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A NatWest customer was left stunned after receiving an unexpected apology gift from the bank – which has prompted others to recall similar experiences.
The man took to Reddit to share his surprise at being sent a Cadbury chocolate hamper as compensation for issues he had experienced when setting up a new account with the bank.
“Had some troubles with my new bank account and they sent me this for the hassle!” he wrote on the Casual UK subreddit, alongside a photo of the confectionery-filled box complete with a compliments slip from NatWest.
It led to others sharing their own examples of apology gifts, as another Reddit user recalled: “When I was about 8, I bought some of those blackcurrant fruit lollipops, the really common ones with the purple wrapper and white dots all over, but they tasted disgusting.
“Wrote a letter to the company and forgot all about it, then received a huge box of all kinds of sweets, ones I’d never even seen before including giant versions of those lollies. 8 year old me was absolutely made up.”
Another person shared: “I once bought a baguette from Sainsbury’s that was absurdly dry. Bored at work, I complained to their customer services department and said it was ‘so dry it ripped my tongue in half’.
“They sent a grovelling letter of apology saying they were so sorry it had ripped my tongue in half and please accept a £20 gift voucher. Looking back, the letter was so sincere that I think they were taking the p**s back!”
A disgruntled smoker then recounted his experience: “About 15 years ago, I had one cigarette in a pack of 20 that didn’t have a filter attached to it, sent it off to Imperial Tobacco, and about a week later, a sleeve of 200 cigarettes gets delivered to my door!”
“I got a massive bunch of flowers from NatWest once as I thought they’d closed down my student account years before and they hadn’t so I incurred loads of charges for not using it (they also refunded the charges),” another woman gushed. “I love NatWest as a bank they always treated me well and put things right.”
An employee later explained the company’s generosity was part of protocol. “I actually work for RBS (Part of the NatWest group), and this is pretty standard procedure, not that I’m not happy you got some treats from the bank but it’s just a system we go click a few buttons on,” the person explained.
Other beneficiaries of NatWest’s goodwill chimed in too, with one Redditor revealing he received champagne after his card was declined: “Yes, also got a gift off NatWest as my card kept declining whilst on my honeymoon despite me notifying them ahead of time that I would be in the USA,” he wrote.
“They sent me a bottle of Bollinger champagne and a cash sum as an apology.”
Meanwhile, another individual shared their story: “I complained to NatWest once when none of their machines would allow me to pay in cheque. They asked how much compensation I wanted and I asked for £30 which was given.”
The person added: “I subsequently realised I was trying to pay the cheque in with a card from a different bank, and promptly shunted the £30 over to a food bank.”
