Natwest bank sent an unauthorised duplicate payment & refuse to refund

bobbidyboo

Thanks for all the replies. I did not arrange this extra payment, I asked Natwest staff to look into it several times & each time they admitted it was sent in error and that it was not supposed to go out according to the standing order I have set up (one payment each month, no deviation & no extra payment in the last month).

Here's an update to the latest from Natwest:
I called them a third time & asked to be put through to the "unauthorised payments" team. A girl answered the phone, admitted once again to the error (after putting me on hold for an age), and once again insisted it's my job to contact the payee for a refund. I asked to be put through to the complaints department at which point she changed her tune, agreed to refund the money on her end. She then proceeded to keep me on hold for a length of time as she had lost the form she needed to submit the refund.

"ya know when ya dont need sumfin u always see it an when u need it u lost it haha?"
It did not sound like speaking to a bank- more like a hair & nails salon!
She eventually told me she'd call me back & hung up.

To my surprise, a few minutes later she actually called back (albeit from a hidden number). I had the phone right next to me as I knew if I missed it, it would be impossible to get back through to her. She told me she'd submitted the form for a refund & it should appear in my account by 6pm. I will check & report back here when the refund appears.

I was not offered any compensation, and was made to feel like I'm lucky they even refunded me at all.

Every member of staff you speak to seems to either be inept or have a bad attitude (or a combination), which isn't very reassuring when they're looking after your money. I'll be changing bank asap.

mab3000

Even if you do get the refund in the timescale they have given you, there is nothing stopping you to still log a complaint about this issue. They have an online complaint form that you can fill in that gets passed to their complaints team directly. Even if the person you have recently spoken to has sorted the issue for you, they should have checked with you to see if you still wanted to make a complaint about it, as you had expressed dissatisfaction. 

Fighter1986

Agreed, considering the hoops you've had to jump through and the poor service you've received you should definitely raise a formal complaint.


The bank royally c***** up in sending the money when they shouldn't have
Three advisors told you that it's your responsibility to chase the refund from the recipient, when it isn't
One advisor hung up on you
The general demeanour of the advisors was grossly unprofessional and unbecoming of a bank

Remember to state in your complaint not only the above, but also what you expect in resolution to the complaint. In cases like this, I usually ask for three things:

1. A full investigation of why misinformation was provided to you and for effective training / measures to be put in place to prevent a recurrence
2. A full investigation of why the system error occurred and measures to be put in place to prevent a recurrence
3. A suitable sum of goodwill to be paid to you to account for your time and resources consumed having to chase the bank to resolve their error (you can put a figure or you can let the bank decide a figure)

Good luck! Do let us know if the funds re-appear. 

Armorica

What I would say, is there is a chance that the girl you spoke to was working from home, with a less-than-amazing access to corporate system to find the form she needed.  When call centre staff are working from home, especially if isolated, I'm not surprised if a little more humanity shows vs. scripted robot.

I'd support the view of putting in the complaint - I don't think a lot of value in complaining about individuals - when that many say the wrong thing, it's likely to be an issue in their internal procedures/training/guidance.

bobbidyboo

Thanks for the replies. They did refund it to my account in the end, but you're right it was a lot of hassle & very unprofessional.
Do you have a link to that online complaints form? I might send in the complaint you suggested. Thanks again

Pollycat

bobbidyboo said:

Thanks for the replies. They did refund it to my account in the end, but you're right it was a lot of hassle & very unprofessional.
Do you have a link to that online complaints form? I might send in the complaint you suggested. Thanks again

Just Googled 'natwest complaint'.
https://personal.natwest.com/personal/support-centre/how-to-complain/complaint-form.html

born_again

Armorica said:

What I would say, is there is a chance that the girl you spoke to was working from home, with a less-than-amazing access to corporate system to find the form she needed.  When call centre staff are working from home, especially if isolated, I'm not surprised if a little more humanity shows vs. scripted robot.

Justs a heads up.
Bank staff working from home have FULL access to the same systems they would have if they were sat in the office. Otherwise there is no point in them working.

jonesMUFCforever

born_again said:

Armorica said:

What I would say, is there is a chance that the girl you spoke to was working from home, with a less-than-amazing access to corporate system to find the form she needed.  When call centre staff are working from home, especially if isolated, I'm not surprised if a little more humanity shows vs. scripted robot.

Justs a heads up.
Bank staff working from home have FULL access to the same systems they would have if they were sat in the office. Otherwise there is no point in them working.

But their authorisation levels have not changed - so to agree something to somebody they might have to refer back to a higher grade colleague probably via secure message or intranet e-mail.
Not quite as easy as working as a team together in an office.

ratechaser

born_again said:

Armorica said:

What I would say, is there is a chance that the girl you spoke to was working from home, with a less-than-amazing access to corporate system to find the form she needed.  When call centre staff are working from home, especially if isolated, I'm not surprised if a little more humanity shows vs. scripted robot.

Justs a heads up.
Bank staff working from home have FULL access to the same systems they would have if they were sat in the office. Otherwise there is no point in them working.

Same systems yes but a lot more variable internet access at an individual staff level. My own WiFi can be a bit patchy (really need to get round to putting that mesh system in...) - thankfully I don't have to talk to many external customers as Zoom does have a bit of a habit of killing my VPN connection...

born_again

jonesMUFCforever said:

But their authorisation levels have not changed - so to agree something to somebody they might have to refer back to a higher grade colleague probably via secure message or intranet e-mail.
Not quite as easy as working as a team together in an office.

Well we still have same level of authority. managers on hand via direct message. So other than going and standing behind their desk to ask, nothing has changed.
If you have to refer and can't get a answer there & then. Then you arrange a callback with customer. Again that is just the same as in the office when several other people have all got queries and are in front of you.

Although some people use WAH as a excuse to avoid answering hard questions, or blag a answer rather than spend some time checking to make sure they are right, but they are just the same people that do it in the office.