A & L migration to Santander

amcy

Like loads others, I was stuffed by the A&L switch to Santander. For 4 weeks, I was unable to access my bank account on the phone as the login was blocked. 3 phone calls (over 90 minutes) got them to say it would be unblocked "within a fortnight". Unbelievably bad, but they did not even manage that. Another 2 calls got them to admit it was their fault and they would unblock it "by the weekend". Thatr also turned out to be a lie.

I also sent numerous emails to various departments (including the CEO of Santander), wrote 2 letters, sent messages from their various websites and complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (as always, that was a waste of time).

I eventually got a letter of apology promising a compensation payment, and a phone call promising a payment to cover the cost of sending a letter recorded delivery (as I explained their was no point writing if they ignored my letters). Neither of these payments came and a further complaint to the CEO and in writing caused them to finally unblock the account after 4 weeks and to compensate me with 50% more than I expected. It is sad but true that a polite email to the CEO is often the only way to get things sorted. However, a quick Google never fails to find a CEOs name.

As soon as it is all straight, I will be looking at moving banks, if I can stand the stress of switching direct debits.

tenuissent

BLUEVIEW: "I notice that my migrated A & L Premier 50 account is now just called a plain Santander account.
Do I still receive the benefits of travel insurance, identity protection and some health benefit cover that I was promised on starting the Premier 50 account?
I notice I'm still paying £10 monthly for it."

As far as I can see, no-one has answered this.

I had the same concerns, and phoned them. I was very careful and detailed about my questioning, and they convinced me that these benefits remained as long as I held the account open (I plan to close it soon....) I have only ever used the travel insurance, and was about to travel.

I was particularly concerned as the statement, unlike yours, did NOT show the £10 charge or the interest, so they had accidentally put me back on the free current account. They have tried to put this right this month, but their new mistake is removing tax from the interest. When I phoned about this, they said the tax would be returned plus £5 for my trouble.....

tenuissent

...and they made a much worse mistake, noticed today. I transferred £3,500 to my daughter's account last week.

Today I noticed that not only had they transferred £3,500 from my own account, but also from the joint account I have with my husband....so daughter has received £7,000! She confirms this.

They say they will reverse the joint account transaction within three working days. And then we both plan to close our accounts and move somewhere else.

Thanks to various warnings on this thread, I will write a cheque to another account I already have, to empty the Santander/A&L account, before closing it and moving the DDs......

phil3443

If you're having trouble with our favourite bad service bank, make sure you give the phone staff a hard time. Remind them how long you've been waiting / on hold / discussing their screw-ups with several different people who all have you tell them the story again.

I got £10 for the first time they failed to fix the problem, and £50 when they failed again. It's better than the interest on most other accounts, and Santander make so many mistakes you'll have lots to moan about.

I'll be moving my account away as soon as they've refunded the payment they made to someone else's credit card. Though I might have another moan and see if I can get the giveaway up to £100.

tony.45

Looks like I've just got out in the nick of time!Joined A&L in November 2009 and now gone to First Direct.Went to a main dealer in Lincoln,80 miles from home,and tried to use my debit card to purchase my pre-ordered car.Because I gave the last 4 digits of my landline number incorrectly they refused the transaction.As if anyone could walk into a showroom with false ID!Anyway I phoned again and passed their test.As they wouldn't agree to pay me £50 I decided to leave and transferred my wife's and my ISA's.They did pay me as I threatened them with the FSA but they were too late.After nattering them I have only just got confirmation the account is closed but not yet had a final statement.Incidentally my wife has a Santander loan and it's taken nearly 3 months to get the DD set up with First Direct, as they(Santander) do not have an electronic system!!!

skaps

I have been transferred from a and l to santander and so far they managed to sort out all my direct debits but the one that pays the santander cc was not. I phoned them and they took off the £12 late payment fee then i made an internet payment for the minimum. Then today i get a call saying i need to call them, call them and they say you have not made the minimum payment. They are all one company yet they can't do anything properly. I just logged onto Internet Banking and have been charged £5.00 for a daily authorised overdraft fee? Does anyone know what this is? A and L used to charge 50p a day up to a £5 cap. I have had nothing sent saying that this was going to change. If this is so I will change banks.

Martina_2

I haven't been unable to access my plus saver account on line for several weeks now. I haven't had any communication from Santander to explain the problem. I have phoned twice only to be told there were some problems transferring from A&L. It is just as well I don't need the funds in it at the moment.

jen245

"I just logged onto Internet Banking and have been charged £5.00 for a daily authorised overdraft fee? Does anyone know what this is? A and L used to charge 50p a day up to a £5 cap."

It hasnt changed, its still 50p a day capped at £5, theyve just changed the name of it, confusing? Yes, but thats Santander

vcmtik

Both my husband and I have been affected by all this change over too!

Back on the 9th my husband received a call saying that his internet access had been blocked, but wouldn't explain why until he had gone to our local Santander branch with proof of id and a telephone call to them from the branch (secure line) to unblock and resolve all this. Following that call I decided to check my bank account - we are both with A&L but have sole accounts. Mine was blocked too, so after waiting on the phone for 30 mins, I was told the same as my husband.

The next day we popped in to the branch, The brach staff were getting as frustrated as we were, because even they were getting pushed from pillar to post with all the different departments they had to speak to! Anyway, to cut a long story short it took 1 and half hours for them to confirm everything and get the accounts unblocked.

Meanwhile I had telephoned all my direct debit companies and explained the situation I was in and assured them that everything should go through fine....but no. After receiving a phone call from one of these companies saying that payment had failed again I immediately phoned A&L again. After 45 mins I was told that I wasn't able to discuss the account over the phone, but to go into branch and show proof of id etc...(haven't I heard this before?).

My husband however, received in the post confirmation of an authorised overdraft - that he didn't apply for! I was livid. We had to prove ourselves to them, yet somehow someone managed to gain credit via the internet the day AFTER the account was blocked....how can this be? He then phoned A&L, another long wait in the queues :mad:. He did get somewhere this time though, it was a customer advisor from the UK. She cleared everything up with him and then spoke to me regarding my account. As a result my account was unblocked - without the need to prove myself in branch and all direct debits would now be honoured.....HALLELUJAH!

It has now been 10 working days and both my husband and I still have no new debit cards, or internet access, and now our cars are getting low on fuel and cupboards getting bare. We are changing accounts after this experience!

Up until now we have been very happy with A&L, but it seems that Santander has ruined everything.

TJJ112

Well what can I say...

Ive been following this thread since it started.. Ive been with A&L since jan 2007 and i thought they were graet - my accounts were migrated recently and and it seemed to go OK exept for a few DD's which i had to sort out..

But what i have noticed is while i still had my A&L branded debit card it let me make deposits at the post office - but i got a new card a few days back and it will NOT work at post office... that was a good feature for me - ime sure they told me in a leaflet about how great santando was that i would not loose this after migration - but i have and they told me on the phone after a 1 hour wait that i can never use post office to deposit money again...

AND the new debit card seems to be a micky mouse electron that looks like a full debit card because it wouldent work in an offline transaction today........

Ive already started the switch to First Direct.

Which includes CC, mortgage and savings.

Santando dont know there ar*se from there elbow.

I also herd Halifax systems might me merged or transfered to lloyds system soon aswell ??? so they might not be a good bet either.

Troy.