Abbey/Santander Zero - no it aint!

chattychappy

Degenerate wrote: »

they are owned and controlled by the same parent entity, which ought to honour it's promises regardless of location.

The common brand/ownership may indeed drive customers to have certain understandable expectations. But it's probably only a promise in the eye of the customer.

Another example of marketing not aligned with reality, I fear.

Degenerate

chattychappy wrote: »

Another example of marketing not aligned with reality, I fear.

That's a polite way of putting it. I would have said "Outright lies for which they should be punitively fined and made to pay their customers compensation."

Ultimately, the Zero card is a Santander product. Santander promise they will charge nothing for cash withdrawals with this card and only warn that third parties may levy fees. I can see this being a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, but that's no excuse.

speedbird1973

Degenerate wrote: »

That's a polite way of putting it. I would have said "Outright lies for which they should be punitively fined and made to pay their customers compensation."

Ultimately, the Zero card is a Santander product. Santander promise they will charge nothing for cash withdrawals with this card and only warn that third parties may levy fees. I can see this being a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, but that's no excuse.

Santander in the UK is a different company to Santader in Argentina, different again to the one in Spain - there will be a company that sits on top of all of them, but they are very different. Some countries charge for ATM withdrwals. I've always had to pay in Greece IIRC. In Argentina it's quite possible that if you are a Santander Argentina customer you have to pay to use the ATM. Which falls under Santander's "3rd Parties may charge you". They ARE a 3rd party.

Degenerate

speedbird1973 wrote: »

Santander in the UK is a different company to Santader in Argentina, different again to the one in Spain - there will be a company that sits on top of all of them, but they are very different. Some countries charge for ATM withdrwals. I've always had to pay in Greece IIRC. In Argentina it's quite possible that if you are a Santander Argentina customer you have to pay to use the ATM. Which falls under Santander's "3rd Parties may charge you". They ARE a 3rd party.

They are NOT a third party. Parent companies cannot wash their hands of their different subsidiary's actions in the way that you suggest.

financial_warrior

That's why I never bothered with one of these cards. By ZERO they mean they won't charge you, but many banks in places I've travelled to in the past have levied a charge of their own - Something that your bank can only pass on to you.

At the end of the day, once you get outside of Europe - particularly into Africa and Asia - the general rule is to charge anyone who isn't a customer of that bank... Something the banks in the UK did once upon a time.

speedbird1973

Degenerate wrote: »

They are NOT a third party. Parent companies cannot wash their hands of their different subsidiary's actions in the way that you suggest.

Give me one reason why not?

They are regulated by different laws, they have different banking licences. I have the same issues with Citibank. I still pay handling fees using US ATMs with my UK card. Square plugs and round holes!

Degenerate

speedbird1973 wrote: »

Give me one reason why not?

They are regulated by different laws, they have different banking licences.

But they have the same set of shareholders profiting from the product that they market in the UK as fee-free, and the ATM fee revenues in Argentina. These same shareholders are ultimately responsible for both the decision to market the Zero product as fee-free and the decision to charge ATM fees in Argentina. A subsidiary company, even a foreign one, is not a third-party by any normal interpretation. The misled customers have sound standing to complain.

I have the same issues with Citibank. I still pay handling fees using US ATMs with my UK card.

As Citibank have not been marketing a UK product that promises there will be no fees levied by Citibank for usage in ATMs across the world, this is completely irrelevant.

andyproc

it would be interesting to know if Santander charge their customers for cash withdrawls in Argentina. It also happened in Chile as well.

Interestingly the unpleasant woman I spoke to on the phone here wouldn't accept that there was a charge as it wasn't listed seperately. I had to point out that I was unlikely to have withdrawn 711.88 pesos out of a cash mine, she didn't seem to click that it wouldn't have given me coins.

You live and learn and I still had a great time.

td_007

Degenerate wrote: »

My mistake, you didn't miss it - I completely disagree with your conclusion though. Santander banks in different countries may be different legal entities, but they are owned and controlled by the same parent entity, which ought to honour its promises regardless of location.

You may disagree but that is the how it works. To be technically correct, foreign cash withdrawal commonly involve 3 charges: cash withdrawal fees, foreign transaction frees and ATM fees. Santander promises zero charges of the first two and not the 3rd i.e. ATM fees and the OP has incurred the 3rd fee mentioned. Therefore even assuming your pov, the OP has no case.

Degenerate

td_007 wrote: »

You may disagree but that is the how it works. To be technically correct, foreign cash withdrawal commonly involve 3 charges: cash withdrawal fees, foreign transaction frees and ATM fees. Santander promises zero charges of the first two and not the 3rd i.e. ATM fees and the OP has incurred the 3rd fee mentioned. Therefore even assuming your pov, the OP has no case.

It would behove you to check what they actually claim for the product before spouting such rubbish:

http://www.abbey.com/csgs/Satellite?canal=CABBEYCOM&cid=1210610544537&empr=Abbeycom&leng=en_GB&pagename=Abbeycom%2FPage%2FWC_ACOM_TemplateB2

> 0% cash advance fee
It’s reassuring to know that if you ever unexpectedly need cash from an ATM, you’ll pay zero fees for cash withdrawals1

and:

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]1 Some independent ATM providers may charge a fee for cash withdrawals. Cash Transactions charged at a standard rate of 27.9% APR. Interest charged on all cash transactions from date of transaction.[/FONT]

There's really no ambiguity in the wording. Only "some independent ATM providers" may charge, and there is no way a sister Santander subsidiary can be regarded as such.