NatWest £125 switch incentive

eschaton

beefturnmail wrote: »

Yeah I got the same - can't believe they're saying it all has to be in £50 notes too! Firing off my complaint to the Natwest CEO right now

Did you miss the bit where it said that the £50 notes must be in consecutive numerical order as well?

Nothing but a joke!

EachPenny

18cc wrote: »

Just had an email from NatWest customer service dated 1st of April saying that the £1,500 must be paid in at a branch over the counter as that is their definition of a deposit anything else is simply a transfer

Did you miss the bit that said the £1500 had to be in old 'round' pound coins?

Zanderman

TheBanker wrote: »

You only got £125? I got £125,000. I rang and asked if it was a mistake but they said not. Apparently there was a large surplus amount left in the budget due to the majority of people not fully complying with the £1,500 deposit requirement. As I'm such a good customer they decided to give the surplus to me. :beer:

That would definitely give Mchambers something to complain about!

(Though, of course, he got his £125 weeks ago...)

[Deleted User]

When I want a Natwest overdraft it says

"We'd like to tell you if you're eligible, but we don't know you well enough yet"

How long does it take for them to know a new customer "well enough"?! 6 months?? As I'm sure it's been 3 since this process began!

18cc

Ok, just because it's raining and I've got nothing better to do today...


A 'deposit'is a legal definition defined under section 22 of the Financial and Services Markets Act 2000 (q.v.).


A 'deposit' is "22. Rights under any contract under which a sum of money (whether or not denominated in a currency) is paid on terms under which it will be repaid...."


This means (any lawyers here please correct me) that when you pay into your current account any money (from whatever source) you no longer own that money - it now belongs to the bank. The 'deposit' is the contractual relation you have with the bank to pay it back to you - usually 'on demand' for a current account.


Thus if you have a balance of £1500 in your Nat West current account from whatever source (including compensation, card refunds etc), in that you can withdraw on demand that sum, then legally you have 'a deposit' of £1500.


However, the T&Cs do not refer to the noun 'a deposit' but the verb 'deposit'. So are they using the legal definition of deposit, or the normal everyday meaning (whatever that is).

Clockwork145

Clockwork145 wrote: »

I've been experiencing this for the last week also.

First account was opened at the end of January in joint name. After submitting ID for both through the Digidocs service, I was told the account had to be reopened because a DOB didn't match. Apparently you can't make ANY changes once the application form had been submitted, so I had to start all over again. That cost 2 weeks although my mistake so I guess fair enough.

New account application made in Feb. Despite doing exactly the same thing this time around (although getting the DoB right!), the joint applicant hasn't been asked to upload any ID to Digidocs. That doesn't stop them getting the texts and e-mail reminders though! My ID is uploaded by the 15th and I make a call to Natwest which prompts a whole fuss because I don't have ANY reference number. Eventually get through to their new customer helpdesk (the number for which isn't ANYWHERE on their website or included in any of the e-mails or texts) and they confirm everything is ok and the application is being finalised.

We get to last week and still haven't heard anything from Natwest (except the reminders to the joint applicant to upload ID, which they can't do, and which Natwest say isn't necessary). Try calling again on Tuesday the 27th of Feb and get that automated message that the building has been evacuated. After 7 attempts I go back to the main customer helpline to tell them I can't get through and they are completely clueless and can only suggest to try again a bit later.

With work commitments and the weather I don't get the opportunity to call again that week. Try again this morning and same repeated message. Get through to the main customer helpline again who tell me that the building has been closed due to the weather (although it was closed before the snow started), and has remained closed due to a pipe leak but should have re-opened this morning except it hasn't.

I'm also informed that Natwest have no backup team available for new customer applications. Apparently nobody else in the entire company is able to help me apart from this one team that now can't work (so I guess they've had the whole week off?). If anybody else is waiting for an update then you're probably in the same situation.

It's now been almost a month since the second application was made (over a month since I started the process of switching to Natwest) and I've had no paperwork at all, no application reference, no updates, nothing except a customer number which no team seems to recognise.

Suffice it to say a complaint has been opened and I will be switching away from them again as soon as we receive the switching bonus.

I thought I'd post an update to this as the saga continues to rumble on, hard as that may be to believe.

It took until March 7th before I could finally speak to somebody in the new customer team again, after having started back on the week of Feb 19th. A very polite woman was finally able to give me my customer number (again after expressing surprise that I hadn't received any paperwork in the mail). After explaining the problems we'd been having with digidocs she explained that the joint applicant simply needed to reply to the latest text with "OK" Apparently that would get it out of whatever loop the application was stuck in. Well, we did that the same day and then... silence.

Fast forward to the 21st and the joint applicant again receive a notification about digidocs that they are unable to process. I call again and speak to another chap who, again, assures me that there's nothing wrong with the application and they'll resend another invitation to get it out of whatever loop that it's stuck in. They also assure me that I still qualify for the switching bonus.

The next day both applicants receive a notification for digidocs, and when I go and log on guess what I find? The Feb application, my second for those following at home, had been closed on March 7th, and a new application opened from the 22nd. I place another call to Natwest who informs me that the previous application had expired (never mentioned on the call the day previous or by the lady on the 7th), and that we would need to start all over again with both applicants submitting ID. As you can imagine, I'm not best pleased by this as it would be the third time.

No, we still haven't received any paperwork for the application at this point. We do get a letter from the Natwest complaints team, which I've since been informed is their "fiinal response letter" (even though it doesn't state this anywhere on the document itself). In their findings they agree with our complaint about the difficulties we have had in trying to get contact... but they also can't find our application and so invite us to apply again! I am frankly baffled by this as I've since spoken with at least 4 separate people who seem to have managed. Another call follows suit where the lady overseeing the case promises a response the next day as they need to investigate further (not surprised as they seem to have trouble communicating between left and right hands).

I missed the return call and was busy with work all last week anddidn't get a chance to follow up. Guess what happens when I do try this morning? The customer complaints telephone number isn't listed anywhere on their website, just like the new customer applications telephone number, so I have to wait on the general enquiries team for almost 20mins before getting through. The gentleman pops me through quickly enough, but I then have to give my name a second time along with the complaints ref. Then apparently it's not the right complaints team so I get transferred to another department. There I'm told that the woman reviewing my case doesn't actually work in that department after all, but they can e-mail (???) them to call me as soon as possible. Apparently nobody else can help. Time spent on call: 25 mins. Name given: 3 times. Complaints ref given: twice. Departments transferred to: two. Progress made: zero. Okay, perhaps it!!!8217;s my fault for not picking up the complaints letter with the direct number on it, but surely it shouldn't be this hard? At the very least I'd expect the person transferring me to stay on the call so I don!!!8217;t have to repeat the same information, That's just common courtesy isn't it?

I should have listened to the joint applicant who actually warned me that Natwest was terrible but the bribe was too appealing. Well, suffice it to say I will not proceed with this switch in any way, shape or form, even if we still qualify for the bonus, as the customer service has been appalling.

ValiantSon

As you can see from this thread, you are by no means alone in being frustrated and annoyed by their incompetence, although yours is one of the worst examples. They truly are a shower and I can't help feeling have shot themselves in the foot with their handling of this switch offer.

Don't just walk away, though; take your complaint to the FOS.

andrewmp

Has anyone got the money yet?

ValiantSon

andrewmp wrote: »

Has anyone got the money yet?

No (unless you believe Mchambers, and that would be most unwise ). Ask us again in ten days time.

schiff

The sigh of relief when April 13th dawns and we get our £125 will be heard the width and depth of the UK. Maybe even further afield!