NatWest online banking and Cora your friendly (but dumb) digital assistant

[David]

Just venting.

NatWest has a digital assistant with some preprogrammed responses.If you
"play the game" then you just keep cycling through the same options.

I found that three messages of "Human" got you connected to a real person
Basically shouting at them.

Why is everything so difficult?

Do they save more money than drive away customers by erecting barriers to
talking to a real human being?

Grump


Dave R

[nib]

Post by David
Just venting.
NatWest has a digital assistant with some preprogrammed responses.If you
"play the game" then you just keep cycling through the same options.
I found that three messages of "Human" got you connected to a real person
Basically shouting at them.
Why is everything so difficult?
Do they save more money than drive away customers by erecting barriers to
talking to a real human being?
Grump
Dave R

Always found it useless. It makes you think you can ask it questions,
like a proper AI, but it picks out just a few words from your sentence
and answers relating to them and nothing else, no parsing at all.

When you get to a person it works!

nib

[The Natural Philosopher]

Post by David
Just venting.
NatWest has a digital assistant with some preprogrammed responses.If you
"play the game" then you just keep cycling through the same options.
I found that three messages of "Human" got you connected to a real person
Basically shouting at them.
Why is everything so difficult?
Do they save more money than drive away customers by erecting barriers to
talking to a real human being?

They are a cartel. There is no where else for customers to go..

Its the same as government.

As anyone who actually thought Starmer would be an improvement on Sunak
now realises.

[Joe]

On Sun, 18 Aug 2024 10:05:51 +0100

Post by The Natural Philosopher
As anyone who actually thought Starmer would be an improvement on
Sunak now realises.

I don't think anyone did, the Labour vote didn't increase significantly
from last time, basically the UK public sector.

But any vote for the Conservatives would have been seen as a vote of
approval for their antics over the last decade, and few could bring
themselves to do that.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Post by Joe
On Sun, 18 Aug 2024 10:05:51 +0100

Post by The Natural Philosopher
As anyone who actually thought Starmer would be an improvement on
Sunak now realises.

I don't think anyone did, the Labour vote didn't increase significantly
from last time, basically the UK public sector.

Wont stop them going totally batshit crazy on wokerism as an excuse to
introduce totalitarianism.

Post by Joe
But any vote for the Conservatives would have been seen as a vote of
approval for their antics over the last decade, and few could bring
themselves to do that.

There is that, to be sure.

[Jeff Gaines]

On 18/08/2024 in message

Post by Joe
On Sun, 18 Aug 2024 10:05:51 +0100

Post by The Natural Philosopher
As anyone who actually thought Starmer would be an improvement on
Sunak now realises.

I don't think anyone did, the Labour vote didn't increase significantly
from last time, basically the UK public sector.
But any vote for the Conservatives would have been seen as a vote of
approval for their antics over the last decade, and few could bring
themselves to do that.

As a lifelong Conservative voter I believe you have summed that up very
well.

[Clive Page]

Post by David
Just venting.
NatWest has a digital assistant with some preprogrammed responses.If you
"play the game" then you just keep cycling through the same options.
I found that three messages of "Human" got you connected to a real person
Basically shouting at them.
Why is everything so difficult?
Do they save more money than drive away customers by erecting barriers to
talking to a real human being?

I too have wondered about that, but so many large companies are now doing it, indeed it's now harder than ever to find a phone number that will connect to a real human.

I have a now fairly old TomTom sat-nav which comes with free map updates "for life" - which means until the device fails I suppose. I just got a new message saying that a new update was ready to download so went through the usual tedious process - but TomTom forced me to download a new version of their app which connects the device via USB and it simply would no longer allow me to log in. The only way of contacting TomTom that I could find was to type in messages to an virtual assistant, which kept going around in circles. It does seem stupid of them. I certainly can't recommend the brand to anyone and would never buy another device from a company with such poor customer service.

Much the same applies to several banks that I've tried, but fortunately there is a tiny bit of competition in this sector. I suggest you switch banks - my experience of First Direct (part of HSBC) is that you can actually talk to a human if it's really necessary.

