Nationwide - Not Happy At All.

Mr_Nigel

After reading all the good information on the site and forums for a while i thought I would sign up. So hello!

Im not happy with nationwide they have charged me

£20 for going over my agreed overdraft limit
£30 for a bounced direct debit.

Im spitting fire about this as it was in Sept and now i get charged on Nov 10th.

I had a agreed limit of £600 of which i went over but since the middle of september i have been within it and have been happily shrinking my overdraft down so this month i got down to about £400 but then got charged £50 in bank fees!

My confusion is this, i was charged £20 for going over my agreed limit , which they allowed me to do as i used my debit card and it was never declined, but when it came to the direct debit i was charged £30 as it would have taken me over my agreed limit!? how on earth does that make sense!? they obviously realised they could charge me again.

So armed with some valuable info i will be phoning them in the morning to put my point across and mention.

> I will be closing my account when the overdraft is cleared.
> They cant legally make the charges.

karatedragon

I got rid of Nationwide. I had no problems with charges but had other reasons.

Seems to me they are a bit over rated and dont really offer anything special these days you cant find elsewhere apart from a card you can use abroad for free. I have no passport so thats not really a selling point for me.

Alliance & Leicester look to be offering a decent current account at the mo

Mr_Nigel

Ill take a look at that thanks.

Im assuming if i was to get a new account i would need to be in credit they wouldnt transfer my current -£470 account.

karatedragon

well A&L are offering an interest free overdraft for a year i think it is so you can use that to pay off Nationwide and get rid of them

Hanxx

And 6.1% interest if you do go into credit. Plus, if you can get somebody to recommend you both you and they get an extra £50 a piece for the trouble. Well worth it!

chelle

Im assuming if i was to get a new account i would need to be in credit they wouldnt transfer my current -£470 account.


Alot of banks will match an overdraft facility for you to change with them.

I see A&L is recommended alot here, I was with them, but found there internet service really poor, and also got charged for going O/D even though Online it said I was not (there system is confusing)

Now with First Direct, there online service IMO is excellent, and you get £50 for opening an account with them

Chelle

JohnPeard

If you have your payment slip, cheque whether there is an authorization number. You can then ring the bank and tell them that it was not an 'unauthorzied o/d'.

Interesting to hear the reply !!

KTF

Mr_Nigel wrote:

Im assuming if i was to get a new account i would need to be in credit they wouldnt transfer my current -£470 account.

A&L wont match your existing overdraft unless you can prove that its been in credit over the past 3 months. By default (and depending on your score) they give you around £300 0% one for a year

MPH80

I notice no one has yet pointed out that, even if you switch, your new bank is probably going to treat any breaches of your overdraft or bounced payments in the same way.

The best way to avoid these charges is to control your finances yourself. Everyone has all the tools they need nowadays. You can check your balance online, get mini-statements from an ATM, even go into the branch and ask!

M.

Voyager2002

Mr_Nigel wrote:

Im spitting fire about this as it was in Sept and now i get charged on Nov 10th.

Presumably they told you at the time, and warned you when the charges would be applied.

At one time, bank charges were applied immediately, taking people into the red and triggering a further round of bank charges. So it was good for customers that they started delaying when the charge was taken, giving an opportunity to put some more money in to avoid getting deeper into the red.

Voyager2002

Mr_Nigel wrote:

My confusion is this, i was charged £20 for going over my agreed limit , which they allowed me to do as i used my debit card and it was never declined, but when it came to the direct debit i was charged £30 as it would have taken me over my agreed limit!? how on earth does that make sense!? they obviously realised they could charge me again.

So armed with some valuable info i will be phoning them in the morning to put my point across and mention.

> I will be closing my account when the overdraft is cleared.
> They cant legally make the charges.

Well, don't tell them that you are going to close the account, since then they will have no reason to be helpful. A better tactic would be to sound apologetic, mention that you are confused about the use of your debit card, and ask them to waive the fee "on this occasion". If this is your first penalty I expect them to be helpful.

In my experience Nationwide offer better service than most banks. In particular, they are much better than A and L.