I transferred £7,500 via Swift to my mother in Russia last November. The money left my Nationwide account but hadn’t arrived with my mother five working days later. Nationwide said that there was nothing it could do because the payment to the Russian bank had been made by its agent, HSBC. However, it would not give me the HSBC payment details so I was unable to provide the Russian bank with the payment document so it could locate the money.
I have received messages from 15 different customer consultants, but no one is dealing with my problem. I simply do not know what to do next. GG, London
Nationwide claims it has been diligently chasing the money since November, and that the delays were caused by additional checks and information required by the agency bank it uses for international payments. You say you alerted Nationwide to two errors it had made with payment codes and that the delays were caused by negligence.
Either way, three months is an absurd amount of time for a transfer and, given the unhelpful performance of customer services, it’s likely you’d still be in limbo if you had not invoked the media. In recognition Nationwide has agreed to pay £200 in compensation and has confirmed that the £7,500 is safely in your mother’s account.
If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number.
