NatWest (merged)

smudgemanc26

trubster wrote: »

0800 working, I am on hold, they have a special option for charge complaints! lol

Yeah i was on hold for 20+ mins before i would try the 0845 number if i were you. (im soooooo sick of hearing that cheesy music) :rotfl:

trubster

I aint payin 5p per minute to be on hold! lol, I think natwest have already stole enough off me (See sig)

timewilltell_2

smudgemanc26 wrote: »

Thats the same with me i have till the 17th to start my mcol proceedings however i dont have the money to do that either! I am going away on th 22nd and havent got a penny really, someone crashed into my car n drove off had to pay the excess of over £200 to get if fixed, my tax and insurance and due and it needs a service!! Everything just seems to happen at once. All i just need is my letter to come through my door so i can maybe get the money in my account before i go and have a better time on hols without worrying about money. Its no good if it turns up later i wont be happy as its taken so long now :mad:

I hope we both get some good news this week (fingers crossed)

i keep hoping that i will get the money before i go, but i doubt it... don't feel deflated, you r having a rough time, but just think...... it WON'T be long and that money WILL be in the bank, and then we will both be:beer:
good luck and i really hope you get your good news soon x

smudgemanc26

timewilltell wrote: »

i keep hoping that i will get the money before i go, but i doubt it... don't feel deflated, you r having a rough time, but just think...... it WON'T be long and that money WILL be in the bank, and then we will both be:beer:
good luck and i really hope you get your good news soon x

Awww thanks i hope you do too and my advice is carry on with your fight even though they have promised your offer i think if you have the money then proceed with your claim. I think if i dont get mine so as soon as the 14 days is up i am going to borrow the money just so i can get them back! :j

Jen x

brightonman_2

Since this thread is aimed specifically at NatWest customers, I thought I'd add my experience so far, in case anyone finds it useful.

I'm claiming unfair charges back on two bank accounts. The first claim is for £1,757.98 on an account that I closed back in March 2002. The second is on an account that is still open, and amounts to a whopping £4,874.51. Both these amounts include the interest allowed by the courts which I was able to calculate using the incredibly useful calculator on this site (thank you Martin).

I tried the 'softly softly' approach at first. I began by contacting my business manager locally by telephone, but he advised me to put everything in writing, which I did on 14th March 2007, and sent to him by Recorded Delivery. He then advised me that he had forwarded my letter to Customer Services in Borehamwood.

I should point out, by the way, that as I run a business, I had kept all the relevant bank statements in the normal course of doing my business accounts, so I didn't need to request copies. This certainly saved time.

Two weeks went by without a murmur from NatWest, so I sent another letter, which I titled "Letter before action" direct to Customer Services on 2nd April, again by Recorded Delivery. This letter is one of those you can find online on the Consumer Action Group site. I liked it because, whilst remaining legalistic, it has a nice tone of "look, I'm really disappointed that you would treat a long-term customer like this", which I hoped might do the trick. (I've banked with NatWest since 1991.) With this, I also sent highlighted copies of all the relevant bank statements and a list of all the disputed charges on both accounts.

Their response?

Silence.

So, about a month had passed, and I was starting to get really p*ssed off. In fact, the act of investigating the charges I had paid NatWest over the years had made me really angry. I'm self-employed, and as anyone running a small business knows, it can be hard enough coping with cashflow problems and late-paying customers, without the high street banks bullying you with punitive bank charges.

In fact, I uncovered several instances of being charged a great deal more than the original 'offending' direct debit or standing order had been: and some one-off charges had been as high as £120!! (No, I'm not kidding.) In October 2001, on one account alone I was charged no less than £350! It appears that certain bank managers over the years had the power to impose entirely arbitrary, punitive fees on their customers, something which I view as financial piracy of the worst kind.

And NatWest always advertise that they offer "...another way." Yeah, right. I only wish that I'd realised I had the right to stand up against them years ago.

So, having heard nothing -- not even an acknowledgement of my existence, let alone the courtesy of a proper reply -- from NatWest, and having read about the experiences of others both here and elsewhere, I decided to try the MoneyClaimOnline site.

Well, that was simplicity itself. Having carefully drafted the wording of my claims offline, I simply copied and pasted into the appropriate forms on their site, and within a day or two I could see that my claim had been accepted, and the clock was running.

Please note that I divided the amount owed to me into two, separate claims, because added together, they exceed the £5,000 threshold of the Small Claims procedure. I'm not sure if anyone else here has done this, but it seemed the right thing to do as the amounts refer to two, separate bank accounts.

I made the claims online on the afternoon of 18th April 2007. The claims were accepted on 19th. I had to get my head around the fact that you must then allow an interval of 5 days for the claim to be 'served' before the clock starts ticking for the defendants (NatWest).

So, with a bit of calculation, I reckoned that it would be about, well, today that I could go back to the MoneyClaim site and ask for a default judgement to be issued in my favour.

Ah, but guess what NatWest have done, bless 'em?

That's right: at the 11th hour, they've sent in an Acknowledgement to the court. This means that the time they are allowed has been extended by a further 14 days, meaning that it will now be 22nd May before I can ask the court to get my money back for me. And of course, in the meantime, they could still enter a defence and try to prolong this even further. On the evidence so far, that wouldn't surprise me one little bit.

