A & L migration to Santander

jen245

Ive been logged out of my credit card online banking for over a year now, when I ring them, their system wont even let them generate new log in details for me, and they dont know whats wrong or how to fix it. I just use the card now to top up my travel card then pay it off as soon as the statement comes. Im glad I closed down my main banking accounts with them, they are useless!

ponbeam

I have found Santander to be by far the best bank on the high street I have dealt with, I had numerous issues with Halifax and found them to be really really sales orientated at the detriment of the service.
I have a test for you to see how the service is at your local bank. Walk in and ask to open a ISA, You will either find yourself fobbed off for some small reason or put on the telephone.

blueberrypie

ponbeam wrote: »

I have found Santander to be by far the best bank on the high street I have dealt with, I had numerous issues with Halifax and found them to be really really sales orientated at the detriment of the service.
I have a test for you to see how the service is at your local bank. Walk in and ask to open a ISA, You will either find yourself fobbed off for some small reason or put on the telephone.

I did exactly that in a Halifax branch. It wasn't a straightforward "open an ISA" either - I was transferring funds from another ISA, and then adding to them (still using the same year's allowance). The staff member was helpful and quick and it was all sorted within a few minutes.

On the other hand when I tried to *close* a Santander account (not an ISA), it took at least four visits to the branch and several phone-calls before it was finally done.

I'm glad you've been happy with Santander so far. The experience of others suggests that your contentment won't last, but they do say there's an exception to every rule.

pitcher123

Has anyone noticed problems printing their statements from their Alliance and Leicester, now Santander, online account?
I have been trying to do so and found that the resulting print frequently skips the last few entries in the account log. Also when your rpint goes over to the next page they have set it up to print half a transaction on one page and half on the next with the result that information gets lost. I tried canceling my posted statements and they refused so maybe its just as well.
I think I am going to close this account now before I face all the problems I have heard about.

etoilefilante

albo2002 wrote: »

Are any other former A+L account holders having difficulty logging on to their Santander account?

Twice last month I was frozen out and had to wait a week both times for a new PIN to arrive because it wouldn't recognise my PIN, and now it's happened again this month.

Incredibly frustrating!

Yes, twice in the past two weeks. Whilst logged on today I attempted to update my personal details and was locked out prior to completing these changes.

I do not comprehend why, when I am logged onto Internet Banking, that there should be any impact to my access within that environment related to a failure to update my Telephone Banking access PIN (which I was not advised was necessary ... see below).

When I called for assistance I was told that, as a former Alliance & Leicester customer, if my newly re-issued PIN is changed by me in Internet Banking it needs to be changed in the Telephone Banking system also. When I questioned why this vital information was not imparted in the letter sent with the new PIN I was told that this is the same standard letter sent to Santander customers, who are not required to do make such a change ...!?

My failure to understand such a non-committal, ill-informed and unhelpful reply resulted in my repeating my query why this letter is not updated to include the procedures required for A&L customers also. The response I received was "I have told you this 20 times already". An appalling attitude to a customer of long-standing (I have been with this bank in all its former "re-generations" for decades - currently under serious review), but then again such large institutions apparently have no concern for the loyalty of the individual customer. The customer service representative genuinely seemed not to grasp the importance of the need to provide this information in writing along with the re-issued PIN number. It seemed that his training was limited only to repetition of the same statement without proper understanding of the inconvenience caused by the inadequacies of Santander's procedures. Indeed he also said that it was not an inconvenience. I thank you, but I'll be the judge of that.

My request to speak with someone else who may be able to provide a more helpful response was dismissed.

