For those of you suffering from COVID-19 isolation blues, spare a thought for those of us shielding and having to do most things from home ? What I particularly love is the infinite inertia of corporations, lack of empowerment and that no one will own the problem and take command, or recognise that it is inter-departmental and just escalate there and then; it is all my fault.
I promise that this is a genuine transcript - I have just added some colour to the transcript to make it clear who is typing and asterisked out some details for obvious reasons.
Oh and in case you missed it, I thought I'd just point out that this is NATWEST Bank.
Enjoy.
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Info at 15:42, Jan 17:
This chat will be recorded for monitoring purposes. For details on how we use data see natwest.com/privacy
Info at 15:42, Jan 17:
Connected with Cora
Cora at 15:42, Jan 17:
To ensure we continue to provide you with a reliable service, we will be carrying out routine maintenance from approximately 01:25AM until approximately 06:00AM this Sunday 19th January. This means that our Online, Mobile and Telephone banking services will be unavailable during these times. We are sorry for any inconvenience that this will cause and thank you for your patience.
Cora at 15:42, Jan 17:
Hey there. I'm Cora, your digital assistant. How can I help?
You at 15:42, Jan 17:
I need to speak to a human, please
Cora at 15:42, Jan 17:
Here are some of the top things that I get asked, just tap the button to start a journey with me.
Cora at 15:43, Jan 17:
Change my details
Update mobile number
Unknown transaction
Cancel a transaction
Check a statement
Pending transaction
Travelling abroad
Change my address
+ more
You at 15:43, Jan 17:
I need to speak to a human, please
Cora at 15:43, Jan 17:
Just a moment...
Cora at 15:43, Jan 17:
Ok, let’s see if one of my colleagues are available. This can take up to a minute.
Info at 15:43, Jan 17:
Please wait while I transfer the chat to an agent who will be able to help you further.
Info at 15:43, Jan 17:
You are now chatting with Yukta.
Yukta at 15:43, Jan 17:
Good Afternoon . Hope you are doing well. Please help me with your full name?
You at 15:43, Jan 17:
***************************
You at 15:44, Jan 17:
?
Yukta at 15:45, Jan 17:
Thanks ******
Yukta at 15:45, Jan 17:
I'm sorry for the delay, actually my system was playing a bit
Yukta at 15:45, Jan 17:
How may I assist you?
You at 15:46, Jan 17:
I have an Online Banking Card. I do not have a current account with you. I do use online banking. I need to change the PIN on my card but an in-branch machine will not accept it. The lady in the ****** Branch said my card reader can do this but I need to speak to you to find out how.
Yukta at 15:48, Jan 17:
I will certainly check that for you
You at 15:48, Jan 17:
Thank you.
Yukta at 15:53, Jan 17:
Thanks for waiting.
You at 15:53, Jan 17:
OK
Yukta at 15:55, Jan 17:
May I confirm if your PIN have been blocked
You at 15:55, Jan 17:
No. I just can't remember it and I have no intention of writing it down and keeping it with the card.
You at 15:59, Jan 17:
Try searching your answer bank for "Online Banking Card" and "Change PIN" ?
Yukta at 15:59, Jan 17:
Thanks for confirming this.
Yukta at 16:01, Jan 17:
As you have an Online banking card for this you will not be able to change the PIN for that card from your end. And in this case we can order a New Online Banking card for you with a new PIN.
Yukta at 16:01, Jan 17:
Shall I order a new one for you ?
You at 16:01, Jan 17:
Well, that's no good is it ? You'll just send me a new card with another PIN I can't remember.
You at 16:02, Jan 17:
Why have I been told by your staff (twice) that my card reader can do it, if it can't ?
You at 16:03, Jan 17:
It ought to be as easy as insert card; press some combination of blue buttons; enter old PIN, enter new PIN twice and the PIN gets re-written.
You at 16:03, Jan 17:
How can this be so difficult ?
Yukta at 16:03, Jan 17:
Just a moment.
Yukta at 16:04, Jan 17:
I have checked it and if you want to make the PIN according to your preference then you can follow these steps :
Yukta at 16:05, Jan 17:
1. Insert the card into a Card-Reader
2. Keep pressing the 'MENU' button until they see the message 'PIN' CHANGE' and pressing 'OK' - NOTE: If this option is not available the customer will need to order a new Card-Reader.
3. Enter the existing PIN and press 'OK'
4. Enter new PIN and press 'OK'
5. Repeat and enter the new PIN and press 'OK'
6. Message confirmed with 'PIN CHANGED'
You at 16:05, Jan 17:
Thought so.
Yukta at 16:06, Jan 17:
I'm sorry for the confusion, I through you wanted to order PIN reminder
You at 16:06, Jan 17:
OK. I have firmware version 0875.08 on my card reader, which doesn't have that option. So please send me a new card reader.
You at 16:07, Jan 17:
No. I definitely typed "change the PIN".
Yukta at 16:07, Jan 17:
I'm really sorry for the confusion.
