Natwest Student account - not happy

Either way, the amount I have with them is irrelevant with this issue.
Just come back from the branch, spoke to a great guy who we think has dealt with it and got a priority email address to send my photo off and the card should be with me within 10 days. Hopefully it'll be soon as I'm travelling next Friday.
I've learnt that dealing with people over the phone will get you nowhere - go and see the ****s and it'll get sorted
 
I wouldnt bother mate, theyre a horrendous company. I've had my overdraft for 2 years with them and never touched it. Last summer i actually used the overdraft because i was between jobs and two months later they're down my throat demanding money back, they actually threatened with debt collectors.

Wtf guys? Its a student overdraft for gods sake. Ended up moving my overdraft elsewhere, never want to deal with them again.
 
It's pathetic!
I'm currently planning my journey for home next weekend, costing £30 standardly via train, but if I had my railcard it would only be £19.80 :(
 
Unlucky :(

I'm suprised they're allowed to advertise being able to phone your branch, because clearly it isn't as they asked me which of a few branches it was when I gave them the sort code and mis-pronounced all the place names, until after getting forwarded around I ended up getting forwarded to an internal line at the branch that I was told I shouldn't have been put onto, who helpfully advised me it was something that could only be done in person, unlike the call centre muppets who just forwarded me around. Got into the branch, talked it through, turned out the letter I'd been sent was incorrect and they fixed it all for me, but blimey - its one awful organsiation, except for the branches who have always been really nice and helpful. Bizarre how it mixes good and bad like that.

Here's a tip though, if you've been deep in the overdraft a while, use the cashier instead of the machine. The system will flag up "OMG DEBT! MAKE AN URGENT MEETING!", they'll get someone to speak to you about it, who will go "oh yeah, student debt, no problem", tick a box on the computer, and you won't get any threatening letters or anything.
 
Inquisitor said:
I tried applying for a Natwest student account several times last year. None of them came to fruition so I just gave up in the end. Didn't even get anything in the post.
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Me too. The first bank I tried to get an account with was NatWest, but they were quite obviously not interested.

Went into Lloyds TSB and got an account instantly, with a sizeable overdraft available too.:)
 
I opened a student account prior to going to uni (but this was before they had the railcard offer). I got all the forms filled in and handed them into the branch no problems.

Couple of months later without realising it i still had a bog standard account....they didn't forward the details on. Thankfully it got sorted quickly.
 
As someone stated above, I do like natwest as a bank.. I had a lot of problems with HSBC and then with Lloyds..
 
Everyone I know who has tried to get a Natwest student account has had massive problems. They're terrible.
 
Ben M said:
Everyone I know who has tried to get a Natwest student account has had massive problems. They're terrible.
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+1. I opened an HSBC student account 4 years ago now, and have had no problems with them ever since. At least two of my mates went with Nat West, equally had no problems.

This year, my sister started university and tried to open a NatWest student account. Took months to even get the account opened, let alone the railcard. I had to visit a branch on her behalf and refuse to leave until it was sorted, before they got their act together. I don't understand the 'they couldn't care less argument' - they wouldn't offer the service unless they thought they'd eventually make money from customers who stay with them after they start work (most for life, I would guess!). What's the point creating such a bad impression now, if that's their intention?
 
In my experience, the NatWest student account has been useless. Here's what happened when I tried to get them to give me a Maestro card, partly quoted from other forums:

Me said:
I've been with NatWest since I was 12 or so, and upgraded my account to a student account - never received a Maestro card or any form of overdraft, as NatWest's promotional material suggested I should. In my first year of Uni, in 2006, I applied for a Maestro card, only to be rejected as I 'didn't meet the bank's criteria'.

Fast-forward to this month, and I decided to try my luck again. I went down the bank and filled in their form for the Servicecard. Whilst there, the lady informed me that I was in fact eligible for a £1,400 overdraft, which for some reason hadn't been applied to my account. This left me a little confused - bearing in mind that my financial status hadn't changed significantly in the last couple of years, why would NatWest offer me £1,400 of credit if they consider it too risky to give me a simple Servicecard?

Worse was to come. Re-applying for a Maestro card took me more than a month, owing to NatWest's stunning ability to lose application forms - it was only on my third attempt to submit their application form that it finally got processed. Confusingly, the gentleman who handled my third application insisted to me that no form of credit checking was required in order to receive a Maestro card, contradicting what several NatWest employees had previously told me. He also asked me who had handled my last lost application; when I told him, he showed no surprise as that staff member was apparently commonly held to be useless. Evidently the lady who handled my initial application was useless as well...

A week later and I finally received my shiny new Maestro card. Having been assured that I could continue to use the PIN which I used on my previous Solo card, I went to get some cash out. Of course, the card didn't work - the PIN was wrong. Cue another argument with NatWest. None of the NatWest staff on duty could explain why my PIN wouldn't work. They displayed a baffling tendency to contradict one another - one gentleman claimed that he could reset my PIN and send me out a new one, whilst the cashier next to him insisted that resending the PIN would only readvise me of my current one. This was concerning, particularly as nobody on hand could assure me that NatWest could send me a PIN number which would work with my card, owing to the possibility that the card might be faulty rather than the PIN. Nevertheless, the only option was to wait to receive a new PIN.

Within the next week, I received not one but two PIN advice slips, both containing the same number. One had evidently been sent shortly after the card itself, although the letter which I received with the card stated very clearly that I should continue to use my existing PIN. The second letter was simply a PIN reminder. Now, finally, I can use the card which I was entitled to all along. No sign of that promised overdraft, though.
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I realise this probably varies a lot by branch, but when nobody at your local branch understands how their own products work, you tend not to trust them to handle your money.
 
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Had no problems. They wouldn't give me a Maestro while I was still at sixth form, but as soon as I'd started uni, popped into the branch and asked for one. She said it was fine and I got it through a few days later. Also had no other problems with them as Freakitchen said. They were even nice enough to deem me valid for a Platinum credit card... with a £700 limit. Which was strange.

Just go into the branch and refuse to leave until they sort the railcard.
 
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