Having trouble closing Nationwide FlexDirect account

essexmate

I had 4 FlexDirect current accounts with Nationwide which have come to the end of their 5% year. I was able to close 3 of the accounts around 2 months ago when the percentage rate dropped prematurely at 10 months.

Then on 1st April I completed the account closure form for the 4th account and sent it to them, and a couple of days later I received a letter telling me that Nationwide are unable to close the account due to pending charges which I must pay before I can close it. My account balance currently shows as £0.00 and I have never been overdrawn on the account, so I don't see how I can owe them anything. I sent a secure message to them when I received the letter and got back a reply saying I had a pending unauthorised overdraft fee of £7.50 :shocked: which must be paid before the account is closed.

I wrote back saying I had never been overdrawn and to ask them to check again and close the account. I have since received 2 replys from different customer service people.... one saying they were unable to view my pending charges, and another saying he had looked into my account and can confirm that there are no pending charges due. Annoyingly, he then went on to explain the procedure for closing an account, saying that all I need to do is complete the form online and send it to them.

Has anyone else had problems closing their account with Nationwide?

grumbler

essexmate wrote: »

... got back a reply saying I had a pending unauthorised overdraft fee of £7.50 :shocked: which must be paid before the account is closed.

>> Nationwide flexdirect 50p overdraft charge

Ed-1

essexmate wrote: »

I had 4 FlexDirect current accounts with Nationwide which have come to the end of their 5% year. I was able to close 3 of the accounts around 2 months ago when the percentage rate dropped prematurely at 10 months.

Then on 1st April I completed the account closure form for the 4th account and sent it to them, and a couple of days later I received a letter telling me that Nationwide are unable to close the account due to pending charges which I must pay before I can close it. My account balance currently shows as £0.00 and I have never been overdrawn on the account, so I don't see how I can owe them anything. I sent a secure message to them when I received the letter and got back a reply saying I had a pending unauthorised overdraft fee of £7.50 :shocked: which must be paid before the account is closed.

I wrote back saying I had never been overdrawn and to ask them to check again and close the account. I have since received 2 replys from different customer service people.... one saying they were unable to view my pending charges, and another saying he had looked into my account and can confirm that there are no pending charges due. Annoyingly, he then went on to explain the procedure for closing an account, saying that all I need to do is complete the form online and send it to them.

Has anyone else had problems closing their account with Nationwide?

I recently switched out a FlexDirect account and subsequently got a letter stating I had a negative balance of 50p which on further investigation was an unauthorised overdraft charge which had been applied to my account even though it had never been overdrawn. I then switched out my other FlexDirect account and the exact same thing happened. I sent them an online message under 'dispute charge/fee' and they reviewed both accounts and replied that they saw no reason for the charges and cancelled them (they said they'd be debited from the accounts and then immediately refunded).

It seems to be a major flaw with their systems. It's happening everytime on the FlexDirect accounts.

System

Go to one of your non-Nationwide current accounts and transfer the Nationwide one to it. That will close it.

essexmate wrote: »

I had 4 FlexDirect current accounts with Nationwide which have come to the end of their 5% year. I was able to close 3 of the accounts around 2 months ago when the percentage rate dropped prematurely at 10 months.

Then on 1st April I completed the account closure form for the 4th account and sent it to them, and a couple of days later I received a letter telling me that Nationwide are unable to close the account due to pending charges which I must pay before I can close it. My account balance currently shows as £0.00 and I have never been overdrawn on the account, so I don't see how I can owe them anything. I sent a secure message to them when I received the letter and got back a reply saying I had a pending unauthorised overdraft fee of £7.50 :shocked: which must be paid before the account is closed.

I wrote back saying I had never been overdrawn and to ask them to check again and close the account. I have since received 2 replys from different customer service people.... one saying they were unable to view my pending charges, and another saying he had looked into my account and can confirm that there are no pending charges due. Annoyingly, he then went on to explain the procedure for closing an account, saying that all I need to do is complete the form online and send it to them.

Has anyone else had problems closing their account with Nationwide?

Ed-1

Heng_Leng wrote: »

Go to one of your non-Nationwide current accounts and transfer the Nationwide one to it. That will close it.

It won't get rid of the charge though until you dispute it.

essexmate

Thanks for your replys. I find it odd that the first contact from Nationwide was to say I had £7.50 in OD charges. I can't work out how they came to that figure at all.

All I want is for them to close the account before the 1st of the month so that the account doesn't go overdrawn by the appearance of fees, even if they will get refunded in due course.

Archi_Bald

Heng_Leng wrote: »

Go to one of your non-Nationwide current accounts and transfer the Nationwide one to it. That will close it.

Ed-1 wrote: »

It won't get rid of the charge though until you dispute it.

Switching accounts will definitely will not get rid of those phantom charges. I did switch one of my FlexDirects and only discovered the charges after Nationwide transferred less than my balance. This happened in mid February, and I took up the issue with them immediately I had noticed it. I find it quite incredible that Nationwide still have not fixed this pretty fundamental bug in their system.

typistretired

Nationwide have told me they know about the problem and are trying to fix it. It has arisen because they are operating a new system. They have promised to monitor my account so I don't keep getting those emails which state I am overdrawn.

System

It will close the account - so halfway there.

The pending charges will either disappear or be left for Nationwide to fix.

Ed-1 wrote: »

It won't get rid of the charge though until you dispute it.

innovate

Very dangerous approach since it could leave you with defaults on your credit files. Given that Nationwide have engineered this bug into their system and appear to be unable to fix it, I would definitely be worried about my credit file if I left them with what they consider a debt.

Much better to open a formal, written, complaint with them over the matter.

System

Not at all.

The way switching system works, they will write and ask for you to pay any outstanding charges / debts. You could call, write or visit the branch and ask them to fix and ask for written confirmation for your records.

innovate wrote: »

Very dangerous approach since it could leave you with defaults on your credit files. Given that Nationwide have engineered this bug into their system and appear to be unable to fix it, I would definitely be worried about my credit file if I left them with what they consider a debt.

Much better to open a formal, written, complaint with them over the matter.