helen p.

I have been with Nationwide all my adult life, over 40 years!
The trauma was as a result of the freezing of my accounts due to the large bills i had to pay a builder for building a house for my adult disabled daughter. It was legitimate, i was managing the build which was stressful enough. And, without warning, they said i could be the victim of a scam and had frozen my accounts.
I had selected the builder myself with the architect from three quotations, i knew there was no scam going on.
I was without access to my funds for a month.
The uncertainty of when i would be able to access funds added to the trauma.
I had no other accounts. My Mastercard was stopped because of a 50p fraud on it so I could not even use that to pay for tiles, carpets, paint and all the various contractors involved.
The staff were unsupportive, unhelpful and absent from the phone lines for 90 per cent of the time. I spent 3 hours on each of the 8 visits to the branch to try to resolve the matter, squeezed in around work commitments and at a financial loss. The staff in branch could not access the fraud squad either under 1.5hours. They made a malicious allegation i used an expletive which i did not at any time on the phone or in branch. I admittedly, was extremely stressed due to the Nationwide's actions. I had to clock watch on every visit and phone call due to other commitments, and the lack of a supportive response only added to the wounding.
The fraud squad 'lost' my emails with all the information they requested and which i had sent to them the first day of the freeze.
All my agency was taken away by their actions, I felt totally disempowered.
I had to borrow thousands from family and friends to support every day expenses. I complained only to be told i was unable to visit the branch nor have my accounts any more adding insult to injury. The pittance in compensation offered does not even cover the trauma informed counselling i am receiving. Furthermore, their apology was unconvincing. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS BANK/BUILDING SOCIETY TO ANYONE, NOT EVEN MY WORST ENEMY. SUGGEST YOU SWTCH IMMEDIATELY TO ANOTHER BANK. HOWEVER, I DO THINK BANKS GENERALLY HAVE TOO MUCH POWER.
THE LEGISLATION ON MONEY LAUNDERING NEEDS REVISING SO THE SO-CALLED 'VICTIM' IS NOT VICTIMISED, ABUSED AND TRAUMATISED BY THE BANK ACTIONS.