The use of 0845/0870 numbers within Natwest have a geniue purpose, and if your wondering why, the answer is below:

When you call your branch Natwest provide to you an 0845 number, however there are STD numbers avaliable. We provide you with the 0845 number for one main reason. If you wish to speak directly to your branch and nobody is able to answer the telephone the 0845 number will automatically divert to Natwest's Branch Support Team A.K.A Natwest BST. Preadvice of the divert is given before this takes place.

Natwest strive to improve customer service at the first point of contact. By calling on a local area number your call will not be delt with unless the branch are able to answer the telephone hense the reason for our support team.

The support team are specially trained to deal with all aspects of peoples accounts, whether it be personal or business. In the unlikely event the support team are unable to help you, we will try one of two things. Firstly contacting the branch on the internal number explainning the issue and transfering you were required, and secondly sending a fax across to the branch requesting they call you back when they next become avaliable.

Regards

Mr P.M. Lawrence

Customer Service Advisor
Liverpool RCSC

If your Customer Support is as bad as your spelling heaven help us

Anonymous wrote on Apr 21^st, 2007 at 10:00pm:

The use of 0845/0870 numbers within Natwest have a geniue purpose, and if your wondering why, the answer is below:

Genuine reason to charge more than a geographical call. Rubbish.

The reason we oppose these numbers is because they charge a premium. That is, a they cost more than a geographical call when in all practical sense they route to a landline. So the caller picks up the tab for this call routing which you mention. Thus, the enemy isn't call routing (NTS) but the associated costs. These costs should be met by the service provider.

When the new 03 UK-wide Numbers come to fruitition we should see a fairer deal for the consumer, and hopefully service providers like Natwest will take up these numbers.

In defence of NatWest their 0845 numbered callcentres have geographic alternatives given in the form of numbers to be called from abroad.

For example in London instead of 0845 0011 2233 one can dial 020 8804 4892. This is listed in the database together with numerous other geographic equivalents most of which are being provided by the bank itself.

The branches have 0845 phone numbers but geographic fax numbers. The branch hardly ever answers the phone so one might as well ring the callcentre who, if possible and if they cannot sort out the problem, will transfer the call to the branch anyway or arrange a callback.

This of course does not negate what Dave wrote about the use of 0845 numbers generally.

Ok, i spelt a few words incorrectly! One thing you will notice about Natwst, is there Customer Service is very helpful. Also i would like to add "All are service centres are within the U.K."

Currently discussions are being held regarding Natwest switching to 03 prefixes, and it appears upto now the go ahead has been confirmed although i am unsure of our target date.

charging customers for any reason is not acceptable, i agree with dave , the reason is rubbish
i'm with another bank who have an overseas call centre but they are more helpful than those sitting in the branches and often i have to argue with them if i need anything.
so i dont believe that NGN are for genuine reason

Anonymous wrote on Apr 22^nd, 2007 at 10:59am:

One thing you will notice about Natwest, is their Customer Service is very helpful.

Er.  No.  12 counters but only 3 staffed at the busiest time of day - lunchtime!

I don't mind having a heated discussion Heinz, however your moving slightly away from the point to this forum. If you can provide me with photographic evidence of any U.K. bank with 12 cashiers at their station at 12 noon (Lunch Time, the busiest time,) i will in person send you £100 of my own money.

Those who believe Natwest shouldn't charge people should book an appointment to see their GP tommorrow. How do you expect a business to be successful if they do not charge people every time they go overdrawn? Are you aware the banks get penalised also by the Bank of England as a result of customers not managing their accounts accordingly?

Finally Natwest doesn't charge you to send a statement to your front door or to replace your Service/Cashcard when it expires. All charges can be justified as everyone of us has signed a terms and agreement with a bank at some stage in our lives. Within the terms and conditions it clearly highlights all penalties.