Yukta at 16:08, Jan 17:
Sure I can order a card for you. However, can can do that at your end as well
Yukta at 16:08, Jan 17:
Shall I share the steps ?
You at 16:08, Jan 17:
I do not need a new card; it looks like I need a new card reader with up to date firmware installed.
You at 16:08, Jan 17:
NO, Please can you do it.
You at 16:08, Jan 17:
Sorry. "no".
Yukta at 16:09, Jan 17:
No worries, I will do that for you
Yukta at 16:09, Jan 17:
In order to assist you further with this specific enquiry I need to take you through identification.
Is this okay?
You at 16:10, Jan 17:
How am I even talking to you if that hasn't be done ? I came through via online banking.
You at 16:10, Jan 17:
OK. fire away....
Yukta at 16:12, Jan 17:
May I please have your Customer Number? The number starts with your date of birth (ddmmyy), followed by up to 4 digits, given to you when you enrolled for online banking or Telephone Banking.
Yukta at 16:12, Jan 17:
I do understand but you have come through online website and I can see that you are not logged in Online banking
You at 16:13, Jan 17:
You do realise you are appearing to me via lpcdn.lpsnmedia.net and not via NatWest.com or nwolb.com or anything else that looks remotely like NatWest is involved in this ?
You at 16:13, Jan 17:
*******
Yukta at 16:16, Jan 17:
Thanks, there might be a slight delay while I check the information. Thanks for your patience.
You at 16:16, Jan 17:
OK
Yukta at 16:17, Jan 17:
Thanks for waiting so long
Yukta at 16:18, Jan 17:
May I get your 1st Line of address along with Post code ?
You at 16:18, Jan 17:
******, *******
Yukta at 16:20, Jan 17:
Thanks
Yukta at 16:22, Jan 17:
I can see that a temporary block is currently placed on your Online Banking account . Due to some suspicious activity, our Fraud Team has blocked your account for security reasons. It is placed to protect the security of your accounts.
Yukta at 16:22, Jan 17:
So you can remove this block right now by contacting our Fraud Team and they will share the reason and activities due to which it has been done.
You at 16:23, Jan 17:
How do I do that ? Have you ordered a new card reader for me ?
Yukta at 16:24, Jan 17:
As your account is been blocked we are unable to order it and check your account from our end. However, in this case you can get your account unblocked from our Fraud team by contacting them at:
0800 161 5165.
Yukta at 16:24, Jan 17:
Its their free phone number
You at 16:24, Jan 17:
I have one savings account but can see c 6 of my mother-in-law's accounts over which I have POA.
You at 16:25, Jan 17:
OK. Can they order the new card reader ?
Yukta at 16:28, Jan 17:
Yes, this is because your account is been blocked due to which you are unable to check the details. However, due to this block we are also not able to check that and order a new card reader for you
Yukta at 16:28, Jan 17:
Once your account is unblocked we can order a new card reader for you
You at 16:28, Jan 17:
Can you wait online while I call the fraud team ? I can't bear to go through all this rigmarole again.
Yukta at 16:30, Jan 17:
No worries, You can chat back with us anytime and the previous adviser will be able to see our conversion and help you further
You at 16:31, Jan 17:
OK. I am in another queue.
Yukta at 16:31, Jan 17:
Please be assured they wilol soon be connected to you
Yukta at 16:31, Jan 17:
Will*
You at 16:36, Jan 17:
Still in a queue. I have been taking to Nat West for almost an hour now and I am worse off than when I started.
Yukta at 16:38, Jan 17:
I do apologise for the inconvenience caused to you.
Yukta at 16:39, Jan 17:
However, they might be having a high volume in the calls. However, please be assured you will go through this.
Yukta at 16:39, Jan 17:
However, if possible I would have done this for you.
Yukta at 16:39, Jan 17:
As the block is been placed by the fraud team we are unable to remove it from our end
You at 16:40, Jan 17:
OK but I wasn't blocked when I started speaking to you and now I need something done, I find I am.
Yukta at 16:43, Jan 17:
I'm really sorry for this, however we are unable to remove the block from our end .
You at 16:43, Jan 17:
OK. I am still in the queue. You have been perfectly helpful but I would like you to make sure that when the supervisors review the monthly interaction for Cora that they look at this one and ask themselves how was this customer helped ?
Yukta at 16:45, Jan 17:
I’m sorry CORA wasn’t able to help you at first point of contact. CORA is an artificial intelligence bot, which is still learning, day-by-day, how to deal with customer queries. I will provide your feedback to the team that creates the content that sits behind the bot, so that we can continue to train and develop CORA to help more customers going forward.
Yukta at 16:46, Jan 17:
However, I really do apologies for this we are improving it.
Yukta at 16:46, Jan 17:
Please be assured you will soon be connected to the team, as they might be having a high flow of the calls you are unable to get in touch with them
Yukta at 16:47, Jan 17:
Please be assured once your account is been unblocked you can surely order a card reader from your end or you can also chat back with us
Yukta at 16:47, Jan 17:
We are here to support you 24/7. If you face any issue, please get back to us anytime and we will be glad to help you.
