Bank hardly on fine form with this account...

QI’m the treasurer of a small literary charity. After many years, I decided while I shall remain a member, I ought to hand over to someone else. the most involved part of this was altering the cheque signature names – also those allowed to carry out online transfers. We have three accounts, the main one is with Natwest. I thought the easiest way to do this was to visit the new treasurer and go to Natwest branch near his home. We were ushered into a private office where a senior member of staff, whose name badge displayed several banking qualifications, told us if we did it ourselves online and made an error, “India would reject it”. We filled in many details on the form he gave us, signing several times. he told us that it would be finalised within two weeks. We spent half an hour in the bank. After three weeks of silence, I asked what had happened. the bank said the form had been rejected within two days. What has happened? Robert C

AIt’s a good question, which Natwest cannot answer. It has failed to explain why you got the wrong form or why you were not contacted as soon as the form was rejected, instead allowing you to wait until you visited a branch to enquire what had happened. Because you completed the form with a senior banker, you had every expectation of correctness. But the processing centre in India said no. Why Natwest failed to tell you this is something the bank cannot explain despite several requests. It says “we are still investigating this”. to make matters worse, two Natwest departments contacted you. Both sent more forms but as these forms differ in detail, it is unclear which to complete. One department sent a cheque for £125 as compensation for your hassle. Natwest says: “We apologise for the inconvenience in updating the account. We’re focused on getting the right outcome for customers. “We’re not yet sure why this error occurred – but we’re making sure we resolve it as quickly as