RIPP OFF !! Nationwide Flex Account

bridian

HI All
If you are considering opening a Nationwide Flex Account THINK AGAIN !
We opened one March 2006 with about £25000 in it was looking forward to getting 4.25% interest at the year end thats what we were told by the branch manager.
And guess what we got £132.00 an absolute ripp off.

Been down to the branch today and absolutly slated the branch manager and am taking the matter through the complaints department and then most likely to the FSO.
On opening the account he convienently forgot to tell us that the 4.25% was only payable on the first £3000 and that anything over that, the rate was 0.01% how very nice of him. That oversight has cost us the best part of a £1000. And of course the winners were THE NATIONWIDE.

If youve got one of these accounts check it out OURS IS GOING TO BE CLOSED after the complaints procedure of course. We will leave 1p in the account till then.

Hope this saves you some money :mad:

Bridian

wombat42_2

It is only worthwhile if you use it in conjunction with an Esaver account. Also one good thing about Flexaccount debit cards is that there is no charge for overseas use which is almost unique.

mountainchrisriver

Unfortunately, it clearly states this in the terms and conditions of the account... and on their website:

"HSBC Bank Account, Natwest Current Plus Account and Barclays Bank Account each pay a credit interest of 0.10% AER as compared with Nationwide where the credit interest rate for credits of £1,000 or more paid in each month (excluding transfers from other Nationwide accounts) and on balances up to £3,000 is 4.00% gross p.a./AER. Any part of your balance over £3,000 will earn interest at 0.10% gross p.a./AER. Rates correct as at 01.01.08. Competitor rates: source Moneyfacts.co.uk - the money search engine 20.12.07."

If the interest rate was important to you it was the wrong account to put your money in... there are plenty of higher interest easy access accounts out there... Don't think you will gain anything from complaining other than having a good rant...

bridian

mountainchrisriver wrote: »

Unfortunately, it clearly states this in the terms and conditions of the account... and on their website:

"HSBC Bank Account, Natwest Current Plus Account and Barclays Bank Account each pay a credit interest of 0.10% AER as compared with Nationwide where the credit interest rate for credits of £1,000 or more paid in each month (excluding transfers from other Nationwide accounts) and on balances up to £3,000 is 4.00% gross p.a./AER. Any part of your balance over £3,000 will earn interest at 0.10% gross p.a./AER. Rates correct as at 01.01.08. Competitor rates: source Moneyfacts.co.uk - the money search engine 20.12.07."

If the interest rate was important to you it was the wrong account to put your money in... there are plenty of higher interest easy access accounts out there... Don't think you will gain anything from complaining other than having a good rant...

Our Fault for not checking, however the manager implied that we would get 4.25% on the whole balance thats why we are annoyed.. Thank you

mountainchrisriver

Unless you have some proof that is what he told you I can't see how your complaint could progress... it is his/her word against yours... As wombat highlights, far from being a rip off the account is actually very useful if you do a lot of travelling abroad... I hope you have managed to put your money in a more suitable account now...


ps. you have one of the earliest join dates I have seen on this forum...

wombat42_2

mountainchrisriver wrote: »

Unless you have some proof that is what he told you I can't see how your complaint could progress... it is his/her word against yours... As wombat highlights, far from being a rip off the account is actually very useful if you do a lot of travelling abroad... I hope you have managed to put your money in a more suitable account now...


ps. you have one of the earliest join dates I have seen on this forum...

Also it would have been easy to set up an online Nationwide esaver account which is currently 5.55% and shunt money from one account to the other online.

DawnW

Perhaps the manager simply didn't think that anyone would leave 25K in a current account? Having said this, when I have had over the threshold amount in my current account, for example when I am moving money around, someone at my bank usually asks pretty promptly if I want advice about investment or savings products etc.

paulboy83

The flex account isn't a savings account, were you told it was? Why did you not read any of the literature to make sure it was the correct account for you?

p1an0player

Even at 4.25%, you would have lost a lot of money compared to having the £25k in a high interest savings account.

slipp_digby

I have a flex account and I thought the idea was that it sort of a holding account which you use to transfer money into a higher rate account such as the NW E-savers account.

If the terms said this and you left the money in it then you cant hold NW responsible. This is quite a lot of money to invest, so perhaps you should have checked more carefully.

dolce_vita

But the flexaccount is a current account not a savings account so why would you leave 25k in there anyway?

I have had one for nearly 20 years and have found its features and the general service offered by nationwide to be excellent.

Using online banking you could have moved the money directly to e-savings for a rate of 5.5%