Sticking with Natwest?

littlemissbossy

.I've banked with NatWest for 24 years, this is the first issue I've had with them.

When I say "issue" a DD was delayed by a day and my hubby's wage (due Monday 25th), which would normally show up today, hasn't. This isn't a problem though as I have been paid and officially his payday is Monday.

I will be sticking with NatWest I've always been very happy with the service they provide me.

lolavix

I've not had a problem in the 7 years I've banked with them, unfortunately these things can happen when we rely so much on technology. It will be interesting to see how many claims are made for compensation.

nilrem_2

lolavix wrote: »

unfortunately these things can happen when we rely so much on technology.

Correct and as we rely more and more on computers we shall see more of this in the future, practically everything these days is controlled by chips and when they foul up we are stuffed.
One would think that with 3 major banks under it's control RBS would have a complete backup system they could switch over too in an event such as this!

Rather than give massive bonuses to directors they could invest some of the cash in better backup systems!

Gentoo365

I agree strongly with two points made in this thread

1) No other bank is 'whooping with joy'. Other banks are probably hoping that RBS/Regulators give a full lessons learned report on this. All banks know it could happen to them. Other banks will want to know what happened, and will want to ensure that next time it happens (and it will, somewhere) there is a good mitigation strategy and process in place.

2) Front line staff. Unfortunately since the part nationalisation some members of the public think that abusing bank staff is fair game. Whilst I have no problem with activist investors, and those that demonstrate outside AGMs I think that the branch staff, and the call centre staff actually deserve respect. There is less of them, their pay is low, and they cannot solve an issue that they did not cause. I am sure that most people on this website would treat staff with respect. As we all know that the best way to get a complaint dealt with is to write in.

If someone is thinking of closing their account due to poor resolution of their specific circumstances. I suggest you write in to Natwest explaining why you felt you need to move. If their response is not sufficient (bearing in mind it may take a while to respond) then open an account elsewhere, ensure that everything is switched, i.e. wait for at least one of every payment to go though. Then close the account at Natwest giving the reason as 'unhappy with service'.

I don't think that this will happen to many people though.

(I do wonder how much it will cost them in refunds/compensation for third party fees and expenses though)

Gentoo365

lolavix wrote: »

I've not had a problem in the 7 years I've banked with them, unfortunately these things can happen when we rely so much on technology. It will be interesting to see how many claims are made for compensation.

...and when we use the 'just in time' strategy with money.

lolavix

Gentoo365 wrote: »

...and when we use the 'just in time' strategy with money.

Very true, many people rely on funds due to be credited on a Monday showing on a Saturday, so are effectively running 2 days ahead on budgeting.

I'm lucky that I'm not in that situation, but it worrying that many are living so close to the breadline.

pmduk

I think Natwest have done fairly well in a difficult situation. When Tesco "bank" had similar problems they were nowhere near as proactive in ensuring customers weren't disadvantaged by the situation. The other banks need to be reviewing their own disaster strategy to learn from this.

robin_banks

coldhandoff wrote: »

In spite of all the negative things I hear about the bank on a daily basis, and the fact I work for Natwest, I've still never had one problem in all the years i've been with them.

I've been with Natwest for 10 years and had no problems with them at all. Always found the staff to be helpful etc. Even given the current circumstances.

However, I have left them over this. Let's be very clear about one thing. The current problems with the IT at NatWest are not a 'glitch'. For a start a glitch does not last 4 days, this is in IT terms a major incident.

As I understand the problems started with an upgrade on some payment processing software. The offical NatWest twitter account @NatWest_help first started receiving messages about outage on Wednesday morning. Since then the same messages about the issues have posted again and again by NatWest with no real progress on the issue.

My wages have not been credited to my account, to be honest I could live with this if I was able to move monies from my NatWest savings account to my current. Alas I was not able to do this and when I rang NatWest they could not do so either, due to my savings account being an 'esaver' or summat. This was the straw that broke the camels back.

Staff in branch would not have been able to do this either. That said the nearest branch to my work closed 3 months ago leaving the nearest one 2 1/2 miles away. Just as well I didn't go down there, a half lost at work (as I'm contractor) would have cost as well as the inconvenience.

So alas after 10 years during which I was happy with them I've changed.

This to coin a phrase is a 't!ts up cluster***k omniubershambles'.

And then some.

robin_banks

pmduk wrote: »

I think Natwest have done fairly well in a difficult situation. When Tesco "bank" had similar problems they were nowhere near as proactive in ensuring customers weren't disadvantaged by the situation. The other banks need to be reviewing their own disaster strategy to learn from this.

Do Tesco provide current accounts that salaries are paid into, and for example mortgage and utility payments being paid out of.

I do think the frontline staff have been exceptional in very difficult circumstances.

That alas, is not good enough.

£talk

The last few days have been a PR disaster for NatWest, there's no doubt about that. I've been a NW customer pretty much all my life even though I've had other accounts elsewhere from time to time.

For me personally, the only thing that affected me was the fact that I couldn't logon to on-line banking for a few days. I could still use my debit and credit cards as normal, I didn't have reason to worry seeing as I am paid at the end of the month and there were no outstanding payments into or out of my account that I really cared about.

I can't wait for a mass exodus from NW, it'll free up more customer service and cashiers for me! I appreciate that there were some genuine cases of cash flow problems but what has highlighted to me is how many people out there who are literally living hand-to-mouth each day and the alarming number who don't budget.