Customers trying to call up NS&I have vented their frustrations at the group’s “appalling” phone service as they faced long wait times and problems using the automated service.
There have been several complaints on Twitter over the past few days with unhappy customers complaining of waiting 10 or 30 minutes and being cut off.
User @Candidfloss contacted NS&I to say: “Your enquiries phone line is of very appalling quality. I was cut off after holding for 10 minutes and my payment was declined. How is anyone to get any help if you can’t sort out your customer service?”
The customer then clarified they had been refused the payment while trying to process the payment online rather than over the phone, but when they called NS&I to get the sort code and account number, the phone lines were “busy”.
NS&I responded by asking them for more details about the type of account they wanted to invest in and invited them to send a direct message so they could provide more help. The savings provider also said they would assign a complaint handler to contact them.
Another user, @MargaretSaraCox, was frustrated with the automated phone service. She said: “Please recruit more staff to answer the phone as you used to have.
“The male robot voice can’t solve my queries. If I could solve it online I would. I tried to withdraw funds from a one percent interest account, a week later it hasn’t happened.”
The provider replied to ask what type of account the customer had, but at the time of writing, she had not responded to the request.
User @roxy_9 was also unimpressed by the automated service and wanted to speak to a person to deal with her query.
They said: “Why am I being put through to an automated message? I need an actual person I can talk to. The money I transferred into my account isn’t there?”
NS&I explained in its response: “Our automated system tries to resolve your query and gives you different alternatives to contact us. You can also speak to an agent and you will be transferred to the next available agent.”
Another Twitter user, @wysiwyg100, branded the group’s customers service as “spectacularly unhelpful” after they were asked to call the phone service.
They were trying to set up an online access for their son to access his Premium Bonds as he had turned 16.
They told NS&I: “You have an old mobile number on file and it seems I can’t do a password reset without ringing you up. The help desk is saying it’s a 30-minute wait time…HELP!”
The provider responded by saying these details would relate to the person’s online account and their son would need to register himself online, directing the customer to this webpage.
The frustrated customer replied to say they didn’t have an online account and they were trying to set one up together with their son.
They added: “You’ve sent a temporary password in the mail but the system is still wanting to ring the old number.”
NS&I then informed the customer they would need to call up to change a security phone number, providing details for the phone line.
The customer was disappointed with this response, saying: “I’m afraid you are stuck in the stone ages there. Spectacularly unhelpful. What was the point of all the security questions?”
The provider told the customer the security questions are used when a person requests a withdrawal or wants to change security information, before reiterating that “calling us would be the only way to resolve your issue however”.
An NS&I spokesperson told Express.co.uk: “Our customer call lines are currently much busier than normal, so we’re sorry if some callers are waiting longer than usual.
“Our customers are very important to us and we have deployed all available resource on the phone lines to ensure we are answering as many calls as possible.”
NS&I’s customer call centre is open seven days a week, including from 8am to 8pm on Monday to Friday, and from 8am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday.
The group advised “some times will be busier than others” with the busiest times during the morning and on Mondays so customers may want to try calling outside these times.
