Royal Bank of Scotland

Royal Bank of Scotland

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... They showed me the types of accounts that may benefit me in the long term, and after much deliberation, I chose a Royalties Gold account. (This is an account which RBS offers with additional useful services offered for a monthly charge of £10). With the account came a Switch card/£100 cheque ... Read review





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I'm Loyal To The Royal
A review by GavMan on Royal Bank of Scotland
June 3rd, 2003


Author's product rating:   

Staff courtesy  
Promptness of service  
Efficiency of service  
Competitiveness of charges/rates  

Advantages: Locality, staff friendliness
Disadvantages: Not open on Saturdays

Recommend to potential buyers: yes 

Full review

I have been a customer of RBS (now RBS/Natwest) for just over 19 years, ever since my mum and dad helped me open my first bank account.

I can’t really say that I made a lot of use of the services that the bank offered until I left school and went to College. That’s when I really needed help, as most students do.

I stay in a small town, and I know all the staff in my local branch. So when I went to ask them about the services they offered to new students, they were only too happy to help. They showed me the types of accounts that may benefit me in the long term, and after much deliberation, I chose a Royalties Gold account. (This is an account which RBS offers with additional useful services offered for a monthly charge of £10). With the account came a Switch card/£100 cheque guarantee card, cheque book, £500 interest free overdraft and a credit card, with no annual fee and a low introductory rate for the first 6 months.

The additional services offered by RBS in the Royalties account include:

1). Discounted home, car and holiday insurance
2). Discounts on selected hotels, and restaurants throughout the world
3). Special offers on CD’s, books and wines at selected retail outlets
4). Special rates on theatre tickets
5). Preferential deals on credit cards, loans and mortgages.

I was really impressed with the package that the account gave me. Having compared it to the accounts that friends of mine had opened with other banks and building societies, I was pleased that I’d made the right choice.

Whilst I was at College, the Royalties account was a lifeline to me, as the size of my bursary left an awful lot to be desired. Unfortunately, mum and dad could no longer afford to support me financially as they wanted to do other things with their money, which was fair enough.

Things got quite scary for a while during my time at College. I was having to buy a lot of textbooks and needed lots of other essential bits and pieces for my course. Not forgetting, clothes, toiletries and food.

One Monday morning, I went to the bank and stuck my card into the cashpoint, put my pin number in and asked to withdraw £30. However, my card was withheld my the machine and I received a slip asking me to contact my branch as soon as possible.
Suddenly feeling very nervous, I entered the branch and explained what had happened. I was asked step into the managers office for a chat.

Now feeling myself go very red, I was handed a copy of my transactions over the past few months. I couldn’t believe it. In 6 months, I had spent my £3500 bursary, exceeded my £500 overdraft limit by £200 and was up to the limit on my credit card (£1700).

I started to shake pretty violently, thinking that they were going to ask for £2400 right there and then, but the staff in the bank were absolutely fabulous. Over a nice strong mug of coffee, we discussed what the bank could do to help me out of this mess. After weighing up my options, I decided to take out a loan to clear off my overdraft and credit card and have some surplus cash left to put my account in the black for a change.

I was really grateful to the bank for their help, because they were perfectly within their rights to ask for that money back immediately, but they didn’t. They gave me a second chance, a chance I was lucky to get.

RBS have now merged with Natwest and many of the services offered by RBS are available also in Natwest branches.

Unlike some rival banks who are operating a branch closure programme, RBS/Natwest are not.

For more information on the accounts and services that RBS/Natwest offers, either visit www.rbs.com or visit a branch.

Update:

Since I wrote this opinion, I've since changed accounts with RBS. I felt that the Royalties Gold account wasn't really suitable for my way of life. There was no way that I was ever going to use all the benesfits that it offers.

So I've now changed to an Interest Paying Current Account, which suits my current financial situation much better.

I doubt I'll ever leave RBS. Their service towards me has been and still is first class.

 

More Reviews
RBS - Ripoff Bank of Sharks
Review of Royal Bank of Scotland by flurey

Advantages: They provide the best on-line banking service
Disadvantages: Too many to list

...it turned out to be Royal Bank of Scotland. Being a little biased and overpatriotic I thought it would be a good thing to join a Scottish bank. They even claimed that they would offer me 20 pounds if I joined them so how could I refuse. Sadly, this bribe payment never actually appeared in my account, despite all the complaints. Mistakenly, I continued to use them ever since, much to my disappointment on many occasions when dealing with them. *** ...
...I have made any unusual transactions like international money transfers, RBS inevitably seem to get something wrong. It was not so unusual for them to make discrepancies in any transactions made and even make simple mistakes like charge me for a service that is meant to be free. I believe this must be due to the lack of staff at any given branch and also because of the lack of training. The queues are horrendously long and when I look into other ... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Staff courtesy
Promptness of service
Efficiency of service
Competitiveness of char...
very helpful

10.04.2003
(11.04.2003)
Moving Blues
Review of Royal Bank of Scotland by helencbradshaw

Advantages: On balance, service received has been adequate
Disadvantages: mindless bureaucracy when it counted

...my little experience of the Royal Bank of Scotland MasterCard service, which came to its crescendo last week. Now I have had the Royal Bank of Scotland card for years and years. Eight or nine I guess. Customer service in all that time has been fine. It must have been because I cannot remember anything to tell you. My statements arrived on time; I never had any issues with missing payments, strange debits, the call centre, or the ever increasing ...
...than I actually owed the Royal Bank of Scotland. This left me £200 in credit with RBS. I phoned and asked for a refund on at least three or four occasions over several weeks before this was resolved. It was especially frustrating as I had just taken redundancy and was trying to balance my income and expenses. Anyway, my latest customer service experience with the RBS has left me no longer a customer at the Royal Bank of Scotland. I moved house you ... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Staff courtesy
Promptness of service
Efficiency of service
Competitiveness of char...
very helpful