The Santander representative stated that the customer needs to be "educated" and as such the requirement to update a Telephone Banking password at the same time as changing an Internet Banking PIN is made known at the time of ordering said PIN. This is an admission of failure on the part of Santander/A&L: if this had consistently been the case I should not have found myself in the position of being locked out in the first place. I was quite shocked to hear him say, "I know you think I'm lying to you" ... which for the record I had not stated, nor even thought. Rather I was amazed at the inability to provide an adequate explanation as to why this information was not provided to me as a matter of course, even though the two institutions have been operating as one since 2010. The inherent danger of this information being overlooked by the Santander representative in the course of issuing a new PIN, and the very importance of this detail should surely automatically necessitate the inclusion of a statement of the required procedure for former A&L customers in any related correspondence from Santander. How difficult could this be? To rely on a verbal statement alone (that may or may not be given) is quite simply ridiculous. The Santander agent didn't seem to think it was a problem as the website is being updated. Never mind that ... how about updating your correspondence? For me, it is again a problem as I am locked out of internet banking. Thanks for your understanding, Santander .... not.

All things considered, I still don't grasp why I was locked out of the Santander Internet Banking system when I was already logged in. Have you, as a former A&L customer, had a similar problem after receiving a re-issued PIN?

blackburn71

I recently opened a business account with this bank which i closed within the month. What i dont understand is how anyone is able to run a business account without physically being able to speak to anyone in the bank face to face. They also offered me a transfer service from my previous account to there bank which was an absolute nightmare. At the same time i opened the business account they opened a personal account for me i never requested this but figured no problem will have it anyway, within 3 days they had transferred all my direct debits and savings to this account something i did not want to do. Now they wont give me more than £500 in cash over the counter unless i give them 4 days notice. They also charge £25 to send a payment to another account something natwest and many other banks do for free. All in all this is the worst bank and customer care team i have ever dealt with. Please avoid at all cost...

ses6jwg

blackburn71 wrote: »

I recently opened a business account with this bank which i closed within the month. What i dont understand is how anyone is able to run a business account without physically being able to speak to anyone in the bank face to face. They also offered me a transfer service from my previous account to there bank which was an absolute nightmare. At the same time i opened the business account they opened a personal account for me i never requested this but figured no problem will have it anyway, within 3 days they had transferred all my direct debits and savings to this account something i did not want to do. Now they wont give me more than £500 in cash over the counter unless i give them 4 days notice. They also charge £25 to send a payment to another account something natwest and many other banks do for free. All in all this is the worst bank and customer care team i have ever dealt with. Please avoid at all cost...

They shouldn't have transferred your personal account for you without you agreeing to it very naughty.

However, the Santander Business Bank Account does not charge monthly fees and is free for most transactions, that is why there is no counter service and it is self managed online and via phone.

If you wanted a managed account with a branch based relationship manager the account was never suitable.

You can't have "the penny and the bun" so to speak.

In terms of the £500 counter limit, that is because most Santander branches are former building societies and do not have the capacity to carry large amounts of cash. Some Halifax branches and most building socieites have a similar system.

Also the £25 fee is for a CHAPS payment a BACS payment which takes 3 days is free.

p-ch1982

Santander not recommended by me.lol

joncrel

Possibly the most annoying bank. Its online 'service' is being revamped, having seen all Santander's prev. 'improvements' I'll resist 'upgrading' until I'm pushed. Very unlikely I'll stay with this bank despite the considerable hassle of changing.

Toe-Jam

joncrel wrote: »

Possibly the most annoying bank. Its online 'service' is being revamped, having seen all Santander's prev. 'improvements' I'll resist 'upgrading' until I'm pushed. Very unlikely I'll stay with this bank despite the considerable hassle of changing.

You will find that (and i say this with complete confidence) that the "considerable hastle" will be staying , not changing.

Here are my issues for June (Just June)

Couldn't order me a new cheque book because they didn't have my address, had to go to branch with 2 forms of ID. Even though they've been sending me statments to my house for 5 years.

Wrote to me to advise me they'd accidently sent my bank statement to someone else.

Tried to order a new debit card, wrote to me to say I only had a cashcard on my account and to check if my card had a visa logo on the front.