My pensioner parents and santander savings !!!! up

chocolady

No they received no letter to say that the account had been opened but they did go in there a month later as I said and were assured verbally that the fixed rate account was opened. However obviously now the adviser says she is unaware of this. Nothing in writing which does pose a problem I know.

Newly_retired

I think they will have difficulty proving they opened a fixed rate account without any paperwork.
As has already been said, they need to follow Abbey's complaints procedure and only when they get a "deadlock letter" can they go to the ombusdsman.
I'm afraid I don't hold out much hope.
However , going through one of the newspapers columns might work as Santander will want to look good now they have publicly and officially taken over the Abbey name , so it might work.

chocolady

Just to update everyone that has kindly commented. Emailed letter and all details on Wednesday to Abbey Central Complaints and so far not even an acknowledgement of the email (that figures) :rolleyes: and sent the letter by recorded delivery to Abbey central complaints and to Jessica Gorst-Williams as advised at the Daily Telegraph. Will let you know when we hear anymore.

chocolady

My parents had an ansaphone message from Jessica of the Daily Telegraph today saying that they appeared to want compensation which was not her speciality (thought that is what she acheived for her readers so not sure about that one) but that it was early days as my parents had not yet heard from Santander (not even an acknowledgement of their letter by phone I might add) complaints department, so by all means to use her name and get back to her if they had not heard anything by 1st February. It was nice of her to take the time to call my parents so quickly as I am sure she is a busy person! Pity Santander are not as efficient :rolleyes:

chocolady

Just wanted to update any interested users. Abbey have written to my mum and dad acknowledging their letter and asking for a telephone number so that someone could be in touch with them. A case worker was supposed to have been appointed to their case. No telephone calls have been received. However today they received a letter telling them that Abbey has completely refuted their claims in their case and has not even offered them any compensation. In between these two letters my parents wrote with the requested phone number and, to further illustrate the problems they have had, sent information of a previous situation they had with the Abbey where they had also been wrongly advised (why they invested in them again remains a mystery to me but thats parents for you!) They sent a document that my parents signed which they say illustrated my parents agreement to investing in the variable rate account. They apologise that my parents received no correspondence from them at the accounts year end but said if they dont like it they can refer their case to the ombudsman. I dont hold out much hope but just feel that if nothing else this serves as a warning to other people to be on their guard particularly with this company. My friend has just invested in a moneysavingexpert recommended ISA with First Direct and (particularly in the light of this case) called them recently to check they were on the fixed 3 per cent. rate they applied for only to find their money was deposited in a variable rate ISA! Had they not been on the ball the same would have happened to them in the fullness of time! The customer services girl merely laughed when my friend seemed exasperated at the mistake. Buyer Beware ...... definitely :mad:

Peter_Kendrick

Do not hold out any hope with Abbey or Santander as they are now called. My wife and I made a complaint last September and we are still waiting for a resolution. They never acknowledge letters. They promise phone calls which never materialise and I am now making a complaint against their complaint department. My wife and I opened identical accounts with exactly the same credits. She started getting less than £1 per month interest and I got around £10 per month. We complained twice and they told us we were wrong and they were right. On one occasion the customer services were so rude my wife nearly hung up. We are still waiting. Forget the Financial Ombudsman it takes them over a year to deal with a simple complaint!

chocolady

Yes their customer service is really appalling. I have been on the receiving end to a lesser extent. They seem to think they are always right not the customer. I am sure that is why they make so many mistakes, one can only think it is because the rotten apples at the top take a view that they are so big in the financial market here that they can afford not to care about a few customers that they will lose. Spoke to the ombudsman's office and a lady there said that they could not use the argument that my mum and dad signed the form as, as she said they had a duty of care to advise my parents. However whether this will translate to justice in the end who knows. I will give the ombudsman a go though and if that doesnt get a result I will try our local MP's office. As it transpires the "saving specialist":rotfl:who advised my mum and dad actually filled the forms out for them and just passed it to them to sign. This should be good proof of how the process was controlled by Abbey and not my parents, as the handwriting on the form is obviously hers and not my parents handwriting. I hope this helps but who knows? If I were you I would still give the ombudsman a go because as it says in one of the recent posts on MSE all complaints against these banks are now being recorded and the worst offenders are going to be named and shamed so if nothing else it would be another mark against them. Good Luck!

chocolady

Have taken the ombudsman route. Three weeks ago was contacted by an adjudicator and have heard nothing since. I phoned on behalf of my parents today and, lo and behold, the adjudicator said he was going to phone me as he had just received information from Santander today. With this marvellous coincidence he informed me that they would not be upholding my parents claim and had come down on the side of the bank. Even though my parents had had this happen to them a year before and I included information of this they believed the savings adviser and said because my parents had signed the forms they would not uphold their complaint. My aunt has just had the same thing done to her by First Direct where they invested an ISA into a different fund from the one she opened with a lower interest rate and this only got sorted because she rang them to check! These banks are laughing if the person who is supposed to be fighting on the consumers behalf immediately take their side. I want to fight on for my parents as they are honest people but have lost faith after this blow... any ideas?

Newly_retired

Sorry to hear that your complaint was unsuccesful.
The only suggestion I can make is that you go with your parents another time to check the small print of what they are signing. Or better still, help them to do their own research eg via this site so that they are forearmed with good information before they sign up for anything else.