You at 16:49, Jan 17:
OK but artificial or not, it doesn't seem very intelligent. Why hasn't it been pre-loaded with all the business processes ?
Yukta at 16:51, Jan 17:
I do agree with your view point and we are still working on it to make improvements
Yukta at 16:51, Jan 17:
Please be assured this will soon be improved
You at 16:54, Jan 17:
You couldn't make this up. The Fraud Team cannot find me and have transferred me to customer services !!!!
Yukta at 16:56, Jan 17:
I'm really sorry for this, however your accounts is been blocked by them
Yukta at 16:57, Jan 17:
And we cannot remove the block from our end
Yukta at 16:58, Jan 17:
I have provided you all the possible resolutions if you wish I can transfer your chat to my supervisor.
You at 17:00, Jan 17:
No thanks. I think they will just tell me what you have already told me.
Yukta at 17:01, Jan 17:
I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused to you, However if possible I would have done this for you
Yukta at 17:02, Jan 17:
It will soon be sorted for you
Yukta at 17:02, Jan 17:
Apart from this , Is there anything else I can help you with today?
You at 17:03, Jan 17:
Currently, I don't share your confidence, judging by what has happened so far.
Yukta at 17:04, Jan 17:
I really do apologies for this, however it will soon be sorted
Yukta at 17:04, Jan 17:
I hope the best for you
You at 17:05, Jan 17:
But it is almost 2 hours of my life that I will never get back. It is like NatWest has set out to drive its customers away.
Yukta at 17:05, Jan 17:
I understand your point clearly and agree with you as well, however if this was possible from our end we would've done this by now
Yukta at 17:08, Jan 17:
i'll route you my manager for best actions in this case.
Yukta at 17:08, Jan 17:
Please be online
You at 17:08, Jan 17:
I cannot believe this. I have to go into a branch - where I might add, I was told they could not help me - with photo id, so they can call Fraud. Then I have to call Fraud again. Who makes these rules ? Customer Services has identified me.
Info at 17:08, Jan 17:
Please wait while your chat is transferred to Apurvesh.
Info at 17:08, Jan 17:
You are now chatting with Apurvesh.
Apurvesh at 17:09, Jan 17:
Hi ******************.
You at 17:09, Jan 17:
Good evening.
Apurvesh at 17:09, Jan 17:
Please allow me sometime to review your conversation till now.
You at 17:10, Jan 17:
I don't think you can do anything to help me, other than to assure me that this transaction will be reviewed by the Customer Services Manager as an object lesson in why your customers leave the Bank. Which I am very likely to do, once this has all been sorted out.
Apurvesh at 17:12, Jan 17:
I'm really sorry to know that ****************.
You at 17:12, Jan 17:
What I thought would be a simple 2 minute transaction has taken almost 2 hours, at least 5 members of staff on the phone, and I now have an obsolete card reader, an Online Banking Card that the Fraud Team doesn't believe I have and all my online accounts are locked out. I wish I'd never started this.
Apurvesh at 17:12, Jan 17:
But please don't worry, this will get sorted for you.
You at 17:13, Jan 17:
But it won't. I now have to go into a branch with photo id before anyone will talk to me.
You at 17:13, Jan 17:
And with NatWest closing branches left right and centre, it is hard to still find one that is open. **************** Branch went last year.
Apurvesh at 17:14, Jan 17:
I'm sorry to know that.
Apurvesh at 17:14, Jan 17:
I hope it get sorted for you at the earliest.
Apurvesh at 17:15, Jan 17:
If you want then you can also raise this as a complaint as well.
Apurvesh at 17:16, Jan 17:
I haven't heard from you for a while. I'll close the chat in a couple of minutes if you don't require any more assistance?
You at 17:17, Jan 17:
No, I won't raise it as a complaint if you can assure me that it will get reviewed as a lesson on how not to do customer service ?
Apurvesh at 17:19, Jan 17:
I will definitely review this conversation and make sure that any error or mistake is fed back
You at 17:19, Jan 17:
Just to be clear, I have no problem with your colleague who was talking to me on Cora before. It is just that no one seems able to talk to other departments and the Online Banking Card I was issued by the Bank couldn't be found by the Fraud Team - so they don't believe I am who I say I am despite Customer Services finding me and telling Fraud that it's OK.
You at 17:19, Jan 17:
I am just banging my head against the wall now.
You at 17:20, Jan 17:
And I will be dining out on how incompetent the Bank is for the next few months.
Apurvesh at 17:20, Jan 17:
I'm really sorry to hear that.
Apurvesh at 17:21, Jan 17:
But *********, if you wish then you can log this as a complaint so that the complete situation can get reviewed and isn't only limited to any department.
Apurvesh at 17:23, Jan 17:
I haven't heard from you for a while. I'll close the chat in a couple of minutes if you don't require any more assistance?
Apurvesh at 17:25, Jan 17:
I'll close this chat now. If you need further help then please chat back with us. Many thanks
Info at 17:25, Jan 17:
Thank you for chatting with us.
