£300+ charges for an account never used

nopot2peein

Hi! My partner is on benefits he had a Natwest step account that he had no problems with. Everytime we visit our local branch they always ask if you would like to upgrade your account? One day about 10 months ago my partner enquired about this upgrade. The lady he spoke with told him they would like to offer him an Advantage Gold account, with credit card, overdraft & loads of extra bonuses. He said he wasn't working & that his only income was Income Support benefit. The bank lady said that wasn't a problem as he had passed the credit checks & he would be much better off with the new account. She said the new account would cost him £12 per month but he had a 90 day period to decide if he wanted to keep it & if he didn't he wouldn't have to pay a penny. So he opened the account but when the card arrived it was a Solo card the same as his Step account & he had no overdraft. He visited the bank that day & told the lady that his card had arrived & it was a debit card the same as his other account. He said he didn't want the account because he wasn't going to pay £12 a month for an account that was the same as the one he had for free. The bank lady told him that he couldn't have a credit card because he wasn't working, which she knew in the first place. She advised him to go away & read the welcome pack as there were lots of other great benefits like travel insurance. He told her we can't afford a holiday so travel insurance is useless but she said the account is free for 90 days so have a look & come back if you still wish to cancel it. He wnt back to the bank 2 weeks later to say that he still didn't want this account but by this time the first £12 had been taken out, as there was no money in the account to pay this £12 he was charged £30. The bank told him they couldn't close the account whilst it was overdrawn.
It is now 9 months on & the account is still open, it is now £300+ overdrawn. Each month the bank charges £12 fee + charges for overdrawn + interest. My partner has never paid a penny into this account or withdrawn a penny & he cut up the card. The total overdraft is 100% bank charges but the bank insist he owes the money. He has had debt collectors letters & threats of court action. An employee at the Natwest call centre told him that the lady at the bank should never have offered him an account like this in his situation but they do because they get commission. When he asked about the 90 day free thing, he was told that you have to pay the £12 each month then if you change your mind within 90 days they then refund you. My partner has no money to pay them & they don't seem interested in communication without an offer to repay. I feel he was misold this account & he is now stuck. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

St8_2

You should go in and demand the account to be shut, and not leave until it is!

Also any bad credit on your file because of this isnt justified.

From your story it is the banks fault and you do not owe them a penny. Leaving this will just get worse and worse as it has been the last 9 months.

The overdrawn amount (which stopped them from closing the account) was from their charge of £12 for an account that was in the 90 day cancellation no fee period. Wheres the logic in that?

Their policy is they can't close an account which is overdrawn, fair enough. What they should have done is waiver the £30 charge and remove the £12 payment (because you have cancelled within 90 days) and then close the account. Problem solved. But they didnt so now 9 months on and....

jonesMUFCforever

Very suspicious - to upgrade an account you need an account in the first place, and if the OP's partner was forever being asked about the upgrade why would they bother going into the bank if they were not either paying in or taking out?

I smell a troll.

ShelfStacker_3

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Very suspicious - to upgrade an account you need an account in the first place, and if the OP's partner was forever being asked about the upgrade why would they bother going into the bank if they were not either paying in or taking out?

I smell a troll.

Maybe they WERE paying in or taking out and the later statement was a slip, meant to mean "no money has been paid into/taken out of the account since"? Little harsh to judge so fast...

Doesn't smack of a troll to me - the OP should definitely go into the branch and complain, as loudly and vocally as possible.

nopot2peein

I was asking for advice I don't understand what you mean by troll but I will try to explain it a bit better. I wrote in the 1st line my partner has a Natwest step account which he has his benefit paid into, every time he visited the bank they would ask at the counter "Would you like to speak to someone about a better account?" or " We can arrange to open a better account for you". He eventually agreed to speak to someone & ended up with the Advantage Gold account that he hasn't used. His benefit is still paid into the step account. I also know many other people with basic bank accounts that are often approached to upgrade.
He has been into the branch several times in the last 9 months to try to sort it out but the woman that opened the account said she cannot close it whilst it's overdrawn & that they do not have the power to cancel charges. She gave him the number for the lending centre who she said can cancel the charges. The Natwest lending centre just want to discuss repayment of the £300+ which as I said is 100% charges, when my partner explained the situation the man said "Yes I can see that you haven't used the account but you need to speak to your local branch if you are disputing the charges".
They just don't seem interested & in the meantime charges are piling up.
I joined this site to look for advice on claiming back my own bank charges but I thought you might have some advice on my partners situation, I didn't expect sly comments. Any helpful advice is much appreciated. Thank you.

nopot2peein

DTo upgrade an account you need an account in the 1st place. I said in the 1st line he has a Natwest step account. It was whilst he was paying bills or withdrawing money from the Step account that they would ask if he wanted to upgrade.

Flower08

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Very suspicious - to upgrade an account you need an account in the first place, and if the OP's partner was forever being asked about the upgrade why would they bother going into the bank if they were not either paying in or taking out?

I smell a troll.

slightly harsh someone looking for advice not sly comments

i would definatly go into the branch and pretty much refuse to leave until the issue is sorted out and tell them you were missold the account

Hope you manage to sort it

Incisor

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

... I smell a troll.

Well, I don't. I am all to familiar with bank clerks making customers jump through hoops to meet some target. It seems in this case, the account was mis sold. There is a real matter of concern here.

[Personal opinion, people are all to ready to call troll on any post which does not fit their version of group think]

YorkshireBoy

https://www.natwest.com/secure/global/contact_us/complaints_procedure.htm

nopot2peein

Thank you. I will get my partner to put all the details in writing & send it to the Customer Relations Dept at the address given.
My neighbour is on incapacity benefit & the same bank clerk asked her only yesterday if she would like to make an appointment to discuss upgrading her account.
Hopefully they will eventually agree just to close the account & that will be the end of it. My partner has been for a job interview today & he's now worried that Natwest will start harassing him even more if they know he is no longer on benefits. I've told him to get an account at another bank for his wages if he starts working, the only problem is that this whole thing has probably wrecked his credit score.

Kavanne

He should have been more insistent about closing it instead of just allowing himself to be fobbed off...