[Jeff Gaines]

Post by Clive Page
Much the same applies to several banks that I've tried, but fortunately
there is a tiny bit of competition in this sector. I suggest you switch
banks - my experience of First Direct (part of HSBC) is that you can
actually talk to a human if it's really necessary.

Hear, hear - and they are located in the UK which is a major advantage.

I used to bank with HSBC. I made an online payment to somebody who told me
his account name was "Smith Gardening", it was actually "Fred Smith". I
told the browser pop up to pay anyway.

Later that day one of HSBC's Customer Disservice staff decide I had been
conned so cancelled the payment, tried to phone me at my old address then
wrote to me at my old address. They then ended online banking until I
presented myself at one of their branches to prove who I was, which I
refused to do.

Over the next six months they gradually excluded more and more services
until the account was unusable. All correspondence, emails and letters,
was diverted to the Customer Disservice department. I asked to speak to a
manager and was told "managers aren't concerned with customer service".
They gave me an email address supposed to be the executive team which also
diverted to Customer Disservice.

Fortunately I had a savings account elsewhere so set up a current account
at that bank to keep me going. In the end I "Switched" to First Direct,
same group but what a difference. I had been banking with HSBC for 58
years when this happened and they didn't give a toss.

[Jeff Layman]

Post by Jeff Gaines
Over the next six months they gradually excluded more and more services
until the account was unusable. All correspondence, emails and letters,
was diverted to the Customer Disservice department. I asked to speak to a
manager and was told "managers aren't concerned with customer service".
They gave me an email address supposed to be the executive team which also
diverted to Customer Disservice.

A couple of months ago I had a problem when they royally screwed up
sending me a replacement secure key. Getting nowhere online and by
phone, I wrote a letter to Customer Services and got a phone call from
them a couple of days after sending the letter. They agreed their level
of service was poor, apologised for the "stress and inconvenience"
caused, and credited my account with £75 in compensation!

[Sam Plusnet]

Post by Jeff Layman

Post by Jeff Gaines
Over the next six months they gradually excluded more and more services
until the account was unusable. All correspondence, emails and letters,
was diverted to the Customer Disservice department. I asked to speak to a
manager and was told "managers aren't concerned with customer service".
They gave me an email address supposed to be the executive team which also
diverted to Customer Disservice.

A couple of months ago I had a problem when they royally screwed up
sending me a replacement secure key. Getting nowhere online and by
phone, I wrote a letter to Customer Services and got a phone call from
them a couple of days after sending the letter. They agreed their level
of service was poor, apologised for the "stress and inconvenience"
caused, and credited my account with £75 in compensation!

That's fine if they fix the problem.

All too often a company will, in effect, say:
"You have raised a complaint. Here's £x - now sod off and shut up."

This being a substitute for any pretence of fixing the underlying problem.

[Jeff Gaines]

Post by Sam Plusnet

Post by Jeff Layman
A couple of months ago I had a problem when they royally screwed up
sending me a replacement secure key. Getting nowhere online and by phone,
I wrote a letter to Customer Services and got a phone call from them a
couple of days after sending the letter. They agreed their level of
service was poor, apologised for the "stress and inconvenience" caused,
and credited my account with £75 in compensation!

That's fine if they fix the problem.
"You have raised a complaint. Here's £x - now sod off and shut up."
This being a substitute for any pretence of fixing the underlying problem.

Or do what so many do nowadays. Reject your complaint and refer you to
their trade body/ombudsman to make a complaint knowing most people won't.

[Davey]

On 19 Aug 2024 10:24:31 GMT

Post by Jeff Gaines

Post by Clive Page
Much the same applies to several banks that I've tried, but
fortunately there is a tiny bit of competition in this sector. I
suggest you switch banks - my experience of First Direct (part of
HSBC) is that you can actually talk to a human if it's really
necessary.

