santander shortchanging on Direct ISA issue 3 interest?

casey_junior

I transferred my issue 2 £8800 in mid May 09, my interest was £179, so I think I got 2% from May to March but only 0.1% before that, from March to May.
I will be transferring to M&S, theyre giving 2.65%, but it is a postal account.
Theyll probably pay me in Pesetas.

nickeloi

nickeloi wrote: »

As with others it seems I've had a nightmare. I thought after the hassle of signing up in the first year it was all running smoothly.

That was until I got my statement this week - an amazing £15 interest on over £5,000 of savings - that's shockingly bad!!! I'm so angry that I will take my business elsewhere unless they sort it out this week. No reply to my complaint yet though, so I expect to have fun shouting some loud words in a branch this weekend...

Knowing my promotional rate would change in April 2009, I shopped around for better deals, but only saw around 3% on offer for normal cash ISAs elsewhere, so I stayed with Abbey because I believed the assistant in the branch who said I was still getting 2.5% on my ISA (which according to my statement is Direct number 2 - opened around April 2008 if that seems consistent).

Kept my eye out for better deals over the coming months but as it became apparent Bank of England interest rates wouldn't rise and the offers elsewhere began to lower, I started to think 2.5% would do for the time being. I wouldn't expect it to drop, after all Bank of England rates were at their lowest ever values, and Abbey were offering 2.5% so why should that go lower?

I tried checking on my interest progress throughout the year but was told they only apply it at the end of the year and no-one could get me any figures. Some quick estimations by the staff member on hand seemed reasonable (more like £15 per month) so no worries I have had until now.

Good luck to all you others trying to save - mine will disappear very soon into a black hole of a wedding fund and I need that missing £100 or so!

As an update - staff at the Ipswich town centre branch were useless and very difficult to argue and reason with owing to their complete lack of common sense, sense of fair play and lack of will to try and help or find solutions. Simple logic was a real no go area.

I was planning to go absolutely mental on here, but then I rang their ISA helpline of 0845 6000 181 and calmed down. I got through to Scott who turned out to be a model professional with a grasp on figures, full of common sense, understanding, and feeling of wanting to do the right thing. Sadly he will have to pass on his report of my call to someone else to resolve, so now my case is in the hands of fate - will it reach an idiot or another star like him? I should find out within a week.

Scott made no promises, but I felt like he was on my side and he took an interest in the branch that was failing me. I gather from the tone of his voice and what he was saying that he thinks common sense should prevail and I should be compensated as my account showed obviously consistent behaviour with wht I had said.

By the way Scott confirmed that the interest was 2.5% when I was making the bulk of my queries around March/April 2009. Although no written information was passed to me at the time advising of any changes, Scott was able to tell me that the rates soon dropped rapidly. I forget exact figures and dates he said but it was something like 1.8% sometime in April, 1.3% in May and then a scandalous 0.1% thereafter , which is why my annual rate averages to around 0.3% - for some this effect will be even worse!!!

I'm glad to say that Scott could understand my account behaviour and hope this will count in my favour. My statement shows me using the Abbey ATM in September and then soon after regularly pumping much more money back into the account. Evidence like this helps to back up my claims that I had talked to staff concerned about the effects of withdrawal and whether or not was my interest rate still competitive or not. I can thus show conscious investment decisions based upon staff responses which is surely a good thing for anyone reading to consider when making a complaint.

By the way, although it sounds stupid, Scott confirmed that the only way to make sure you are getting the correct deal for your ISA is to go into the branch at least every March time and change to their newer product. Although no new criteria need to be met and the staff only have to click a button it seems Santander have no desire to just automatically update people's accounts, so we'll all just have to stand in crowded branches in long queues to get this done! The staff didn't do this properly for me last year so that's probably why I had this pointless trouble. Worringly having seen the behaviour of rapidly dropping interest rates this might not be enough. I'll probably move my money, but will give Santander the chance to woo me back with compensation for my unnecessary losses.

nickeloi

:j

As a follow up to what I posted earlier I have received an apology for the incorrect information I received at the branch.

As a gesture of goodwill I was given over £100 to represent the money I was expecting to earn under a 2.5% interest scheme for the year, plus a £25 payment in respect of distress an inconvenience caused.

A rather common sense solution to my problem that has caused me to put my plans on switching my ISA on the back burner. For this year I am still only subject to a 2% interest rate which is inclusive of a 12 month bonus (you need £9,000+ for 2.75%), so while it's not a great deal, it's something I will now only think about transfering once I get a clear weekend, rather than stomping down to the bank today to take every last penny out. I've got more valuable things to do right now!

I must stress though that in my case I had good reasoned arguments and evidence that supported the behaviours I explained. Scott mentioned on the phone that I had been a lot more "proactive" than other customers, so if you can show that, that stands you in good stead. For example I think the date when I used the in-branch cash machine followed in the days shortly after by a sizeable donation was a key point where I could place myself in the branch and demonstrate a response to their advice.

The letter mentions feedback being given to the relevant areas. I hope my branch will improve, and nationwide Santander's schemes of changing ISAs over and over again will end. I doubt it, but at least something's getting heard.


Good luck to you all!

libra10

We also have some confusion regarding interest received on a Direct ISA.

My OH and I both transferred £30K from separate Nationwide ISAs around May last year, to Abbey Direct ISA, unsure of issue number.

My money hit the Santander account 3 weeks before OHs money. Nothing changed, but in October he added the extra £1500 allowable for those over 50 years of age. My account remained the same.

At the end of March the interest for the two accounts was showing online. However, my account with £1500 less money invested, received approximately £30 more interest than my OHs account, even though this extra money had been in his Direct ISA for a period of 5 to 6 months!

We phoned Customer Services to see whether they could explain this discrepancy, which they obviously couldn't. The assistant I spoke to (about 2 weeks ago) is supposed to be passing the query to another department to check out the figures.

We wait in interest (excuse the pun)!