Natwest: Unhelpful Banking

ICan'tStandIt

Whenever I see the Natwest's "Helpful Banking" advert I feel like vomiting as it's not representative of any of the branches I have been too.

My local branch is staffed by people I would best describe as miserable 'jobs-worths' and the branch itself probably hasn't seen fresh paint in about twenty years.

The Natwest call-centres maybe in the UK, but their staff don't seem to know anything beyond their own name.

Although changing banks can be a hassle, I would like to go somewhere else.

Anyone care to recommend me a bank ?

Saints2011

I personally like Lloyds TSB but that's my opinion.

First direct is a popular choice and Santander not so popular it depends on what your looking for.

jackjones01

ICan'tStandIt wrote: »

Whenever I see the Natwest's "Helpful Banking" advert I feel like vomiting as it's not representative of any of the branches I have been too.

My local branch is staffed by people I would best describe as miserable 'jobs-worths' and the branch itself probably hasn't seen fresh paint in about twenty years.

The Natwest call-centres maybe in the UK, but their staff don't seem to know anything beyond their own name.

Although changing banks can be a hassle, I would like to go somewhere else.

Anyone care to recommend me a bank ?

I would love to know what Natwest staff think about certain customers :rotfl:

Paul_01

I agree completely.

I have recently returned to the UK, having lived abroad for over 10 years. One of the first tasks was to get my personal banking set up. I opened 3 current accounts over the telephone with HSBC, LLoyds and Natwest.

It was interesting to compare the way I was treated by each bank and how smooth or otherwise the account opening process was, for what was essentially exactly the same process.

HSBC were excellent. Very professional on the phone, knowledgable and helpful. Account was approved with a modest overdraft facility, together with a credit card. Popped into the branch with the i.d etc and accounts were opened.

Lloyds were good. Ok over the phone, but excellent in branch - very friendly and helpful. Account opened with modest o/d.

Natwest went from poor on the phone to worse in branch. Account opened and told that o/d facility would be applied when I went into branch with i.d and to sign for the account. I went for the Advantage Gold account as I (foolishly) was going to use this as my main account.

As I was new back in the UK, my address documents were limited so on each application I stressed this and asked them to confirm that what I has was sufficient. HSBC and Lloyds were fine, Natwest wanted an extra address proof despite telling me on the phone that 1 (plus my passport) would be sufficient. So a trip to the Natwest branch was a complete waste of time.

Then, the welcome pack arrived from Natwest confirming what i.d I needed to take into branch, and it was the same as I'd be told in branch - i.e. passport plus 1 address proof. With this I went to Natwest again - I didn't show them the letter as I wanted to see if they would say the same again about the second address proof. This time a quite surly staff member sat me down in a room and promptly disappeared for 20 mins. She came back with some docs to sign and said my account was open.

I asked about the o/d to be told that she would need to wait 24 hours for the account to show on their system! I asked that if there was an issue with the o/d that I would like the account downgraded as I wouldn't be using it as my main account. She took my number and promised to call me the next day. Not heard from her since.

About a week later I was in the local town so decided to nip in to my local Natwest and see what was happening. I asked to speak with the Manager regarding a complaint. Having explained the issues in detail to a member of staff she then decided to get the Manager. Nice guy, listened to me and agreed that it wasn't a very good first impression and he would look into it and let me know the outcome. That was a week ago. I still have the Advantage Gold account, still no o/d facility and a complete lack of comms from them.

HSBC or First Direct would be who I would recommend.

Rupert_Bear

Paul_01 wrote: »

I agree completely.

I have recently returned to the UK, having lived abroad for over 10 years. One of the first tasks was to get my personal banking set up. I opened 3 current accounts over the telephone with HSBC, LLoyds and Natwest.

It was interesting to compare the way I was treated by each bank and how smooth or otherwise the account opening process was, for what was essentially exactly the same process.

HSBC were excellent. Very professional on the phone, knowledgable and helpful. Account was approved with a modest overdraft facility, together with a credit card. Popped into the branch with the i.d etc and accounts were opened.

Lloyds were good. Ok over the phone, but excellent in branch - very friendly and helpful. Account opened with modest o/d.

Natwest went from poor on the phone to worse in branch. Account opened and told that o/d facility would be applied when I went into branch with i.d and to sign for the account. I went for the Advantage Gold account as I (foolishly) was going to use this as my main account.