Hear, hear - and they are located in the UK which is a major
advantage.
I used to bank with HSBC. I made an online payment to somebody who
told me his account name was "Smith Gardening", it was actually "Fred
Smith". I told the browser pop up to pay anyway.
Later that day one of HSBC's Customer Disservice staff decide I had
been conned so cancelled the payment, tried to phone me at my old
address then wrote to me at my old address. They then ended online
banking until I presented myself at one of their branches to prove
who I was, which I refused to do.
Over the next six months they gradually excluded more and more
services until the account was unusable. All correspondence, emails
and letters, was diverted to the Customer Disservice department. I
asked to speak to a manager and was told "managers aren't concerned
with customer service". They gave me an email address supposed to be
the executive team which also diverted to Customer Disservice.
Fortunately I had a savings account elsewhere so set up a current
account at that bank to keep me going. In the end I "Switched" to
First Direct, same group but what a difference. I had been banking
with HSBC for 58 years when this happened and they didn't give a toss.

I still bank with HSBC. It used to be that, when logged in online, you
could send a secure message, about anything, and it would be answered
within a day or two. Great. Then, this facility disappeared, now the
only messages you can leave have to fit into one of the menus they
offer, and if they don't, there is no other way offered to contact them.
I recently had just this scenario, the only way I could ask a question
was to call them on the 'phone. Which, thinking about it, it what we
used to do anyway.
What goes around comes around.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Post by Davey
On 19 Aug 2024 10:24:31 GMT

Post by Jeff Gaines

Post by Clive Page
Much the same applies to several banks that I've tried, but
fortunately there is a tiny bit of competition in this sector. I
suggest you switch banks - my experience of First Direct (part of
HSBC) is that you can actually talk to a human if it's really
necessary.

Hear, hear - and they are located in the UK which is a major
advantage.
I used to bank with HSBC. I made an online payment to somebody who
told me his account name was "Smith Gardening", it was actually "Fred
Smith". I told the browser pop up to pay anyway.
Later that day one of HSBC's Customer Disservice staff decide I had
been conned so cancelled the payment, tried to phone me at my old
address then wrote to me at my old address. They then ended online
banking until I presented myself at one of their branches to prove
who I was, which I refused to do.
Over the next six months they gradually excluded more and more
services until the account was unusable. All correspondence, emails
and letters, was diverted to the Customer Disservice department. I
asked to speak to a manager and was told "managers aren't concerned
with customer service". They gave me an email address supposed to be
the executive team which also diverted to Customer Disservice.
Fortunately I had a savings account elsewhere so set up a current
account at that bank to keep me going. In the end I "Switched" to
First Direct, same group but what a difference. I had been banking
with HSBC for 58 years when this happened and they didn't give a toss.

I still bank with HSBC. It used to be that, when logged in online, you
could send a secure message, about anything, and it would be answered
within a day or two. Great. Then, this facility disappeared, now the
only messages you can leave have to fit into one of the menus they
offer, and if they don't, there is no other way offered to contact them.
I recently had just this scenario, the only way I could ask a question
was to call them on the 'phone. Which, thinking about it, it what we
used to do anyway.
What goes around comes around.

The only time I got sense out of HSBC was the day I wandered into an
actual branch and said 'I have had enough. I want to close this account'.
A real human checked my ID, checked the ID of the bank account to
transfer the balance into, and did some keyboard stiff and smiled and
said 'done'

[alan_m]

Post by Davey
I still bank with HSBC. It used to be that, when logged in online, you
could send a secure message, about anything, and it would be answered
within a day or two. Great. Then, this facility disappeared, now the
only messages you can leave have to fit into one of the menus they
offer,

Often marketed as an improvement to their customer's web experience.

My bank kept sending me details on how they were going to improve my
on-line experience when logging into my account. I can seen absolutely
no difference in what I can do on-line compared to what I could do prior
to the change. It just was an annoying experience trying to find out in
the re-arranged menu where they had stuck all the old features.

