Nationwide Building Society
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Pasareti
Posts: 14 Forumite
Can somebody please explain to me why are they considered to be the best,or among the best banks? Unless all the others are damned awful I don't see how this can be the case.True, their branches employ lovely,helpful people but it can take over half an hour queueing to get to them.
As for their way of treating customers let me tell you what's happened to me. Sometime in November they decided that my card may have been used at a place which they thought could have been compromised and decided to issue a new card. Never told me.Apparently it is their policy is not the tell the account holder that their card is being changed.
Then one day they decided that my payment to Amazon for some £20 was dodgy and blocked my card. Never told me. I could not imagine why my payment did not go through. Again, it is their policy not to involve the account holder and god forbid to check is the transaction was genuine or not.
They seem to make authoritarian decisions above the customer's head and are absolutely sure they are in the right.
I don't think so.
As for their way of treating customers let me tell you what's happened to me. Sometime in November they decided that my card may have been used at a place which they thought could have been compromised and decided to issue a new card. Never told me.Apparently it is their policy is not the tell the account holder that their card is being changed.
Then one day they decided that my payment to Amazon for some £20 was dodgy and blocked my card. Never told me. I could not imagine why my payment did not go through. Again, it is their policy not to involve the account holder and god forbid to check is the transaction was genuine or not.
They seem to make authoritarian decisions above the customer's head and are absolutely sure they are in the right.
I don't think so.
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Comments
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You seem to be a bit unlucky with your Nationwide account. What have customer services said when you complained?
Maybe consider switching and getting a bit of cash from a competitor bank.
I’ve never had any problems with cards or transactions from Nationwide, apart from losing the interest they used to pay on the FlexPlus current account. As I’ve almost totally cashed out of the account as a direct result of that decision, I’m wondering whether it’s worth £13 a month for the “benefits”. I have had two phones replaced by the mobile phone insurance, so there’s that.0 -
Never had problems with them.
When you say they 'never told me' - what communications systems are set up with them? Do you have a mobile registered with them? Or email? Do you use online banking?
I'd be surprised if they don't communicate possible fraud to you via at least one of those means.
You obviously use the branch - so perhaps you don't use those other systems?0 -
It sounds as if your problem is with your Nationwide Credit Card, right? In my experience, they do indeed have more intense fraud prevention controls compared with, let's say, Barclaycard or AMEX. I currently have 6 different CCs, but my go-to card is Nationwide, which I have held for many years.
Getting your card unblocked is a doddle - are you not getting a text when they block a transaction, asking you to confirm or otherwise that it was you who attempted the payment? What happened when you rang them to complain?
Do you have a backup card, or other alternative payment method? If not, why not? What would you do if e.g. the VISA network went down, you are miles from home and have an empty petrol tank? What would you do if your Nationwide CC got stolen?
They aren't a bank, btw, but a Building Society. Their current accounts are definitely amongst the best, at least for interest payment and switching.Can somebody please explain to me why are they considered to be the best,or among the best banks?0 -
We never got on with Nationwide and eventually left them. Their service was worse than other places and consistently made admin errors.
We did get 500 pounds from them though in compensation through 4 separate complaints over a 3 year period where they admitted they were at fault in the substandard service provided that resulted in the complaints, including actually misplacing a complaint and denying they had received it even though I had a reference number generated by their secure messaging system.
Their credit card seemed to be very average service and then I discovered they outsource the admin and call centre to a third party company, so the employees who you talk to dont actually work for Nationwide but provide outsourcing services to a number of banks.
As for them being a building society not a bank, this is just in name only and I still fail to see anything they provide that distinctly sets them apart.0 -
Never had a problem with them but I got my Flexaccount back in the 80s when they were just trying to compete with the banks who were all rubbish.
One of their selling points was they're co-ops so no shareholders to siphon off the profits so better services and rates for the customers/ members (we had a good mortgage with them). There's not that many building societies left like that. Abbey National, Alliance and Leicester, Halifax, all turned into banks now and swallowed up by bigger ones so competition goes down.There is no honour to be had in not knowing a thing that can be known - Danny Baker0 -
I've had a savings account with them for over 40 years and more lately moved my current account to them after becoming frustrated with another high street bank. I find them as good, or better, than the other high street banks that I've dealt with and I'm happy to stick with them.0
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oooh. You are sticking with their savings account(s) despite their terrible interest rates now?jamesperrett wrote: »I've had a savings account with them for over 40 years0 -
Never had a problem with them but I got my Flexaccount back in the 80s when they were just trying to compete with the banks who were all rubbish.
Me too
My FlexAccount has been my main account ever since then. (still get the free European insurance)
My main credit card is with Nationwide, and as far as security goes, it has never been declined or blocked, the worse I have had is having to input a text code to authorise payments. (due to SCA, I assume)
I find their online banking and app offerings to be more than adequate for my needs, and very rarely need to go into a branch.
(Our branch is usually filled with folk of an older generation who prefer the traditional ways of face to face banking, and it can take an age to get served)
Whilst I have moved money away from Nationwide to benefit from better savings rates, keep my everyday spending money separate, avoid overseas fees, etc, for my basic banking needs I cannot fault them.0 -
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