However, I am utterly determined to get my money back off these scoundrels. If they hadn't levied such preposterous charges from my accounts, it's clear that my personal financial position, and that of one of my businesses, would have been far less shaky. The money they took from me could have been used to pay off other credit cards and loans, or even invested. And I might even have been able to take the occasional modest holiday!

If there's anyone else out there who has been at this stage, I'd love to hear what happened to you. All I can say to anyone who hasn't reached this stage yet is that I'm trying to stay calm and focused on the fact that it's MY money and I want it back, however long it takes. I'm a military history enthusiast, and a voice in my head keeps saying, "steady, the Buffs." If it goes on much longer, I'll be singing "Men of Harlech" like the redcoats in "Zulu".

You can feel very small and insignificant and alone in this situation, facing up to the might of a multi-billion pound organisation. But thanks to sites like this, you know that actually, you're not alone at all.

I hope this has helped someone, and I'll keep you posted with what happens next...

jonun

hi all,

I was wondering why the FO told me today that they cannot intervene untill it has gone past the 56 day mark

I was wondering if anybody would know why as some have been succesful in getting them involved before the 56 day mark??
do you think it could be a new policy?

Its just that my 2nd letter 14 days is up on thursday and really wanted their help rather than go through MCOL..as it scares me to death courts and stuff..but looks like il have to..il be brave!!

sorry to go on i think ive been a bit of a pain today but just got sick of natwest telling me something new each time i rang!!

thanks for listening

frugalpam

Reading back through today's posts (been out at work all day) I can see how stressed out some of you are, phoning the bank and getting different tales each time you speak to someone. I tried phoning once or twice early on in my claim, and also got different stories each time. It's a bit like day to day banking - no one person or even branch handles your account any more. I'd suspect extra staff have been drafted in to help on the 'helpline' number and it's debatable they even check your account details when they make these sweeping claims about what's been done/what they're going to offer, etc. You really can't have any confidence that they're going to do what they say - and how can you prove a conversation took place if following up a call in writing? They don't seem to update their computers too often with claim details!
My advice - to avoid this stress - is to stick to writing letters in the timescales recommended, sending them recorded delivery, and not speaking to the bank. Since I've taken that line, I've found the whole thing a lot less stressful.
Still waiting to see if Cobbetts send me one of their intimidating letters - I've got my reply drafted ready! :rotfl:
Keep at it folks - you'll almost certainly get all your money back.

Pam

jonun

frugalpam wrote: »

Reading back through today's posts (been out at work all day) I can see how stressed out some of you are, phoning the bank and getting different tales each time you speak to someone. I tried phoning once or twice early on in my claim, and also got different stories each time. It's a bit like day to day banking - no one person or even branch handles your account any more. I'd suspect extra staff have been drafted in to help on the 'helpline' number and it's debatable they even check your account details when they make these sweeping claims about what's been done/what they're going to offer, etc. You really can't have any confidence that they're going to do what they say - and how can you prove a conversation took place if following up a call in writing? They don't seem to update their computers too often with claim details!
My advice - to avoid this stress - is to stick to writing letters in the timescales recommended, sending them recorded delivery, and not speaking to the bank. Since I've taken that line, I've found the whole thing a lot less stressful.
Still waiting to see if Cobbetts send me one of their intimidating letters - I've got my reply drafted ready! :rotfl:
Keep at it folks - you'll almost certainly get all your money back.

Pam

THANKS
i totally agree!! after todays carry on im not ringing them anymore!
I foung myself getting totally stressed out and i dont need it at 5 months pregnant.
Today on the telephone 5 times to them was a joke..
I agree with you save your sanity..keep all correspondence via post.
good luck

Katie~baby

smudgemanc26 wrote: »

Did you ring natwest directly cos everytime i ring up i get the same story an offer has been made but they have 8 weeks to respond and thats up on the 18th may so should have something by then. Nothing more nothing less i just want to know if my letter has been sent cos im sure my postman has gone on strike ive had no mail for 2 days (thats not normal i normally get lots of crap and bills through the post!) now im waiting for something nothing turns up - its sods law!

Ive already had an offer letter and sent it back. I called the 0800 number. They fobbed me everytime i called and when they had 2 weeks left i asked the woman realistically did she think an offer was going to be made within the 2 weeks she said she couldnt say as they were so busy so i told her i was going to the FO had a veral offer over the phoe on friday adn letter on saturday.

They do say 10 days for the money to be in the account so they have until friday then im contacting the FO again.

fowler_2

Hi, sorry about this, just joined the forums today and would prefer not to trawl through 150 pages to get my answers, so could anyone help with the following ? : Have you used the standard letter on this website for asking Natwest to work out how much they owe you or have you gone through all your statements ? If anyone has used the standard letter on this website have they had a response or do they just send you your statements ? Also does one letter and £10 cover all your accounts or do you have to make a request per account ? Have you opened up a parachute account and switched over all your direct debits etc before trying to get your money back and have Natwest closed your accounts for trying this ?

Thanks in advance ! Sorry for being so lazy !