Where Can I Complain About Natwest Bank?

hersh_2

HI Guys,
I have been so stressed by my bank Natwest recently that I am cluseless as what to do. They have played down their mistake and dn't bother offering me any solution.
Basically, they didnot make a payment I made throught them, and because of this I am in serious arrears with my credit card. THis happened twice in two months and they ever bothered to inform me.They just took the money and never paid...thats daylight robbery. Shouldn't I be compensated for it?
Shouldn't I get atleast an apology letter?
Is there a no win no fee solicitor I can contact?
Check out my post on this debacle on my blog:, ---
http://hershbhardwaj.blogspot.com/2008/01/how-natwest-bank-stole-my-70-that.html

Look forward to you guys help!
Hersh

olly300

Before you even think of going through the court system you need to go through Natwest's internal complaints procedure. http://www.natwest.com/global_options.asp?id=GLOBAL/CONTACT_US
(Click on the link at the bottom of the page)

I strongly suggest you do your complaint in writing and send any letters by recorded delivery.* State in your complaint what you want as compensation i.e. them to pay your additional credit card fees and interest, and to put you back in the original position you where before the mess so they need to give you a goodwill payment to cover the cost of postage. Enclose a photocopy of the credit card statements showing the fees you have been charged and state in the letter that you have enclosed these so they cannot say they were not present. Finally at the end of the letter state if the issue is not resolved within 8 weeks you will refer them to the financial ombudsman or take them to court.

Keep a copy of everything you send to Natwest including your recorded delivery slips.

If after 8 weeks you get no joy then either:
1. Complain to the Financial Ombudsman
2. Send them a letter before action informing them you are taking them to the small claims court. You don't need a solicitor for this and there are people on this forum who can advise you exactly how you go about making a claim.

*Banks are some of the organisations I've come across who pretend they don't receive letters unless they are sent via recorded delivery or fax. Even then they still can say they haven't received it but this will not stand up in court.

RayWolfe

No, we are not interested in you spaming your blog.
If you want help here, tell us here.

hersh_2

Hey raywolfe,
I am not looking for blog traffic, only reason I wrote that blog post is to seek maximum exposure for my problem. And by the way I have explained the problem in the post itself, only if you spare a thought!
Thanks Olly for your advice. I have made an official complained to Natwest. But havn't heard. I m being pressurised by DCA now. I eleive its not my but the banks's mistake that account went in arrears for two months.

hersh_2

hey,
Does anyone think that there is a case to be reported to Trading Standards? I mean the Natwest is liable for all the trouble.HOw long should i give them before I think about complaining?

natweststaffmember

Hersh, the blog makes no sense to me at all. The Direct Debit wasn't set up? or Was returned unpaid from your wife's account?
The Direct debit bouncing would have triggered a fee on your wife's account and the credit card itself. Did you receive statements? When the payment did not reach the account when you received the bill what did you do to remedy the situation or look into the reasons why it was not paid? The blog itself is not very informative to offer advice.
I know the post is harsh but can I ask you to answer the questions so I, and others, can understand the story better.

hersh_2

Hey we did not receive any statements indicating that the money wasn't paid through. As my wife does online banking, she didn't see any bounce back. The money £30 in first month and £40 in second was taken from her account and we can see it being deducted from her account. But it wasn't paid to my credit card(Natwest again). Now, neither the bank, nor the credit card informed us. Apparently, credit card people thought that I am not gonna pay so they passed on the account to a DCA.
When we went to see Natwest, it took them 30 minutes to figure out that something has gone wrong and so payment didn't happen. Twice!!!

Natwest advisor tied to ask credit card guys to refund any charges and take account back from DCA, as DCA is being a big pain and demanding £110/month for a total debt of £657. BUt credit card guys can't do anything we were told. All i sensed is that the advisor tied to play down their mistake and pretended to be very helpful.
I

natweststaffmember

Did you wife ask her bank to investigate the payments so that they could give her the reference number on the DD which should correspond with you Credit Card?
The statements question was aimed at you. Did you receive your credit card statements?
When the first payment was missed yet showing from your wife's account did she ask her bank to investigate where the money had gone?

Yes it is a problem that can be solved I think.

Can you clarify that a DD for £30 and £40 debited your wife's account? You are 100% certain that it did on both months. Were they minimum payment or FULL month payments?

hersh_2

Ya, we went together to the bank. The advisor looked up and said the payments were taken from teh account on both occassion but not made to the card, for an 'unknown reason', and can now be transfferred ONLY to the original payee(credit card), which she did without asking us. So basically we lost that £70 and DCA were still asking for the first payment.

I DIDNOT receive any statements for those two months, I dn't know why. And I seriously believe they have imposed charges as teh amount now owed is more than what I can recall.

And ya £30 and £40 were definitely deducted as was confirmed by the Nawtest advisor ( we have got statement printouts from her) These payments were the payment as agreed with the credit card untill Feb.

All I asked this DCA was to carry on paying 30-40 but NO!

natweststaffmember

Were the payments returned to the bank account from where they had come?
If NO, then your wife's bank need to trace the payment because that explanation given is total rubbish IMHO.
You cannot LOSE £70 if the payment has gone from the account and your wife's bank is not doing a good job of tracing the payment from their end. If the money was not credited to the credit card then the payment would have had to have been returned to the account from where it had come from.

ok, the last bit of the post is confusing. What happened in February re the payment?

hersh_2

Ya I had sorted out a repayment plan with my credit card in November that I'll be paying £30/month untill Feb and then we'll review. They had agreed fine. So to be hoest when they didn't rcv payment as agreed, they had all the right to pass it on.

Now, the money was taken twice and could not be transffered, or given back to my wife's account, UNTILL we actually inquired in January. They still dn't have a valid reason for it. They have now paid into credit card account ony after we knocked on their doors. But its unbeleivable that they didn't know about this untill we asked them. and how the hell would we have known...its showing in my wife's account as a valid transfer!