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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be OUTRAGED by this comment regarding NatWest

137 replies

BumpingFuglies · 26/06/2012 16:02

"I understand from the news that the software problem was fixed very quickly but it appears to have taken much longer to deal with the complications that arose from this problem. Now Im obviously very sympathetic with the people who were without cash but surely they dont live from week to week do they? They should always keep some cash in reserve,just a few hundred pounds maybe and also why could they not get cash out on their charge or credit card?"

On another forum I post on. I'm thinking about boycotting it once I've flamed the living daylights out of the poster

How can people be so ignorant of the tight money situation that many people are in?

OP posts:
Original poster
BumpingFuglies · 26/06/2012 19:47

Jux, yes I heard that too. It was dependent on you going to a branch though I think, because identification had to be shown.

OP posts:
quoteunquote · 26/06/2012 20:00

How can people be so ignorant of the tight money situation that many people are in?

People choose to be ignorant, it suits their purpose.

can you educate them?

Only if they choose to listen, and really try to understand,but they have to want to.

how do you make them want to?

either put them in that position, if that's not possible,

see all the solutions that other repressed groups have used over the years, start with the ones with the least amount of jail time attached, keep going until something gives.

bogeyface · 26/06/2012 20:11

Jux that email was referring to credit cards, which alot of the people most affected, ie; those living hand to mouth, dont have!

I spoke to my mum about that exact email and she said "well thats seems fair enough, almost everyone has a credit card dont they?" I said "You dont! I dont, and anyone who is on benefits or a low income wont as they wont be able to afford the repayments" "Oh yes, I hadnt thought of that...."

But as I have mentioned before, she is a baby boomer who believes that if you cant afford to buy your own home or have savings, or just struggle week to week then you should damn well work harder!

Jux · 26/06/2012 20:15

Ah, my mistake, bogeyface. I read it in a hurry and didn't really take in the details. If it had happened next week, it would have affected us, and I would have read it more carefully. We were lucky.

ethelb · 26/06/2012 20:17

I would use my credit card or instant access savings at the coop. However I do realise nit everyone had that. But it is also not the case the ods can't be used at Natwest at the moment. The problem is that many people didn't have arranged overdrafts. Not all because they couldn't

bogeyface · 26/06/2012 20:21

I was ok in that I made what bit of cash we had last and in extemis I could have borrowed from my parents. But thats why i keep 2 accounts, belonging to seperate banking groups, one for CB and tax credits and one for wages. That way, if one crashes i know that I can use the other one. Wouldnt work for long as i am usually skint, but a good theory :o

bogeyface · 26/06/2012 20:24

The problem is that alot of people with bad credit ratings who would always have dealt in cash, and benefit claimants who would get paid at the post office, have all been pushed to have basic bank accounts. And these are the ones that have no credit card, no savings, no over draft and np other way of getting money. The same with those on low incomes who work from pay day to pay day. They cant afford credit, so just have to put up with it :(

carernotasaint · 27/06/2012 00:47

Thought i would link this in to this discussion as some of the reactions on this thread on the Guardian site seem a bit suss to me.
www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/jun/26/natwest-computer-glitch-what-to-do-if-affected?commentpage=last#end-of-comments

bogeyface · 27/06/2012 02:26

I think Natwest deserve praise for dealing with this so well, at no point did I feel ill informed. The glitch shouldn't have happened but they are doing as much as possible to rectify for it.

There's not many compaines that would go that far to rectify for a mistake

C&P'd from carer's link. Totally suss when compared to majority of responses.

Dee03 · 27/06/2012 07:52

Just checked my bank, still no cleared funds!!! Sad

Original poster
BumpingFuglies · 27/06/2012 09:00

Dee, sorry to hear that. What will you do?

OP posts:
Original poster
BumpingFuglies · 27/06/2012 09:01

YY to what bogeyface said

OP posts:
geminitiger · 27/06/2012 09:14

I hope that things get better for you soon Dee.