Paul

As long as NatWest are up front with charges customers can form an opinion as to the fairness of any particular charge.  If customers feel that they are being overcharged they can take the business to another bank.  NatWest using 0845 or 0870 numbers is dishonest, as they are hidden charges, most customers do not realise that the Bank is making money out of them in this clandestine way.

Anonymous wrote on Apr 22^nd, 2007 at 10:50pm:

If you can provide me with photographic evidence of any U.K. bank with 12 cashiers at their station at 12 noon (Lunch Time, the busiest time,) i will in person send you £100 of my own money. Paul

Are you sure you are suggesting we should go into banks with our cameras and start taking pictures of the tellers????  Would your bosses agree?
Expressions like "Feet not touching the ground,  Getting yer collar felt, etc" spring to mind!

You may be hoping to improve your promotion chances by openly attempting to justify your beloved NatWest's use of covert premium phone numbers - but you are defending the indefensible.  Honest charges are always shown openly, these phone costs are not.

Quote:

Honest charges are always shown openly, these phone costs are not.

Errr..... excuse me? A quote about honest charges in a post about a UK bank?

Isn't that what is known as an oxymoron?  ;D

(If they thought they were honest, they'd defend them in court. They won't - because they can't!)

They can defend them, its as simple as a copy of your signature on a dotted line. They simply won't because its bad for publicity, not because they can't.

Quote:

They simply won't because its bad for publicity, not because they can't.

There just could be another reason: if they lost an avalanche of claims would follow amounting to millions.

Whether the charges can be defended or not should be left to the courts. I understand a case involving NatWest is pending.

No doubt the bank will rally their (creative) accountants to try to show that the charges reflect real costs but it is not going to be easy.

Loggsie

Your sticking to the company line is loyal but, I'm afraid, lacking in full thought. And that's exactly how Natwest will want you to behave.

Natwest and the other banks always settle these before getting to court because they can't afford to lose even a single case - the legal precedent  thus set would mean every other example of a similar charge would be settled AGAINST the bank at the very earliest stage in the legal process.

The reason they don't let even the biggest claims reach a court hearing is that they are guaranteed to lose. Regardless of the terms and conditions signed, CHARGING A PENALTY in a consumer contract, rather than RECOVERING THE COST INCURRED is illegal in the UK!

Actual cost incurred is circa 35p for most of these overdraft letters, so charging a £35 Fee makes it a penalty, and thus illegal and unenforceable.

Naturally Natwest do everything possible to put the claimant off along the way, hoping they will give up. (King Canute and the incoming tide springs to mind...)

Whether or not Natwest Customer service is "very helpful," if they are prepared to cheat customers out of cash just to speak to them, I'm not that keen to talk to them. Natwest as an organisation are just snakes in the grass - one of the worst abusers of the whole 0870/0845 scam in general, not just for branch numbers.

The "Another way" advertising is pure spin - their idea of "another way" is to give with one hand but take more away with the other - eg "direct line to your branch" - TRUE... but the call costs MORE than dialling Inverness from Penzance most of the time, and at best the same!

A colleague has two accounts with Natwest - a current account and a savings account (both non-internet).

Yesterday, she wanted to move some money from one to the other - a simple procedure she's done before and which, then, involved going to her branch, filling in a form and handing it over he counter.

Not being able to find the form in the racks, she went to the CS desk to ask for one - and was told the forms were not available any more and that she'd have to see a 'CS advisor' to do that.  

Remonstrating that she was on her lunch hour and didn't have time to wait she was assured that an advisor would be available in 5 minutes.

Well, 6 minutes actually - but he then spent 20 minutes trying to sell her other financial products and prying about her mortgage.  In the end she asked him for a form to close her accounts immediately - and the necessary document to facilitate the simple transfer appeared as if by magic!

She left having wasted half an hour.  She's moving her accounts next week.

Great CS NatWest!  Keep up the good work.

N.B.  When I persuaded my wife to move her Natwest accounts to a bank paying considerably more than NatWest's rip-off 0.1% on credit balances (she'd been with them 25 years), nobody even asked why or what could they do to keep her custom!

