MSE News: RBS/NatWest crisis engulfs hard-up Think Banking customers

anotherconnedthinkcustome

Hi Folks, im in a slightly different scenario in that my wages are not due into my account until friday, but knowing the extremely slow nature in which things usually get done with this so called bank i decided to pre empt this and contact them first in order to find out if my money will arrive on time. I have several payments including my debt management money which is due out on pay day and i am extremely worried given whats going on with RBS & Natwest. I have also spent 2 days listening to the same ridiculous message and emailed without any response so i started doing some digging. firstly it seems think ARE NOT part of RBS as they like to claim. they simply use their banking system. this is of little help i know but i am wondering if others have been told the same by think? in which case i am wondering if we can group together to get some kind of response as surely this has to be Fraud? also as mentioned above i am part of the gregory pennington debt management plan...tho to god i wish i wasnt...and was specifically told that having a think account was a requirement when i first signed up! now im no expert but surely this is something similar to miss sold PPI as we have to pay a fee to use the account? im wondering if anyone else on here is or has been with gregory pennington as well and had a similar experience as i want to raise my issue...and those of other if they would like, to the C.A.B and financial ombussman and these companies all seem more than a little fishy to me. As you may also have guessed i wont be a think customer much longer and intend to try and gain ALL of my fees back since ive been with this con artist bank!

On_the_edge_2

We were with Gregory Pennington intill I got feed up with paying them a lot of money for doing very little . I've stopped using them and have taken on the task of sorting all our depts out myself which is working very well at the moment . I too was under the impression that I had to have a think banking account and that they were indeed part of rbs ( I now know there not thanks to these banking problems ) when after two days of constantly trying to contact think bank I have up and phoned rbs instead ( only to find out they couldn't help me at all as my account was with think banking ).

Something needs to be done about this as it would appear to be very underhanded to sell yourself as being a part of rbs .

JuliaGibbs

just got through on the phone, to find out the money has gone through to my salary account and is due to go into my card account in the next hour
phew for that!

JuliaGibbs

Although I'm not with Gregory pennilton, when I joined think banking I was told they are part of RBS and we could use all there over counter services, obviously that was not the case over the last few days if ever?

[Deleted User]

Good news: my ESA is now showing in my account.

Bad news: my Think Banking Mastercard is now being declined.

Edit: it seems EON are the only people declining my card, saying it is an invalid number. I tried both online and on the phone, same result.

anotherconnedthinkcustome

Ive been in contact with Ian Williams who is head of PR for think. You all wont be surprised to hear that the initial email to a full page rant was an automated response....which triggered a further full page rant at which point i gained an actual personal response. Ian claims that think never tell their customers that they are part of rbs, which i have questioned and not recieved a reply. i have also asked what their exact relationship is with gregory pennington...again you will be surprised to hear that i have not recieved a reply. he did state that the credits from sat, tues, and today had been recieved and would be updated to customers by close of business today. no mention of other dates or my initial question as to whether my money due on friday would clear on time but to look out for the text as normal. my advice to you all is get rid of this sorry bunch. remember we are paying a fee for this service, and you can still gain free accounts elsewhere, albeit without the security net of no overdrafts ever. worst case put the tenner you would normally pay think each month aside should you ever go unexpectedly into overdraft so you can cover any potential fee. now as you can tell im not great with money...hence the debt plan...but i sure as hell wont be paying these robbers any more. im also in contact with CAB and the FSA to determine if the rbs claims amount to fraud and will keep all posted. likewise with the gregory pennington stuff regarding this account being a pre requisite as i am positive im not the only one to have fallen into this trap!

may66

I'm in a DMP with greg pennington. I think i am now able to handle the debts myself and not pay them a fee for the privilege. Anyone help me? where do i start / how do i start going about it? If i stop using them can they do anything like mess my thinkbanking account up? again i was led to believe i had to take out a thinkbank account. i have found it to be a pretty good account for me, always up to date, not like my wife's TSB account which takes up to 5 days to show true balances.

mumoftwins

Ostrava wrote: »

I've just had the following text message from them:

"We're pleased to say that we've now received all of the credits from Saturday 23rd, Tuesday 26th and today from RBS. Due to the large number of transactions, it's taking slightly longer than usual to update your account. We expect the update to be complete by 4pm. Once your account is updated, you'll receive a text from us as usual."

Fingers crossed.

I received that text too but here we are 18.40 and there is no change:(

lindann_2

for those who need help with their debts go to Pay-plan or CCCs, they are free dmps, all payments go straight to creditors..

brogusblue

I am with think banking and had my esa paid in at 3pm this afternoon .. Glad it was paid in as i had no money and needed to buy elec,gas and a weekly shop..

But trying to get through to them was a nightmare even with the 2 numbers .. the amount of times i got through only to be discontected :mad: