Nationwide - closing joint account

benjus

Since I separated from my wife I've been trying to close our joint Nationwide Flexaccount.

In the Stratford (London) branch they were pretty unhelpful and said I could drop off the form I'd already filled in (although it only had my signature on it). The form appears to have disappeared into the black hole of Nationwide head office.

Next I tried calling the customer service line and spoke to a "senior" advisor, who told me that I could not close the account without the other signature, and that the best they could do was to cancel the cards. He didn't seem to understand what I meant when I asked if I could freeze the account, even though I later discovered that is exactly what Nationwide's website suggests.

Anyway, in the end I went to the Eltham branch, where they seemed to know what they were doing and were actually helpful. The guy there muttered that this was the second time today that head office had given wrong advice, and that I could have just come in to close the account, and that cancelling the cards had complicated matters slightly. The computer wouldn't let him close it instantly as I had just withdrawn the few pennies left in the account, but he took my debit card and promised to do it tomorrow. Let's hope for the best...

So the moral of the story is - if you want something slightly out of the ordinary done, it's best to find a branch where they know what they are doing, have some leeway to bend the rules ("don't worry if you haven't got the chequebook - I'm sure we can trust you to destroy it if you find it") and are actually interested in helping the customer.

premierfella

Congratulations on finding one of the few branches (Eltham) in that area still open for business.

benjus

premierfella wrote: »

Congratulations on finding one of the few branches (Eltham) in that area still open for business.

Tell me about it - my local branch (Blackheath) closed along with the next two nearest (Lewisham and Greenwich).

What I really don't understand is why they don't have a branch in Canary Wharf - practically every other major financial institution is there, as are many thousands of customers. It would be much easier if I could go on my lunch break...

premierfella

benjus wrote: »

What I really don't understand is why they don't have a branch in Canary Wharf - practically every other major financial institution is there, as are many thousands of customers. It would be much easier if I could go on my lunch break...

You and me both. The Wharf does lack a mutual. Assuming the top brass in Swindon found Canary Wharf on their map, it must be a cost issue - maybe they think the ATM at the station covers it!