[Jeff Layman]

Post by alan_m

Post by Davey
I still bank with HSBC. It used to be that, when logged in online, you
could send a secure message, about anything, and it would be answered
within a day or two. Great. Then, this facility disappeared, now the
only messages you can leave have to fit into one of the menus they
offer,

Often marketed as an improvement to their customer's web experience.
My bank kept sending me details on how they were going to improve my
on-line experience when logging into my account. I can seen absolutely
no difference in what I can do on-line compared to what I could do prior
to the change. It just was an annoying experience trying to find out in
the re-arranged menu where they had stuck all the old features.

Par for the course I'm afraid. It's just like the software developers
who keep introducing new features without fixing the old bugs. :-(

[Davey]

On Sat, 24 Aug 2024 08:13:14 +0100

Post by alan_m

Post by Davey
I still bank with HSBC. It used to be that, when logged in online,
you could send a secure message, about anything, and it would be
answered within a day or two. Great. Then, this facility
disappeared, now the only messages you can leave have to fit into
one of the menus they offer,

Often marketed as an improvement to their customer's web experience.
My bank kept sending me details on how they were going to improve my
on-line experience when logging into my account. I can seen
absolutely no difference in what I can do on-line compared to what I
could do prior to the change. It just was an annoying experience
trying to find out in the re-arranged menu where they had stuck all
the old features.

With HSBC, it used to be possible to send a secure message to them
while logged in. Then that disappeared, you are now restricted to a
specific menu of subjects, and any query sent to the chatbot
finally results in a suggestion to call them on the 'phone. But at
least the wait time when making a call has dropped to almost nothing,
which is an improvement.

--

Davey.

[nib]

Post by alan_m

Post by Davey
I still bank with HSBC. It used to be that, when logged in online, you
could send a secure message, about anything, and it would be answered
within a day or two. Great. Then, this facility disappeared, now the
only messages you can leave have to fit into one of the menus they
offer,

Often marketed as an improvement to their customer's web experience.
My bank kept sending me details on how they were going to improve my
on-line experience when logging into my account. I can seen absolutely
no difference in what I can do on-line compared to what I could do prior
to the change. It just was an annoying experience trying to find out in
the re-arranged menu where they had stuck all the old features.

Quite a few years ago, my bank introduced a new version of its automated
telephone banking service, which would "enhance my experience".

I wrote to them (yes it was a few years ago!) saying that this enhanced
experience in practice meant that I would no longer be able to do some
things that I found very useful and able to do nothing new that I could
not do now, so not much of an enhancement.

I got a properly written reply apologising: sorry, that's correct, but
that's how it is.

nib

[Davey]

On Sat, 24 Aug 2024 11:02:59 +0100

Post by nib

Post by alan_m

Post by Davey
I still bank with HSBC. It used to be that, when logged in online,
you could send a secure message, about anything, and it would be
answered within a day or two. Great. Then, this facility
disappeared, now the only messages you can leave have to fit into
one of the menus they offer,

Often marketed as an improvement to their customer's web experience.
My bank kept sending me details on how they were going to improve
my on-line experience when logging into my account. I can seen
absolutely no difference in what I can do on-line compared to what
I could do prior to the change. It just was an annoying experience
trying to find out in the re-arranged menu where they had stuck all
the old features.

Quite a few years ago, my bank introduced a new version of its
automated telephone banking service, which would "enhance my
experience".
I wrote to them (yes it was a few years ago!) saying that this
enhanced experience in practice meant that I would no longer be able
to do some things that I found very useful and able to do nothing new
that I could not do now, so not much of an enhancement.
I got a properly written reply apologising: sorry, that's correct,
but that's how it is.
nib

Just like all the Consultations held but ignored. The moving of our
local Main Post Office, the huge Pylons planned to go from Norwich to
Tilbury. All consulted on, the overall peoples' desire clear, but
ignored. The decision has already been made.

[Tim Streater]

Post by Davey
Just like all the Consultations held but ignored. The moving of our
local Main Post Office, the huge Pylons planned to go from Norwich to
Tilbury. All consulted on, the overall peoples' desire clear, but
ignored. The decision has already been made.

Obviously a waste of time then. Look, go into any village of say 400 people,
ask "D'ye want a shop?" : "Yes", "D'ye want a pub?" : "Yes", "D'ye want a
post-office?" : "Yes", "D'ye want a bank with cash-machine?" : "Yes", and so
on.