Great CS NatWest!  Keep up the good work.

In highlight of your previous message your friend sounds as though she was trying to transfer money into her ISA account and as this is a TAX free account the goverment put a block on it if there are no depsoits in the previous tax year.

In defense of Natwest as a group, we did up until quite recently ask customers to visit the branch to remove the government block. It was suggested by an internal source that all Customer Service Advisors CSA for short, send the forms to the home address rather than asking them to visit branches. As this was a main concern from our customers that this was the only way it could be done we opted to send the forms by post.

Just to clarify for those of you who hold a Tessa ISA, Maxi/Mini ISA the forms can be sent to you by calling one of the following departments:

Customer Care Team
or
Customer Service Line

Paul

Loggie

I notice at the start of your post that the number has the Skype icon.

I see it a lot now and am curious as to who shows the number that way.

Is the company with the number advertising the fact they use Skype (with pc) so we can call free or are they inviting a Skypeout call.

BillyBilly, when you see a Skype logo generally speaking it means that the person/business in question are contactable via Skype. If you are a user of the skype service yourself you can use this method to initiate a call to the registered Skype username or SkypeIn number.

For more information on SkypeIn numbers visit the hyperlink below:

http://www.skype.com/intl/en-gb/products/skypein/

The following message was posted on the NatWest business internet banking site today :-

If you are experiencing problems dialling the following Bankline Help desk numbers please use the alternate number provided below.

If you dial 08453003967 or 08453003968,please dial 01423532019

If you dial 08453004108 please dial 01423532583

All other numbers are operating as normal.

We appreciate your patience and assistance in ensuring only urgent Payment queries are directed to these numbers.

This message will be updated in one hour.

There was another message some time later requesting callers to revert to the original 0845 number.

I wonder whether or not the Geographical Numbers are still working..............

Can confirm that 01423532019 still functions at 1517hrs on Fri 25 May, and was answered within 8 rings.
Remember to use 141 first when dialling.

Notuk wrote on May 25^th, 2007 at 2:11pm:

If you dial 08453003967 or 08453003968,please dial 01423532019 If you dial 08453004108 please dial 01423532583

Thanks for this Notuk, I will add these numbers to the database.

I've found NatWest Bank pretty determined to make you use their 0870 numbers.  I took up a new credit card offer, with an 0800 number.  Straight through with that call, credit card promptly approved and issued and balance transfer done very efficiently.  Great!

Couple of weeks later I wanted to do another balance transfer - OK I'm a card tart!  I tried to use the same 0800 number and was firmly directed to the 0870 number on the back of the card.  I phoned them, but after being put on hold - 'thank you for your patience' crap - I hung up.  I then found another 0800 number on your website but on phoming that number was again firmly told to use the number on the back of my card.  I then used a geographic number which can be worked out by the international number also on the back of the card.  This was reasonanbly quick to answer.

It shows how 0870 numbers are used as 'profit centres'; you are put on hold to generate more revenue share for the bank.  Is there any other country where businesses get away with making you pay premium rates to do business with them?

loggsie  :- a decent business should not make money via peoples misfortune creeps like try to turn greed & selfishness into moral virtues. you brown tongued yes man,no your not a man your a mouse

Guys, your all forgetting one thing.....

Banks don't offer Customer Service anymore, it's all SELL SELL SELL!!!!

And I like the Natwest answer of how they get to ring you back, "we send a fax to the branch", I worked for another High Street Bank, our 0845 ching centres used to do that to, the faxes ended up in the bin unless we could sell customers something.

And you don't need 0845 numbers to operate overflow calls, thats just pure lies, it can be done on 01/02 numbers with the right equipment. 0845 number = profit = fat bonuses

In defence of NatWest a geographic alternative, albeit in the international form, is printed on the back of their card beside the 0870 number, and it does work. People with just a little savvy will call that instead of the 0870 number (prefixed with 141 of course).