Rant about Natwest

poppett

I opened an account with natwest sbout three months ago. I asked them to set up a standing order to go out on the 19th of every month (my rent). I had half the money in there and hubby was going into the branch today to put the rest in ready for Monday. On checking my account I see I am now overdrawn and when I phoned the bank to see why they say they have already taken it ready for monday and seeing as there wasn't enough in I now have a £38 charge too :mad:

Myself and hubby go into the branch to ask why, when it isn't due out until Monday the 19th they have decided to take it today Saturday the 17th. We are told it is in the system and nothing can be done until Monday but I WILL NOT be let off the bank charge. Now, first of all, in my opinion, this should be classed as theft as the way I look at it is if someone owed me money and I went into their purse two days before it is due to me I'm damn sure I would be charged with theft. And secondly, I was told nothing can be done today as althought the branch is open, Saturday is not classed as a working day....now if this is the case then WHY should they be allowed to take my money on a non working day????:mad:

In the end hubby had to put more than originally intended into my account because we were told if we only put enough to cover the rent and not the rent + charge then they would just take the £38 from what is in there and again my rent would be short. (obviously snowballing into another charge for them)

I am seriously thinking of leaving them already but can anyone recommend a decent bank (if such a thing exists). Hubby has also said he will close the 2 accounts he holds with them too because there has been times where he has been charged fees when the bank admits he shouldn't have been. He has applied for them back but like everyone else is now waiting. Really don't hold out much hope.

I'd love to go back to the good old fashion wage packets and pay my bills in other ways rather than DD. That would really upset (wanted to use a stronger word here but I don't want to get told off....you all know which one I mean lol) the banks wouldn't it.

Anyway, now I've got it off my chest. Even mentioned to the assistant manager in the bank that i would be airing my views tonight on here!

Thanks for listening.

gt94sss2

This issue comes up from time to time - most recently in this thread.

Most banks require the money for any standing orders or direct debits to be in the account the Working Day before they are due. Hence if a payment is due on Monday, the bank 'reserves' the payment on the weekend.

HSBC are an exception to the 'must have money in your account the day before rule' - if you top up your bank account by the end of the day(8pm/midnight I think) the payment goes through they won't charge anything even though you may have been 'technically overdrawn' during the day.

Lloyds have also just moved (this month) to a similar system, giving their customers until 3.30pm on the payment day to top up their accounts and avoid charges

Regards
Sunil

iceicebaby

Hello poppett

you have no complaint really as in the terms and conditions of your account, funds for a standing order or dd should be in your accoun t and cleared the banking day (mon to fri) before the payment is due. So in your example where the payment was due to go out on the Monday, you would have had to have had the funds cleared into your account by end of the banking day Friday.

All banks operate like with the exception of Lloyds and HSBC as mentioned above.

natweststaffmember

You can ask them to pay it as the money has been deposited on the saturday and that you were unaware that the funds had to be in the previous working day. With regards to the reason why it went out at the weekend, it is to do with the Bank Of England clearing accounts. They only work Monday to Friday. If they have advised that it will be returned then I would call lending on Monday morning and see if they can reverse that decision as it is an essential item. Good Luck

Mikeyorks

poppett wrote: »

.... they have decided to take it today Saturday the 17th. We are told it is in the system and nothing can be done until Monday but I WILL NOT be let off the bank charge.

They haven't 'taken' it. But they have, as their T&Cs, 'reserved' the sum which needed to be with them by close on Friday. When you look at your statement tomorrow - the transaction will show Monday's date .... the 19th.

Self defeating losing your cool with them - you're the ones in the wrong. But if you talk to them nicely and tell them you were unaware of the dual standard that their systems reserve money at a weekend / but the weekend doesn't count for monetary inputs !! ...... then (assuming it's the first time) they should abort the charge.

jamesd

Standard fix: arrange an overdraft facility sufficient to cover your bills to prevent a recurrence. Assuming they let you have one.