Santander Customer Services

Red_Ant

I called this evening to let Santander know I am going abroad in a week's time. I thought it would be a simple process - but how wrong I was. After entering in Card Details / DOB via the keypad I was given a balance I already knew, and then put through pretty quickly to a call taker. She got me to go through the full range of security checks, including the CVV / Expiry date on my debit card before trying to sort out my query - and then after putting me on hold I was finally transferred to a UK based person - who just about sorted it out (I am going to 4 countries, but they can only put three on their system, so I need to ring them whilst abroad to get the fourth one added). All in all this took 25 minutes !

I'd been into a branch to try to do this - and was told I needed to make a simple call to customer services !

PC_Gabriel_Kent

Any other riveting stuff for us?

gatita

PC_Gabriel_Kent wrote: »

Any other riveting stuff for us?

Being objectionable comes naturally to you eh?

PC_Gabriel_Kent

I spent 36 mins and 22 seconds on hold to BT customer service once. Then they cut me off so i had to dial again. Its like big deal so what !!!! happens...

jambosans

There is a board for these types of threads:-
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=82

avantra

We use three banks for our finances (Abbey ie Snatander, First Direct and NatWest). This is far from a rant just dry reality.
Santander are the most inflexible on most things and like to do things in the old way.
It's a real throwback to the days that CS was just a pipe dream when you deal with them.

For example if you need to change your address with Santander, you need to find a branch and fill a lengthy form, show ID's showing your new address (how can you do this if you only just moved?). Al in all it takes half a day of driving to the nearest branch and standing in queues.

On the other hand with Nat-West you pick up the phone speak to someone in the UK and go via the security checks and after 5 minutes you are done. The same with FD.

When going abroad we always use our FD or NW facilities never again relying on Santander after we were left cashless in Mexico last year. We made sure beforehand that Sant' knew about our destination and duration but after pulling £200 the card stopped working and we had to spend two hours talking to some Indian call centre from a telephone cafe in the middle of Cancun :mad:

The card stopped working again after we spent another £200.

If you want to go Paperless you can't with Santander (they told us they are thinking of this in 2007 but nada since).

Santander finds it very hard to amend details and sent us new debit cards to our old address two years in a raw.

Bank transfers don't use the new fast funds systems FD/NW use so it's still takes 4 banking days to get a bacs in.

The internet facility use a fixed combination of user name and password compare to using a changing variables and Rapport software with FD/NW, so not as secure.



To give it to Santander transferring our ISA to them was flawless.


So why did we stay with them? well we don't really use them any more after the Mexico incident, but you can't close the account over the phone, you have to come down to the branch (which is 20 miles away). I will get to it one day.