Beware - Santander Card Direct Debit Scam

frugal_3

Be careful of the Santander Zero Card Direct Debit Scam.
I had a direct debit mandate to clear the full balance of my account every month, the last payment being made 18/09/09. On my latest statement I have a non-payment charge of £12 for an overdue amount for January.

When I phoned up to query why it wasn't cleared by direct debit, I was informed the DD was automatically cancelled if it wasn't used for 3 months!!

Apparently it's in the small print of the DD mandate. Has anyone else heard of this?

co123456

Even if it's in the T&Cs, it does sound unfair. Perhaps an industry standard 12 months direct debit dormancy policy is in order. At the very least, I would expect Santander to refund the £12.

izools

I would reccomend raising the issue that cheeryoleary raised regarding the industry standard 12 month DD dormancy policy, and suggest to Santander that it is unfair for them to veer away from the industry standards without making it VERY PLAIN AND CLEAR to the customer that they are doing so, if they get funny about refunding the £12, that is

As a matter of course I avoid direct debits wherever possible. I set up standing orders for most things, and use faster payments to clear my Vanquis bill in full each month. Wherever possible, it is IMHO better to remain in control SOs and faster payments offer more control IME

YorkshireBoy

Not a new problem, according to this report from 2007...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/2804961/Letters-to-Liz.html

BTW, the industry standard is 13 months/400 days (presumably to allow for annual subscriptions).

frugal_3

I have written to Santander customer services pointing out the 3 months dormancy period is highly unusual, and requesting a refund for the £12 will wait with bated breath for a reply...:cool:

This now makes the card very inconvenient for occasional use - I use it when abroad due to the no-commision and favourable currency exchange on transactions. Will consider only using my Nationwide Card when abroad as I don't think thay have the 3 month policy on DD's.

izools

frugal wrote: »

Will consider only using my Nationwide Card when abroad as I don't think thay have the 3 month policy on DD's.

Perhaps it would be prudent to check with them, given your lesson (learned?) from Santander

firsttimestudent

Frugal, I wonder if you are aware that Santander applies a 6 month dormancy fee if you do not use your card.

If you just pay for one of your shopping each month with your Santander Zero card, your DD will always be in use, which can sort of avert the problem?

tobiascurious

firsttimestudent wrote: »

Frugal, I wonder if you are aware that Santander applies a 6 month dormancy fee if you do not use your card.

really? how much

co123456

Read the T&Cs. Information from the source, rather than from an independent finance based website forum which should only be used as a guide.

frugal_3

Thanks for the advice folks.
I've sent an email to Nationwide asking about their DD dormancy policy.

I find this whole DD thing outrageous - it's like they are determined to catch out the unwary by adding these STEALTH charges without informing the customer of very unusual T&C's which they obviously don't want to advertise.

Think I'll just cancel my Santander Zero card anyway - I'm also annoyed I can't take advantage of their 0% BT deal cos I'm an existing customer:p

YorkshireBoy

frugal wrote: »

I've sent an email to Nationwide asking about their DD dormancy policy.

Their reply will only tell you what their policy is as at February 2010. What about next month?...July?...next January?

Far better, if this issue is becoming more prevalent, is to check your monthly statement for the message "your payment will be collected from your nominated account on xx/xx/xx". If it doesn't say that then it won't be!