jcwacky vs NatWest ###won###

[jcwacky]

On 2nd May I sent a letter to NatWest requesting a total of £745 in charges.

On 10th May I received a letter saying they were currently investigating my request and would respond as soon as possible.

I have not heard anything since, what should my next step be?

Thanks
James

[hedgey06]

Hi James, welcome on board the nat west forum!

If you've sent them your prelim (with schedule of charges attached - 8% interest column hidden) and received their bog standard letter - your next step is to send them the LBA plus another schedule of your charges giving them another 14 days to respond positively to your request. Send the letter to the Borehamwood address recorded delivery - link to the letter is here 3. letter before action - Consumer version - asking for it back

Good luck, hedgey

[jcwacky]

Thanks hedgey, I'll get that done straight away!

[jcwacky]

Exciting thing happened today!

Let me fill you in first: I sent the lba as Hedgey said. This was sent by recorded delivery on Monday (2nd). In the letter I said the normal stuff, but also added 2 more charges of £38 each onto the total, stated they were new charges since the last request and added them to the enclosed spreadsheet. This brought my total up from £740 (Not £745 as I said in my first post) to £821.

However, today I received a letter from NatWest stating all the usual crap but offering me the full original £740 to be paid into my account. Obviously the 2 letters crossed in the post (As I have just moved house and it had to be redirected, I notified NatWest of my new address on Monday).

So should I accept the £740? Or should I try and get the 2 new charges of £76 as well? Would asking for the extra £76 put the offer at risk?

Also to consider is as I am in Scotland the maximum claim in the Small Claims court is £750, the new charges push me over this limit, so I might not even be able to claim for them if it goes to court.

Many Thanks
James

[jcwacky]

Please? What should I do about the extra 2 charges? Is it worth it?

Don't worry I'm definitely going to donate!

Cheers
James

[hedgey06]

Hi James............ and wow! How quick was that offer!!

I haven't got any knowledge of the small claims system in Scotland whatsoever mate, so I can't really advise you on that one. However, I'd be inclined to phone nat west and say you're really happy to accept the offer but could they add the additional charges on as per your lba. It can't hurt............. they may even say yes! If it's a no, I'd be inclined to accept............... and then send another prelim asking for the new charges back!

[jcwacky]

Thanks for the reply hedgey, I'm not sure if they'd even listen to me on the phone would they? Not sure if it's worth delaying things by sending another letter. Hmmm. I can't decide!

[hedgey06]

It can't hurt to phone - use the number that's on their 'gesture of goodwill' letter. Lots of peeps on here phone them to see where they're up to with claims, refunds, etc. You'll never know unless you try! x

[jcwacky]

Ok, I'll give them a call tomorrow, there isn't a telephone number on the letter, but in the complaints leaflet that was sent with it there is an 0800 number next to the Borehamwood address. I'll try that and let you know how it goes! Thanks again!

[jcwacky]

Ok, here's what happened:

I dialled the number marked Customer Relations in the leaflet (0800 015 4112), Option 1 was if you wanted to make a complaint, Option 2 was for anything else, so I chose option 2, as I wasn't complaining about anything.

Guy answers, I tell him why I'm calling - That they should ignore the last letter I sent them and asked about getting 2 extra charges refunded. He told me I'd need to speak to Customer Relations and proceeded to give me the number I had just dialled and told me to go to Option 2, I said "Err, I think I've just done that." - he said, you need to go to option 2. I presumed an error had been made somewhere, so I thanked him and proceeded to dial again, and went to option 2.

Upon answering I again explained my reason for the call again, to which he told me I needed to speak to customer relations, he also told me he thought it unlikely that I would be able to claim back my 2 extra charges without making a separate claim, as "a lot of work goes into working out each claim". This time he told me he would but me through to customer relations, so I held the line while he put me though.

Upon answering I explained my reason for calling for the third time , to which he replied "You will need to get in touch with customer relation about this"!!! (do you see a pattern forming here?) I told him I thought I had just been put through to CR, to which he gave me the number I had just dialled, but this time he told be to go to option 1, even though I wasn't making a complaint. So I dialed again and hit option 1.

I finally got through to a woman, to whom I explained my reason for the call to again. She took my account details and made a note to ignore the last letter I had sent. When I asked about getting the 2 extra charges refunded as well, she told me to just put a note at the bottom of the offer form and the claims department would see what they could do.

So I got somewhere finally, and it seems promising that I may get the 2 extra charges refunded as well. I shall send off my offer acceptance confirmation and let you know what happens!

Roughly how long do they normally take to pay the offer back into your account?

Thanks again,
James

[hedgey06]

Blimey, they dragged that one out a bit didn't they! If you need to phone them again - try 0845-3030456.

But at least you got what sounds like a positive response in the end James - so well done for sticking it out. Let us know what happens - and fingers crossed for you that they add the additional charges to the final payout! xx

[jcwacky]

WAHOOOO!!!!

The full £816 went into my bank account today!

That's only 3 working days after they will have received my acceptance confirmation. And they gave me back the 2 charges I had received while waiting for their initial reply, that I asked for at the bottom of the acceptance letter.

Thanks for all your advice hedgy!!

And thanks to this forum for providing me with so much info, I shall def be donating!

James

[hedgey06]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
That's a brilliant result James - well done......... I'm really pleased for you!
Best wishes, hedgey xxx

[HSBCrusher]

Congratulations!


Crusher

[NaciravBanks]

Well Done, That was ver smooth indeed! i wished they were like that in London lol! Did you have to sign any of there condition's? ie, not to claim any future charges??

WELL DONE

[jcwacky]

Originally Posted by NaciravBanks

Did you have to sign any of there condition's? ie, not to claim any future charges??

There didn't appear to be any strict conditions if I accepted the offer however in the letter it did say

Should you be unwilling to accept any [future] charges, then we may need to consider if we are prepared to continue to provide you with your existing banking facilities. Instead we may off you a simple account that does not offer borrowing facilities or other services that can result it charges.

My account is currently a student account with an interest free overdraft.

[livelylad]

Thread moved to success forum.