I'd love to know which Natwest staff the commenter from bogeyface's post dealt with, as they sound a lot better than the lying muppets that I had to deal with. When you have 15 people who work at the same company get 15 different stories it looks piss poor to say the least. Angry

FlangelinaBallerina · 27/06/2012 09:35

I had no idea it was considered prudent to keep a few hundred pounds available in current account and ready cash anyway. I'm fortunate enough not to live hand to mouth and to have a few months savings. But this isn't kept in my ordinary account, I try to have as little in there at the end of the month as possible, and have accounts with different banks to minimise risk. I had always thought this and not carrying much cash was sensible. So if someone puts a knife to my back at the cashpoint, there won't be that much in there for them to take. But if my NatWest account had been my main one and all my direct debits were due to go out on Monday, it would've been a nightmare. Is it really more sensible to keep several hundred extra in a current account just in case?

(Clearly this issue would be irrelevant for someone who doesn't have any savings, something which may well be outside their control).

Vicky2011 · 27/06/2012 09:58

I am not poor by any means but I will never forget the massive queues of people to get vast sums of money out of Northern Rock (100k+ was not uncommon) and thinking that I will never manage to save that much in my whole working life. I think some people are naturally v cautious with money (whether well off or not) and manage to save a lot so perhaps they struggle to understand the effects of something like this.

StuntGirl · 27/06/2012 10:48

elthelb Not everyone can access overdrafts/credit cards. I can't. Technically I could get an overdraft with my bank - the facility is there - but I do not have the spare £10 a month it would cost me to have one. And yes, I budget my finances, and the fact is there is not the money to pay for such a facility no matter how helpful it may be.

And once my credit rating has improved and I CAN access these kinds of finances I couldn't honestly say whether I'd get them. Probably the most sensible option for me financially, given my track record, would be NOT to have access to credit and simply budget within my means (which is what I do now). It's the most sensible option for me and if you choose to think I'm "not helping myself" well then so be it.

WenTheEternallySurprised · 27/06/2012 11:00

Ethel, would like to explain how my friend, A, might cope? She has three school-aged children to feed and rent to pay. She has no access to an overdraft or credit card owing to being on benefits due to ill health.

It's all very well to say, "budget for it" and "use a credit card" but if you can't access those things you are, to use a technical term, fucked.

ethelb · 27/06/2012 11:08

@wen " but if you can't access those things you are, to use a technical term, fucked."

that's what I have been saying. Read my bloody posts.

@stunt my overdraft doesn't cost me £10 a month. Move bank.

Adversecamber · 27/06/2012 12:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Dee03 · 27/06/2012 13:00

I'll be ok short term, i can borrow food/petrol money off my dad. (hopefully)
I can ring rent/council tax and explain and just hope they are nice!!

God knows whats going to happen if not sorted by Monday as all my house direct debits are due out....all of them!!!

How can this problem be going on for so long!!!!
I want to phone the bank but i know i'll just get fobbed off and no answers!! Sad

NightLark · 27/06/2012 13:09

'People' generally may have no idea what it is like for others, that's true. So they will make stupid comments.

But the bloody bank knows exactly what it is like, doesn't it? I mean, they can see the accounts. They must have some kind of idea what proportion of their customers live in a way that means they will be utterly screwed by this mess. The accounts that virtually empty in the first quarter of the month, the ones where money-out matches money-in as quickly and exactly as possible...

carernotasaint · 27/06/2012 13:14

bogeyface i posted on that Guardian link simply saying that i will not be leaving the bank today until i receive the money that should have been paid in today. i got flamed and called a bully even though NOWHERE in my posts on there did i say i was going to be bullying or threatening. i mentioned that i am paid fortnightly and that im a carer and i also mentioned the housebound disabled man who kept getting told to come into his branch and i STILL got flamed. (the disabled man phoned into five live the other night. You would think that the fact i get paid fortnightly and am a carer that the posters on there would work out we havent got much money instead of siding with the bank that have caused this ongoing problem.
i find it incredibly suspicious.

carernotasaint · 27/06/2012 13:24

having looked at that thread again today one of my comments was pulled but that comment of mine was in response to an extremely nasty comment directed at me which was also pulled.

Slobby · 27/06/2012 13:37

Whilst the poster on that thread definitely shows a lack of empathy, it's times like this I'm glad to be a tin foil hatter.

Freezer full of food - check
Canned goods galore - check
Herbs on windowsill - check
Jerry can full of petrol - check
A months cash (in GBP) - check
USD, EUR, JPY, AUD, CAD, Gold and Silver - check
Multiple current accounts, each with a months salary in them - check
John Lofty Wiseman's SAS survival handbook - check

You cannot rely on the system.