Nationwide Froze Bank Account - No Warning

System

zerog wrote: »

Same here I have only had problems with TSB which is why I stopped using them for anything except 3% on £3000, but Nationwide has been excellent for me

TSB did the same to me - no bank has done it before or since.

Their few branches that open late or Saturday exacerbated the problem, meaning taking an afternoon off work to get my money back.

Nationwide are ok but don't offer me anything useful to me.

Keep_pedalling

I think that if you took all the advise given on the internet, about which banks not to use, you would have to deal in cash only.

Robisere

We left NW after several years, initially we became sick of driving a 44 mile round trip every time we needed a branch visit. They closed all the small branches in Estate Agencies, hence the long trip from our rural village. Then we had one problem after another with the account, causing more 44 mile round trips, followed by a similar "Freeze". At that point we waited until the account was 'defrosted', closed the account and transferred account and 2 ISA's to TSB, who were brilliant and have a branch just 2 miles down the road, with pleasant, efficient staff, including a branch manager who often greets customers at the door.

So I'm not going to generalise, just stating that IME, TSB is way better that Nationwide.

societys_child

what would have happened if we were abroad at the moment with no access to our current account funds?

Don't have all your eggs in one basket.
Open account(s) with other banking groups, I have accounts with 5 different groups, many posters here have more . . .

HotelMan

You know when you put in a complaint and they then ring you 2 hours later; it gives you that feeling that perhaps you do matter after all.

Well, sadly that's not what happened.

Yes, I did just get a call from Nationwide - to inform me that my account had been frozen as I had not produced any ID.

The young guy on the phone said that they had written to me "several months ago" and had also telephoned me. I have not had any letters (shall we blame the postman) but they have not called me on the only number they have for me, my mobile.

I asked what date the letter was sent and when did they ring me - he didnt have any details. He then repeated 3 times that they called me; which they did not.

I then asked him why would they send a letter "months ago" and then several months later freeze the account AND THEN call me about it - why hadnt they sent another letter? perhaps they should have sent an email? perhaps they could have chosen to use the secure messaging service on the online banking website? No, they did nothing and just froze the account.

I asked why are they telephoning me now and sending two letters out 5 days after freezing the account; perhaps 5 days before freezing the account may have been better?

The reply was "we have a list of people to call whose accounts have been frozen" - horse / bolted.

xylophone

This is a joint account? Letters to you and to your wife have have been sent repeatedly and gone astray? Pushing the bounds of probability?

In your place I would proceed as outlined in my post above.

Make the complaint in writing.

HotelMan

This is a joint account? Letters to you and to your wife have have been sent repeatedly and gone astray? Pushing the bounds of probability?

It is a joint account.

They claim to have send ME a letter some months ago and have rang ME - they have done neither.

Yesterday, my wife received a letter saying I needed to show ID (not her) and I received a letter too.

These letters came 5 days after they had frozen the account.

colsten

xylophone wrote: »

It does seem extraordinary that the request for ID should not have been made before they decided to freeze the account.

Something untoward, that the account holders are unaware of, may have happened with the account. Someone could have tried to hack into it. Someone could have paid a large sum into it. Someone might have used a cloned card and tried to make payments with it etc etc etc. There are plenty of reasons why an account could, and should, get frozen immediately.

However, there is no reason whatsoever why the account holders should not have been notified of the freeze immediately, either.

veryintrigued

jackieblack wrote: »

However my experience is exactly the opposite, local branch of TSB is dire but Nationwide are brilliant, so you really can't generalise.

Nationwide have had some great products over the past few years but our experience their local and internet banking staff are often terribly informed and their systems frequently poor.

Eight different formal complaints from our family in the last two years. We've been offered compensation on all of these and have frequently turned it down as we like the warm thought of mutuals. However this particular warm feeling often turns out to be like weeing oneself.

zerog

Robisere wrote: »

We left NW after several years, initially we became sick of driving a 44 mile round trip every time we needed a branch visit. They closed all the small branches in Estate Agencies, hence the long trip from our rural village. Then we had one problem after another with the account, causing more 44 mile round trips, followed by a similar "Freeze". At that point we waited until the account was 'defrosted', closed the account and transferred account and 2 ISA's to TSB, who were brilliant and have a branch just 2 miles down the road, with pleasant, efficient staff, including a branch manager who often greets customers at the door.

So I'm not going to generalise, just stating that IME, TSB is way better that Nationwide.

Sure, but if I lived 22 miles from a branch of a certain bank, and there were different banks 2 miles away, then I would be switching all my branch activity to the ones 2 miles away regardless.