A disabled mum 'cried all morning' after discovering that a fault with Nationwide saw no money going out of her account which led to her Christmas food shop being cancelled.
The Nationwide IT outage means Lisa Stewart from Bedfordshire and her family could go without a Christmas dinner this year after spending £110 on a shop which was due to be delivered on Tuesday.
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Lisa says there are now no slots left to rebook the order, Manchester Evening News reports.
While the 42-year-old spent hours trying to seek help among thousands of other customers, she claims the bank told her it had no idea when the issue would be sorted.
Due to her arthritis, Lisa is unable to get to a shop while all grocery delivery slots for her tiny village have become unavailable.
Lisa said: "I cried most of the morning.
"I got an email just after 11am saying [my grocery delivery] had to cancel. I went on to the Nationwide app and no payments are going in or out.
"It was my Christmas Day turkey. [My family] have three birthdays over Christmas. I ordered a birthday cake for December 27 and my turkey.
"I've got four kids here, I can't access any money and can't do anything. What am I supposed to do?
"This was our first Christmas with me cooking in probably 10 years.
"I'm really frustrated. I don't drive. I have arthritis in my hips and knees and have a lot of medical issues.
"I'm not physically able to walk and pick up some shopping. It hasn't been a great day."
Lisa had worked hard to prepare for cooking Christmas dinner in advance to limit the stress - but is now left without seasonal food.
On social media, Lisa wrote: "@AskNationwide I just had my Christmas food shop cancelled because the payment couldn’t go out.
"Turkey and trimmings, also birthday cake as I have a birthday on the 27th. Cannot rebook [because] no slots available.
"[I] don’t drive and I’m disabled. What am I supposed to do? Four kids and totally messed up."
Lisa said: "It's too late to buy your Christmas dinner after Christmas. I'm annoyed.
"I'm very organised and very prepared. All the slots went weeks ago so it's not a case of just rebooking.
"It was a big thing for me to get Christmas done and make sure I've got everything.
"I contacted Nationwide and it's the same message as everyone. Normally when these things happen it takes two or three hours but it's been all day.
"Now my refund will take about five days. It won't be until after Christmas anyway."
Thousands of other Nationwide customers took to social media to complain about the outage, sharing their own fears that Christmas could be cancelled in their homes.
Boo said: "I have had a @AskNationwide account since birth and never had to complain but this delay in incoming payments is disgusting.
"Four days before Christmas and I have no wage… they best have some big apology/compensation to all their customers on the way!"
Emma Claire Devoil said: "Why has my online transfer disappeared into the ether?! Christmas week is not a week I can afford to lose money! And no one answering your messaging service either."
Sean said: "@AskNationwide so compensation packages what are we talking? I'm seeing ruined Christmases, seeing people going without food, planned events being cancelled, businesses being effected, meanwhile, all we get is generic bullsh*t responses that look automated."
A Nationwide spokesperson said: "We apologise for the delays that members have experienced today [yesterday] in sending and receiving faster payments.
"This issue has now been resolved and all payments that had been queued are now being processed. All new outbound and inbound payments are also being processed.
"Customer service remains our top priority and we thank members for their patience. We will also refund all Nationwide charges and fees incurred as a result of this issue. For any charges and fees incurred elsewhere, people should contact the Society to discuss these, and any related to this issue will be refunded."
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