That sounds like the same useless Virgin bank chat. the bot closes the chat if you leave it idle for 3 minutes or more
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Sounds a bit like the Chat within NatWest and to an extent Barclays. In the former you get not a lot, in Barclays I’ve found to be hit and miss.
So far the only fintech experience I’ve had is with First Direct.
Interesting how Nationwide make it piss easy to upgrade to a £13 per month account but to downgrade you have to fill out an application form on DocuSign (that doesn’t display properly on iOS, I tried several browsers) then it takes 3 working days to decide and if they don’t approve they’ll send snail mail asking for more info…
If I don’t have a FlexAccount by Thursday I’ll be switching to Lloyds. If I do have a FlexAccount by then, I’ll be switching still, but waiting for the card. Online/Mobile banking feel soooo ancient 
Also I changed the title as it was a bit too long and the tech thing was ages ago 
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Remember this being a pain from another thread, was this going from FlexDirect to FlexPlus, and then down to FlexAccount?
Yes, I tried to go from FlexDirect to FlexAccount but it could only be done by phoning. But you could go FlexDirect > FlexPlus and FlexPlus > FlexAccount via online banking so I choose to do that (and to get the cards)
Clearly the FlexDirect > FlexPlus worked instantly but FlexPlus > FlexAccount is a manual process taking a long time. It’s this sort of sneaky sneak that puts me off companies and if I wasn’t already put off by their very 90s online and mobile banking, it would definitely make me want to move
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That’s annoying as I was hoping to do the same, and assumed as it gave the option to do it with online banking it’d just go through.
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I’m hoping they’ll just approve it tomorrow/Tuesday. I’ll keep you posted in any case
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Don’t forget to complain about the cancellation process! Legacy bank; they’ll throw bigger money at you to make it right.
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If I was planning on staying, I would, but I’m not sure it’s worth the effort
I waited ages to downgrade their account. Did a form online only to get a letter about 2 weeks later saying it couldn’t be done and to call them. I then got charged another month for the account so I just simply popped the details into Monzo and closed the account.
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Ah, great… you give me so much confidence
Have you tried just calling customer service? I don’t remember it being a faff at all (though I can’t remember the route I took to downgrade).
No, I detest phone calls and companies that force you to use their awful phone systems.
They are not an accessible form of communication (I have my own accessibility needs but can manage) and they provide no record of the discussion to the user without submitting a DSAR (I love a paper trail).
I simply never answer phone calls and don’t call anyone beyond my partner/parents. If you need me, text me or email me.
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I tried calling and it actually made me scream with frustration. Key in account number. Ok. Key in phone banking password. Now which one is that? I have six – yes, six (6!!) different secret answers/codes/passwords noted down that I had to set up when registering for online banking. Or did they send it via mail?
Which is it? How many digits is it meant to be? How is a human meant to remember this all without writing them down exactly?
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Fair enough.
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I was kind of hoping we would see Nationwide refresh their apps/services before the year was through, but it’s not feeling very likely now.
This is why I love voip over the old landline. It just records everything and emails me a copy of the recording after every call.
I have a program that can auto transcribe them into text too, and because the ends of the calls are separated by channels, they can detect who is saying what, and so I end with something which resembles a text message conversion. All automatically without me every having to do anything. Great way to retain call records with companies. They can’t get away with miss-selling, or lying anymore.
Like you though, phone calls aren’t accessible for me, so when they’re the only option, I use the relay service, and those are logged/recorded too.
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What VOIP Service do you use and is the recording free? SIPGate wants to charge me for recording, per call too
Just the one my ISP provides. Recordings are free yes.
The numbers cost me £1.20 per month each. I only pay for calls I make (which I don’t make), and any incoming calls I forward to another number (treats the call as outgoing to the number I forward it to and charges the relevant rate). My dog’s phone number for instance diverts all incoming calls to a range of mobiles, so there’s always someone to answer in case she went missing. I’d get charged for those incoming calls.
Recording can be optionally enabled along with pre recorded warnings that will play to anyone who calls, if you wish to enable them.
Details and features etc here:
https://www.aa.net.uk/voice-and-mobile/voip-information/
The transcribing program is my own thing that I’ve made myself, which lives on my home server.
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I also use A&A’s VoIP service, as does my mother at her new house. We were able to port the landline number from her old house, too.
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