Ulster application

MikeJXE

Patience is a virtue. 

I'm in the same boat, we have to wait as it has to get through the Irish see border control and there isn't an fix for that yet 

grizzlegrizzle

[Deleted User] said:

So I’ve now had a “your debit card is on its way” and a “your switch will be completed on 30/03/2023” text (and a switcher email) but I have no idea what my customer number or account details are. 

Would a NatWest branch be able to locate these details for me? Or would it just come up with my NatWest customer profile?

Your customer number should be sent in an email and they should text you an activation code for online banking. That should be all you need to log in to online banking and then you can see your account details.

They will send your account details in the post at some point but for me this arrived after I'd got online banking set up. 

Stargunner

[Deleted User] said:

So I’ve now had a “your debit card is on its way” and a “your switch will be completed on 30/03/2023” text (and a switcher email) but I have no idea what my customer number or account details are. 

Would a NatWest branch be able to locate these details for me? Or would it just come up with my NatWest customer profile?

Just be patient and you will get them. I received an email yesterday with my customer number and it stated that the activation code will be sent separately. My switch is due to complete on 29th March.

[Deleted User]

Has anyone from Northern Ireland applied for the Ulster Bank switch? I filled in the application and wasn't asked to pick a branch. Was wondering if there is a different timeline for people with a BT postcode.

dealyboy

Deleted_User said:

Has anyone from Northern Ireland applied for the Ulster Bank switch? I filled in the application and wasn't asked to pick a branch. Was wondering if there is a different timeline for people with a BT postcode.

Hi @Deleted_User ...
Ironic isn't it, we elsewhere in the world but connected to the 'land are asked for a branch we can't get to.

Hope all goes well, expect a laborious process taking about 5 weeks ... no ID required, expect a letter to confirm your application, sign it, include the details page in the pre-paid envelope and then wait for things to trickle.

Check the thread for Natwest/RBS/UB switching for a couple of timelines from those who've completed the course, pages 34 and 35 from memory.

[Deleted User]

dealyboy said:

Deleted_User said:

Has anyone from Northern Ireland applied for the Ulster Bank switch? I filled in the application and wasn't asked to pick a branch. Was wondering if there is a different timeline for people with a BT postcode.

Hi @Deleted_User ...
Ironic isn't it, we elsewhere in the world but connected to the 'land are asked for a branch we can't get to.

Hope all goes well, expect a laborious process taking about 5 weeks ... no ID required, expect a letter to confirm your application, sign it, include the details page in the pre-paid envelope and then wait for things to trickle.

Check the thread for Natwest/RBS/UB switching for a couple of timelines from those who've completed the course, pages 34 and 35 from memory.

Not in any rush. I've had Natwest waiting for RBS to finish next week, fingers crossed, only doing this as an after thought. Nothing to lose lol.

jokono

cryptowhale123 said:

For anyone having issues connecting to Cora chat, make a complaint. I spent absolutely ages trying to get through to someone, being passed around departments, having to wait days before being connected. I received £200 compensation. 

Still waiting for my original issue to be resolved though (a problem with my switch). 

Thanks for suggesting making a complaint, I made one last Friday and today I received (only!) £100 compensation. 😀 No communication but the transaction reference was the same as the complaint case number. I managed to get my switch restarted this week, it will complete on the 31st.

dealyboy

... poor banks ... running out of money now.

flaneurs_lobster

jokono said:

cryptowhale123 said:

For anyone having issues connecting to Cora chat, make a complaint. I spent absolutely ages trying to get through to someone, being passed around departments, having to wait days before being connected. I received £200 compensation. 

Still waiting for my original issue to be resolved though (a problem with my switch). 

Thanks for suggesting making a complaint, I made one last Friday and today I received (only!) £100 compensation. 😀 No communication but the transaction reference was the same as the complaint case number. I managed to get my switch restarted this week, it will complete on the 31st.

Ulster Bank have just sent me an email extolling the ease by which I can pay my pals using Paym.

Paym was turned off on March 7th. 

I will, of course, be making a formal complaint and will expect significant compensation for the inconvenience and emotional upset caused by this email.

mab3000

mab3000 said:

mab3000 said:

My ludicrous experience with Ulster so far. 

Applied online on the 15th Feb and requested a switch, providing all the account details for the account I was switching into Ulster Document sent to me in the post for me to sign and send to them a few days later which I did the same day I received it. Text arrives on the 23rd Feb and card, pin and customer number. 

However didn’t hear anything at all about what was happening with the switch. Got to Tuesday this week and still nothing. So decided to try and use their awful “Ask Cora” chat function to speak to someone about it. Said I would get a response in 4 hours. Many hours passed and nothing back so decided to call them.

Spoke to someone and they told me that they couldn’t see any switch request for me. I said I requested it online and provided all the account details. Even though they claimed they couldn’t see a switch they suggested I tried contacting the bank I was switching from to find out what was going on… in the end they said they’d raise a query and someone will get back to me. Fed up I then filled out a complaint form.

Later that day someone finally responded to the chat message but getting similar responses, cannot see a switch etc. After a lot of back and forth messages, someone finally responded saying that they could see I requested a switch but for some reason the details of the account I was switching weren’t there. But I got told not to worry, there would be a marker added that I requested a switch and asked me to fill out an online switch form. And I should then get the incentive as long as I do everything else to qualify. Filled out the switch form on Wednesday. Have still not had any confirmation the switch is happening… 

Today I received a response letter by email to my complaint. They basically told me that  as i signed a paper application I didn’t qualify for the switch as I had to apply online (even though I did apply online). And that there was no evidence that I requested a switch (the person I spoke to on chat found otherwise, and the form they sent out for me to sign did say “Yes” to was I requesting a switch). But despite this they have put £75 in my account without me even agreeing to this as for what I can tell money for me to go away. The letter was poorly worded and they even spelt my name wrong. 

Utter farce. 

An update on the above (from 2 weeks ago)

The switch finally happened on Wednesday. And today I received the £200 incentive money. So what I was eventually told on the chat was correct. And shows what the complaint handler told me was a load of rubbish. 

I did go back to the complaints team to challenge their resolution in the form of an email 2 weeks ago. After hearing nothing back from them after about 5 days I called them. They said they did receive my email, and they were still looking into it and needed time to investigate and they would get back to me. Now 2 weeks on, apart from the phone call I made I have heard nothing. 

Despite the switch being complete and received the incentive I feel reluctant to let the complaint slide. The thing that annoyed me the most about this whole issue was the way the complaint was handled. Their response was like poring petrol onto a bonfire that was starting to fizzle out. Even if it’s just an apology I feel that this is something that should be given in this instance. 

Going to give them another week or so then start chasing. 

Last week I sent them an email giving them a deadline to either provide me with an update or to resolve my complaint. Today I received a letter about the complaint.

Amazingly, despite all the evidence that I provided them, they still are insisting that everything they told me in the original complaint letter was correct. Once again the letter is poorly written, but they seem to be  insisting that the whole paper application process was the reason why they can’t see a switch request and saying I chose to do the paper signing…

I was so livid I today tried calling up to close the account down immediately. First of all they tried to tell me how to do it in the app, however there was no option to. And when I asked them to do it for me, I got told it was not possible for them to do and I had to go to an Ulster branch (live in England so that’s a no go). They didn’t really have an answer to how I can close my account otherwise. 

Have submitted the complaint to the ombudsman.