What d'ye expect?

[alan_m]

Post by Tim Streater
Obviously a waste of time then. Look, go into any village of say 400 people,
ask "D'ye want a shop?" : "Yes", "D'ye want a pub?" : "Yes", "D'ye want a
post-office?" : "Yes", "D'ye want a bank with cash-machine?" : "Yes", and so
on.

The only problem with that is the pub, shop, post office and bank all
closed because those 400 people didn't use them enough to make them
financially viable.

Go to many villages and there will often be community shops/pubs run
mainly on a volunteer basis that are struggling to be open for more than
a few hours a day because of a lack of custom.

Even in fairly remote areas one of the large supermarkets will deliver.
Cash is becoming less important and most day to day banking can be
accomplished on-line. Cash-back in shops is common if spending on a
card. You can buy your postage on-line and print the label with the code
yourself. You can now arrange collection from Royal Mail.

[Tim Streater]

Post by alan_m

Post by Tim Streater
Obviously a waste of time then. Look, go into any village of say 400 people,
ask "D'ye want a shop?" : "Yes", "D'ye want a pub?" : "Yes", "D'ye want a
post-office?" : "Yes", "D'ye want a bank with cash-machine?" : "Yes", and so
on.

The only problem with that is the pub, shop, post office and bank all
closed because those 400 people didn't use them enough to make them
financially viable.

Yeah I know that. My point was rather that sometimes it makes no sense asking
people what they want - you ask them whether thwy want the climate issue
solved (presupposing that there is one and it can be solved), they say "Yes".
Then ask them to give up their cars and they won't. Neither do thay want the
pylons. Put them somewhere else.

[charles]

Post by Davey
On Sat, 24 Aug 2024 11:02:59 +0100

Post by nib

Post by alan_m

Post by Davey
I still bank with HSBC. It used to be that, when logged in online,
you could send a secure message, about anything, and it would be
answered within a day or two. Great. Then, this facility
disappeared, now the only messages you can leave have to fit into
one of the menus they offer,

Often marketed as an improvement to their customer's web experience.
My bank kept sending me details on how they were going to improve
my on-line experience when logging into my account. I can seen
absolutely no difference in what I can do on-line compared to what
I could do prior to the change. It just was an annoying experience
trying to find out in the re-arranged menu where they had stuck all
the old features.

Quite a few years ago, my bank introduced a new version of its
automated telephone banking service, which would "enhance my
experience".
I wrote to them (yes it was a few years ago!) saying that this
enhanced experience in practice meant that I would no longer be able
to do some things that I found very useful and able to do nothing new
that I could not do now, so not much of an enhancement.
I got a properly written reply apologising: sorry, that's correct,
but that's how it is.
nib

Just like all the Consultations held but ignored. The moving of our
local Main Post Office, the huge Pylons planned to go from Norwich to
Tilbury. All consulted on, the overall peoples' desire clear, but
ignored. The decision has already been made.

accountants rule

[alan_m]

Post by Jeff Gaines
Fortunately I had a savings account elsewhere so set up a current
account at that bank to keep me going. In the end I "Switched" to First
Direct, same group but what a difference. I had been banking with HSBC
for 58 years when this happened and they didn't give a toss.

It took you 58 years to discover what most of us find out in a couple of
years dealing with any bank or insurance company? Loyalty counts for
nothing and in the case of insurance companies will cost you a lot more.

[Jeff Gaines]

Post by alan_m

Fortunately I had a savings account elsewhere so set up a current account
at that bank to keep me going. In the end I "Switched" to First Direct,
same group but what a difference. I had been banking with HSBC for 58
years when this happened and they didn't give a toss.

It took you 58 years to discover what most of us find out in a couple of
years dealing with any bank or insurance company? Loyalty counts for
nothing and in the case of insurance companies will cost you a lot more.

Loyalty did count for a lot of that period. I worked for a couple of
insurance companies and long serving customers were treasured.