Nationwide have ignored all of them. I emailed GJ Beale their Chief Executive over a week ago, hoping the recorded messages would be scrutinised, but have had no response. The Ombudsman phoned me two days ago to say he was concerned and to let him know if Nationwide continued to ignore his decision!
It is now over a month since I lodged my first complaint 18 October. Nationwide have not even the courtesy to say they are looking into it despite saying messages are normally responded to within two days!
I am disheartened to find Nationwide online service is so disfunctional. I only hope no other customer has received this sort of treatment! :mad:
The transfer process was a nightmare quite contrary to Nationwide's assertion that 93% of customers found the transfer ran smoothly. I found it did not! I had to contact Gas Electric Water O2 TV licensing myself. They said Nationwide had not given them new account details. I lodged a complaint online.
Nationwide refused to clarify I would not receive the £50 reward, although I asked several times when I would receive it. All correspondence is recorded in their online messenger service.
It was not until early 2010 on completion of the transfer they said I was not eligible as I had no Debit Card with them! I felt tricked as I held a Debit Card with the bank I transfered from
and had held a Nationwide Debit Card some years previously. The reward offer stipulated "Must hold a Nationwide Debit Card or be eligible to hold one".
Too late, in August my debit card was renewed, apparently having had to serve a probationary period! Having held my Nationwide flexaccount for twenty years, albiet in credit but seldom used, as my banking had been conducted elsewhere.
I wonder how many others were duped in a similar way? I bet new non-Nationwide custom transfered over to get the reward ok!
In January mobile-firm O2 took a Direct Debit sum they were not entitled to. Using my internet account secure message service I requested Nationwide refund this under the DD Guarantee rules. In all I repeated this request five times over several weeks, only to meet spurious reasons for refusal. As a last resort I reported Nationwide abuse of the Guarantee rules to BACS who confirmed Nationwide were in breach of their rules.
I was offered £100 compensation for the BACS "mistake" but wanted the Ombudsman to also review Nationwide conduct of the shoddy DD transfers, the £50 reward trick as well as the BACS affair.
In the event the Ombusman closed the case in August but only upheld the £100 BACS compensation saying the other complaints were too difficult to prove conclusively. I am still in November waiting for Nationwide to honour the Ombudsman decision.
18th October I used the secure messaging service to lodge a complaint. Since then despite a further 8 messages Nationwide have ignored all of them. I emailed GJ Beale their Chief Executive over a week ago, hoping the recorded messages would be scrutinised, but have had no response. The Ombudsman phoned me two days ago to say he was concerned and to let him know if Nationwide continued to ignore his decision!
It is now over a month since I lodged my first complaint 18 October. Nationwide have not even the courtesy to say they are looking into it despite saying messages are normally responded to within two days!
I am disheartened to find Nationwide online service is so disfunctional. I only hope no other customer has received this sort of treatment! :mad:
0
Comments
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It was not until early 2010 on completion of the transfer they said I was not eligible as I had no Debit Card with them! I felt tricked as I held a Debit Card with the bank I transfered from and had held a Nationwide Debit Card some years previously. The reward offer stipulated "Must hold a Nationwide Debit Card or be eligible to hold one".
They made this entirely clear when they advertised the £50 offer. Before going through with the offer, you will have agreed to the T&Cs, which include:4. This offer is open to FlexAccount customers that hold or are eligible for debit cards on their FlexAccount and are registered with the Internet Bank (‘qualifying customers’). This offer is not available to customers with a Cash Card Account or FlexAccount with only a chequebook and cash card/cheque guarantee card.
They can't make it much clearer, can they?Too late, in August my debit card was renewed, apparently having had to serve a probationary period! Having held my Nationwide flexaccount for twenty years, albiet in credit but seldom used, as my banking had been conducted elsewhere.
No idea what your point is here. But Nationwide will offer you either a cashcard (now 'Cashcard +') or a Visa Debit card based on their assessment of your circumstances. If you hadn't been using the account much, then (to them) it looks as though you have a limited income, and so are probably a higher risk. Hence the more limited card.I bet new non-Nationwide custom transfered over to get the reward ok!
Only where the customer was eligible for a debit card.
So in summary - I believe that you have no reason at all to be upset with Nationwide over the £50 switching offer. The only fault lies with you, for not reading the T&Cs that you agreed to.
But the DD issue ... that's a different story.The Ombudsman phoned me two days ago to say he was concerned and to let him know if Nationwide continued to ignore his decision!
And when you said that Nationwide had still not paid, what did the Ombudsman say? Will they be helping you to pursue it?0 -
Well RB10 Having already asked 26 Nov when the £50 reward would be paid. I was expecting a direct answer in plain English "You do/don't qualify.The reason is---" I was again given an answer open to interpretation!