09.02.2003
Me and banks
Review of Royal Bank of Scotland by dave27

Advantages: All round a great service
Disadvantages: None really

...got a mortgage from the Royal Bank of Scotland and opened a bank account with them and the last four years have been a revelation - finally a bank account that worked, managers that cared, staff that knew the meaning of service and a series of products that actually made sense - PARADISE!! These days we've got an excellent relationship with our bank and they have worked closely alongside us to review our financial position and have made arrangements ...
...Internet schemes, I have two Royal Bank credit cards, and a mortgage account. We are also customers of Direct Banking By PC, which is the Royal Bank's Internet banking service. I used to have a business account as well to take credit card sales for Internet stuff, but that got fairly expensive so I closed it recently. I'll give you a run through all of these, but what I'd like to say first concerns customer service at the Royal Bank. I can only ... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Staff courtesy
Promptness of service
Efficiency of service
Competitiveness of char...
very helpful

20.11.2001
Happy Banking
Review of Royal Bank of Scotland by carol_uk

Advantages: Respectable company
Disadvantages: Not always competitive

...an account holder with The Royal Bank Of Scotland. (RBS) I am happy overall with the way in which they help me handle my account, and I have no hesitations in recommending the RBS to anyone else. My Account ---------- I currently have a Route 21 Account, which is for people aged between 16-21. This is normally a very popular account with students, as when you are in this account, you are entitled to many offers, ie free entry into loads of top ...
...clubs etc. The Royal Bank Of Scotland --------------------------- I think this is a great bank to be with because you know it is a company that is highly trusted and very reputable. In all of the RBS banks that I have been into, the staff are nice and friendly and the banks have a friendly, calm atmosphere. The General Staff service is good, they are efficient and professional. Stuck For Cash?? ---------------- If you are in need of money, The ... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Staff courtesy
Promptness of service
Efficiency of service
Competitiveness of char...
very helpful

16.12.2002
(20.12.2002)
Money Matters
Review of Royal Bank of Scotland by wehrwulf

Advantages: Range of products, staff can be helpful
Disadvantages: lack of communication

...Accounts I joined the Royal Bank of Scotland in 1994 with a student account at their branch in Middlesbrough. Staff there were very helpful and explainned everything to a novice banker. The account carrys an interest free overdraft of up to £2000 which I didn't need until I became a post-graduate and had a lot of other debts. By then I was living elsewhere but quick phone calls to the bank always resulted in the overdraft being increased until it ...
...with most high-street banks the Royal Bank offers personal loans. Typical rates are about 6.8% but you get a better deal if you are an existing customer, ideally with a Royalties account, or if you apply online. In 97 I asked them for a career development loan to fund an MA. At the time only Barclays, RBS and the CO-Op offered this sort of loan. RBS refused me, despite my pleading and existing account.. They didn't explain their decision either. ... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Staff courtesy
Promptness of service
Efficiency of service
Competitiveness of char...
very helpful

07.06.2004

Reviews which might be of interest for Royal Bank of Scotland    
Re-mortgaging with the Royal Bank of Scotland
Review of Royal Bank of Scotland Mortgages by  nikmacve

Advantages: Friendly personal service.
Disadvantages: None that I know of!

...I've been a home-owner now for about eleven years: bought my first house as the market hit rock bottom and and am still there. Naive as I was then about financial matters, I took advice from a professional and ended up with an endowment mortgage. I expect you can guess what happened next. Actually it wasn't that bad: I still had fifteen years to run on my mortgage and am young enough to get another 25-year mortgage. So that's what I decided to do. I have banked with Royal Bank of Scotland ever since they took over Williams & Glynn's Bank nearly 20 years ago and while I've had other bank accounts as well, both personal and treasurers' accounts for some clubs I've been involved in, as well as building society accounts, RBS have always won hands down when it comes to customer service and helpfulness. Also, and this is VERY IMPORTANT, you... Read review

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helpful
28.04.2004
PC Banking with the Royal Bank of Scotland
Review of Royal Bank of Scotland Online by  lucybradly

Advantages: You'll never need to visit your bank again.
Disadvantages: Security errors when they arise.

...I had been using the telephone banking service offered by the Royal Bank Scotland (RBS) for a number of years, when they launched their PC Banking. Being relatively new to the internet I was weary of signing up, although knowing how easy the telephone banking service was I decided to give it a try. The PC banking registration was fairly simple and the security steps in place are reassuring. The additional bonus of this service is that you can use the facility on one or more machines but each with a different registration code. I found this very useful as I can use the service in two places with the confidence of total security at each. Once I started regularly using the service I realised there were a few areas that could be improved and over the past year they have and the options available have made PC banking as easy... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

helpful
28.01.2001
Joe's verdict on The Royal Bank Of Scotland
Review of Royal Bank of Scotland Accounts by  josephwood8

Advantages: friendly staff, ollie tokens (loads more)
Disadvantages: none

...The Royal Bank Of Scotland are a great bank who do all kinds of reward schemes and freebies. I have cashclub acount and when I opened it I got a free "ollieorganiser" I have got casline card. A "payinlog" bank book. I also collect "ollie tokens" and exchange them for Ollie Goods. I think the intrest is about 4%. This bank is great I would recomend this bank to anyone. If I compared this acount to my alliance-leicester Firstsave acount The Royal Bank Of Scotland wins hands down. This acount is desingned for 7-11 years old. You can not set up standing orders or direct debits from the cashclub acount. If you are 12-15 years old you can get the route 15. The only differance is you can get more money out of the cashline machine. And a cheque book. Cheers . Joe.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

somewhat helpful
09.08.2004

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