Call centre at NAT west told me I don't sound like a woman.

Jo_2122

Hi
I hope you can advise I am absolutely livid
I called my bank (NAT west) as my card was not working and was past through to another dept, as I was speaking to the adviser I gave ALL my security info date of birth, address etc etc and said "The account holder needs to call" I said I AM the holder and then he put me on hold, he came back and told me he believed my call was FRAUDULENT reason why is because I "sounded like I was not a woman"!

I am disgusted by this I do have a slightly deeper voice than Normal I suppose but his attitude was rude , I have never has this before
Does anyone know what the real procedure is in call centres? When the person calling voice doesn't sound what they expect? Is there a standard thing that can be done etc to put on a note etc that i have a deeper voice, it is humiliating to me I have to do this but I will If it would solve the problems?

Thanks

JO

ihateyes

complain.

They shoudl not be saying that to you. Being polite they shouldve said they cant deal with the account over the phone and to go into branch with ID.

I worked for the Halifax many a mooon ago, and i remember coming across an acc of a women had had once been a man. The woman was written to the bank advising this, possibly after a situation simialr to yours, and this pooped up on all calls she made in. this meant no one refused to talk cos the voice was a bit deeper.

opinions4u

and this pooped up on all calls she made

I'm sorry. Staff shouldn't have to put up with nonsense like this!

stclair

Jo_2122 wrote: »

Hi
I hope you can advise I am absolutely livid
I called my bank (NAT west) as my card was not working and was past through to another dept, as I was speaking to the adviser I gave ALL my security info date of birth, address etc etc and said "The account holder needs to call" I said I AM the holder and then he put me on hold, he came back and told me he believed my call was FRAUDULENT reason why is because I "sounded like I was not a woman"!

I am disgusted by this I do have a slightly deeper voice than Normal I suppose but his attitude was rude , I have never has this before
Does anyone know what the real procedure is in call centres? When the person calling voice doesn't sound what they expect? Is there a standard thing that can be done etc to put on a note etc that i have a deeper voice, it is humiliating to me I have to do this but I will If it would solve the problems?

Thanks

JO

Providing you have confirmed DPA it does not matter how you sound. For all they know you could be going through the op.

Im not sure if its still aloud however they used to put notes on the account things like customer is "hard of hearing" or "customer has speech impediment" etc but they all got wiped due to a legal thing ages ago.

You could make a complaint should you feel the need to:

https://www.natwest.com/global/contact-us/complain.ashx

marleyboy

I would have had to reply with "How Ironic, you dont sound like a human to me!"

coldhandoff

I have encountered this before. Usually advisors are told to proceed with the call as normal and then the customer may get a call back later to confirm everything was genuine.

meer53

I know you're annoyed, but what would you have liked them to say ?

If the operator suspects someone is fraudulently trying to access your account, isn't it better for them to be honest with you ? You admit you have a deep voice, it's a very difficult situation for them. Better to do what they did than let someone have access to your accounts and steal all your money ?

Where i work, we put notes on customers accounts about things like this, i'm sure Natwest will be able to do the same. You'll still have to get through security but at least they can then double check your notes.

Andystriker

meer53 wrote: »

I know you're annoyed, but what would you have liked them to say ?

You have failed security and we are terminating this call

stclair

Its may not the same... But I know my moms Virgin Media password and when I call up im clearly a man however they never question it....

fairpoint

They should have simply said they werent happy with the information you were giving and politely advise you to go into the local branch.

The advisor should not have said they believed you were a fraudster and didnt not sound like a female as that is unprofessional.

I work in a banks call centre (not natwest though) and if someone told me that on the phone I would personally make a complaint regarding the issue.

anniecave

Some companies (Virgin Media are an example) will let the account holder set up a password to enable other people to contact them about certain things.

That's quite different to financial services such as bank accounts or credit cards where they will usually only speak to the account holder.