>
salop to Nationwide
Thank you for your reply,
OK I am continuing to monitor both accounts which I thought by now I would not need to do. I will also now phone my Elect and Gas supplier to ask why they seem to have ignored your transfer of Direct Debits. However you still have not answered when I am to be rewarded with the £50 promised for agreeing to do this transfer.
salop
17 December 2009 received
Thank you for your message.
I can confirm that your account transfer was completed on the 20/11/2009. If the criteria for the terms and conditions have been met, you will be credited with the £50, 6-8 weeks after this date
Regards
#######
Customer Advisor
Hinges around interpretation of "eligible" RB10. As I held a Debit Card with the bank I was transferring from I had no reason to think "eligibiliy" would be an issue. I had expected an explicit answer! Most customers viewing this Customer Adviser's response would see it as hopeful.
Also the confirmation that transfer was completed 20 Nov was untrue. I had to contact several companies who said they had received no details from Nationwide. Elect & Gas were unaware of the transfer 17 December when I phoned them after sending the above message and there were other payees equally in the dark.
The Ombudsman says he has spoken recently to Nationwide about the BACS compensation he upheld and to report if they continue to ignore his decision!0 -
17 December 2009 received
Thank you for your message.
I can confirm that your account transfer was completed on the 20/11/2009. If the criteria for the terms and conditions have been met, you will be credited with the £50, 6-8 weeks after this date
Regards
#######
Customer Advisor
As the T&Cs (as quoted in my first post) have clearly not been met, then this message quite clearly states that £50 will not be credited to your account.0 -
Experience is a wonderful thing, it helps you recognise the same mistake when you make it again! Most of us RB are fooled by jargonese and prefer simple plain English!
Moving on - Nationwide say they attend to messages within two days. If you have a problem talk to your bank. Sadly as you see below Nationwide are not communicative.
18 October 2010
The Financial Ombudsman says he reviewed my complaint about Nationwide breaching BACS rules and on 28th August upheld the £100 compensation offered. Can you please explain why so far you have not complied with his ruling?
22 October 2010
I am waiting for a reply to my complaint of 18 Oct 2010. It is polite to at least acknowledge it is being attended to.
04 November 2010
I am waiting for a reply to my complaint of 18 Oct 2010. It is polite to at least acknowledge it is being attended to.
08 November 2010
I am waiting for a reply to my complaint of 18 Oct 2010. It is polite to at least acknowledge it is being attended to.
11 November 2010
I am waiting for a reply to my complaint of 18 Oct 2010. It is polite to at least acknowledge it is being attended to. I also note today you have taken down all three accounts so I am unable to check them online. May I have an explanation please!
12 November 2010
Unique Tracking Number: 3398010
Dear Member, Thank you for your message.
After contacting our Credit Card Services Department, I was advised that the credit card mentioned in your missing accounts message, has been converted into a new credit card. Your account should be viewable in the next 3-5 working days; this allows time for our systems to fully update.
Please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
On the 11 November 2010, the internet bank was experiencing some technical issues displaying account balances. I can confirm that this fault in now resolved and the system is operating normally. If you are still unable to view all your accounts today, please submit a new Missing Accounts Form so we can investigate this further. We would like to take this opportunity to apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Regards, Internet Services Nationwide.
Please note that this message has been generated automatically. If this response does not answer your enquiry, please reply to this message ensuring that you leave the Unique Tracking Number in place. This will ensure that you do not receive any further automated responses. We will then arrange for your enquiry to be answered by a member of our Internet Services team.
12 November 2010 Unique Tracking Number: 3398010
Well if you really are an automaton you seem to have made a blunder. As you see above in my original report I said "THREE" accounts were missing not just my credit card account. Perhaps you can chivey up one of the humans apparently over-working you whilst having a nap to respond to my complaint of 18 Oct 2010 in reference to the decision made by the Ombudsman. I would also appreciate an apology as it will soon be a month since I sent it!
16 November 2010
I have now taken this complaint further since you clearly do not intend to respond. I have asked your chief exec GJ Beale to investigate.
20 November 2010
I have now taken this complaint further since you clearly do not intend to respond. I have asked your chief exec GJ Beale to investigate. Congrats over a month has now passed since 18th Oct. This is complaint No 8 since then without any acknowledgement. I have also heard from the Ombudsman who will be investigating.
30 Nov 2010 COMPLAINT RESOLVED. It has taken a long time. Nationwide Member Relations wrote:
"After a previous complaint was forwarded to the Financial Ombudsman service, I am pleased to confirm a cheque for £100 will be sent in the next couple of days. You are right we have let you down by not responding to your messages and I would like to offer you £50 for your inconvenience."
So at last this brings resolution. Probably emailing Nationwide's Chief Exec chiveyed things up. Moral of this tale is, with banks, never give up !
To all on MoneySaving forum, have a nice Christmas, salop0
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