Abbey/Santander Rant

gabyjane

I sympathise. I was with Abbey since being born with savings accounts etc and have used them up until about a year ago when i finally made the fab move of transferring to NatWest. Absolutely brilliant..no probs, no queues, no stress!!

Last week i 'nipped' into Abbey to withdraw some of our savings (1st time in over a year!)..stood there for literally 10 mins (2 people in queue)..lady i know in there said 'ooh havent seen you for a while' i said 'no i dont bank here anymore' the conversation went on and i was around 20 mins in total grr..hence to say i came out livid and bumped into my friend who agreed they are dire!!

Glad you have moved one of the best things i have ever done!

jdx

Thought I'd stick around and see how Santander were going to improve things but all I've learnt is that they were crap as Abbey and they are crap as Santander.

GemJar_2

Yep, I can't wait until I can move.

haynick

Was with Bradford & Bingley - unfortunately they got taken over by Abbey/Sancrapder - Awful service now - Get out while you can.

MoneySavingNovice

haynick wrote: »

............Sancrapder.............

I was sorry when Shabbey changed its name - but this is even better!

viktory

Have to say, I have had brilliant service from them. They blocked my card when there was some dodgy transactions and got a new card to me within a week. Nothing but praise for them.

chomsky_2

Hi there, I had an absolute nightmare with Santander as they handle Debenhams store cards (I did not know this when I signed up). I have posted about this on another thread as well just to warn people. Basically I set up an online account to pay the card every month, (not paying their ridiculous interest) and their website would refuse to let me set up online payment or a direct debit.

I went in-store to Debenhams to enquire what the problem was only to be informed that the Debenhams card was "nothing to do with Debenhams" and the only contact method allowed is of course by phoning the Santander handled premium rate helpline and speaking to an outsourced call centre. Of course much like the original poster, nothing was ever resolved, I kept having to phone the helpline, costing several pounds for every call, I was put on hold often for 20 minutes and longer, hung up on mid conversation and any request to speak to a supervisor resulted in an immediate loss of fluency in English and any then being put on hold or a prompt disconnection.

In the end I gave up, I went in store paid off the entire balance and got rid of the card and fired off an enraged 1000 word complaint letter to Debenhams.

Their pitiful response was
"I will now ensure that your comments are formally logged.
This feedback is used in future reviews, in order to improve
our customer service."

I only got the card as they often have special events/offers for
Debenhams card holders and my intention was to buy on the Debenhams
Card and pay the balance every month.

Won't be shopping there again in a hurry.

Storck

gabyjane wrote: »

I sympathise. I was with Abbey since being born with savings accounts etc and have used them up until about a year ago when i finally made the fab move of transferring to NatWest. Absolutely brilliant..no probs, no queues, no stress!!

Last week i 'nipped' into Abbey to withdraw some of our savings (1st time in over a year!)..stood there for literally 10 mins (2 people in queue)..lady i know in there said 'ooh havent seen you for a while' i said 'no i dont bank here anymore' the conversation went on and i was around 20 mins in total grr..hence to say i came out livid and bumped into my friend who agreed they are dire!!

Glad you have moved one of the best things i have ever done!

Maybe you would have been quicker if you hadn't have engaged in a conversation with the cashier. I always find it quicker to give one word answers if I'm in a rush, may sound rude but it gets you out quicker and lets the queue move quicker. Think of those people behind you who had to wait another 10 minutes whilst you chatted to the cashier.

Pincers

I live in London and had my bank card stolen. They sent me a replacement out, and sent it to a local branch. The problem was that the local branch was in Manchester, local to the address from which I had moved a year previously.

threemuttleys

hence why I moved to Co Op Bank!

hated Abbey, Sandsader were worse. Ring to do something, and person on the other end doesnt speak more than one word of English, and you have to remember your last transaction (hard if you dont use it too often!)