As I was new back in the UK, my address documents were limited so on each application I stressed this and asked them to confirm that what I has was sufficient. HSBC and Lloyds were fine, Natwest wanted an extra address proof despite telling me on the phone that 1 (plus my passport) would be sufficient. So a trip to the Natwest branch was a complete waste of time.

Then, the welcome pack arrived from Natwest confirming what i.d I needed to take into branch, and it was the same as I'd be told in branch - i.e. passport plus 1 address proof. With this I went to Natwest again - I didn't show them the letter as I wanted to see if they would say the same again about the second address proof. This time a quite surly staff member sat me down in a room and promptly disappeared for 20 mins. She came back with some docs to sign and said my account was open.

I asked about the o/d to be told that she would need to wait 24 hours for the account to show on their system! I asked that if there was an issue with the o/d that I would like the account downgraded as I wouldn't be using it as my main account. She took my number and promised to call me the next day. Not heard from her since.

About a week later I was in the local town so decided to nip in to my local Natwest and see what was happening. I asked to speak with the Manager regarding a complaint. Having explained the issues in detail to a member of staff she then decided to get the Manager. Nice guy, listened to me and agreed that it wasn't a very good first impression and he would look into it and let me know the outcome. That was a week ago. I still have the Advantage Gold account, still no o/d facility and a complete lack of comms from them.

HSBC or First Direct would be who I would recommend.

Im not surpised there is no overdraft with Natwest. If I were a bank then alarm bells would not start ringing very loudly.

You have just returned to this country and you are going around to various bank opening accounts and bagging what overdraft you can get.

You could have easily opened extra accounts with just one bank. I take it the reason you did not do this was because you want to get as many overdraft facilities as possible.

Paul_01

Couldn't be further from the truth RB.

Complete overhaul in terms of location, finances, selling of business overseas etc etc......I understand that I am likely to have very little if any credit history having been away for so long, so I wanted to build some history with 2 or 3 banks. I only mentioned the o/d facility as Natwest are the only one of the three to give incorrect info on application.

My post was not about o/d's, it was in reply to the OP's issues with customer service.

FOREVER21

Regardless of why you have trawled through the banks and opened accounts, have you stopped to think of the entries on your search history credit file?
Don't be surprised if a future request for a loan etc . is declined.:(

Paul_01

Thanks for the concern, but I doubt very much that this will be an issue.

libra10

We have also gained a poor impression of Nat West with the transfer of an ISA.

My OH wanted to transfer a fixed rate ISA from Nationwide to gain Nat West's 3.7% rate for 2 years.

We went into town intending to pick up forms to fill in and post when completed. Should have been easy, instead the person we spoke to wanted to fill in as much as he could and as we didn't have OHs national insurance number, he phoned later that day and we gave him required information.

The staff member would send out forms which had to be fully completed and returned to our local branch by 28th December. They only arrived on this date and we called in branch and had OHs (very old) driving licence copied, along with utility bill for ID purposes. The assistant was sending this off to Head Office (I presume), and we were expecting to receive new account details within 2 - 3 weeks.

As the Nationwide fixed rate bond was finishing around the 9th January, we presumed we wouldn't lose much interest on the transfer.

We were more than surprised around 2 to 3 weeks later when someone from Nat West phoned and said that the driving licence ID wasn't clear enough and to take into our local branch for verification.

We attended an appointment and because the surname was (admittedly) unclear, all the rest perfect, he wanted OH to call again with a pensions letter or similar. This meant another trip, which OH complied with.

They also didn't have details of the Nationwide account number etc. which we had taken into local branch during December. And to cap it all they would not allow the 3.7% rate, which was reduced to 3.5%, Granted, not a huge decrease, but it's the principal. Why it should take so long to discover OHs driving licence wasn't clear enough shows sheer incompetence, and I don't think they deserve any more of our business.

stclair

Paul_01 wrote: »

Thanks for the concern, but I doubt very much that this will be an issue.

You wouldn't have got an overdraft unless you could have provided bank statements from your bank account aboard.

Paul_01

They didn't ask for them. Neither did Lloyds or HSBC for that matter.

The point isn't about overdrafts, its about the awful customer service from Natwest. I'm sure there are lots of decent members of staff, but overall my experience of the bank is that its staff are very poorly trained and not very motivated, it seems, to be that helpful.

I have never banked with them before, nor Lloyds for that matter, and my experience across a number of contacts with 4 or 5 staff members of staff wasn't great. It was a simple procedure, to open a current account....I am glad it wasn't something more complex.