Considering a switch - HSBC to Santander

Davewils

Looking at my accounts I could save around £80 per month in interest alone by switching my current account and credit card to Santander. They have a 0% overdraft for 12 months and a similar credit card for balance transfers.

Meanwhile i'm paying 30% interest on my HSBC Gold Card :mad: and about 16% on my HSBC Overdraft (which i think is due to go up soon actually!)

There seems to be a fair amount of negative feedback regarding Santander in general, but an £80 saving per month equates to nearly £1000 over that 12 month interest free period, enough to pay off half my card debt.

So, would anyone still warn me off Santander, or is it worth a punt?

:edit: Oh and hows that 'Account Transfer Service' ? and has anyone experienced any problems?

adamc260

Just read through the forums about Santander/A&L and see how many 'happy' customers they have

premierfella

The credit card seems to be an expensive obsolete one - much of the saving you are anticipating you would get by balance transferring to any of the best buy cards.

Santander will be a "punt", but you may be one of the fortunate ones and it is a significant saving given your quoted circumstances. If you switch there, just do it with eyes wide open and keeping your beady eye on what exactly is happening to your Standing Order and Direct Debit instructions (at both banks) whilst the account transfer is going through (advice which would apply to most banks).

Consumerist

Davewils wrote: »

So, would anyone still warn me off Santander, or is it worth a punt?

"Come into my parlour" said the spider to the fly.

Getting in to Santander is not a problem; their switching service, in my experience, was fairly smooth - one of the DD payees was a bit slow so had to contact them to sort it - not A&L's fault.

Once you are in to Santander, if you never have any problems or need Customer Service then you'll probably be fine. Follow their Ts & Cs (several undated documents) to the letter (you may need a lawyer for this) and you should be quite happy with them.

Good luck.

Inactive

Santander from HSBC....... Don't do it..;):eek:

MoneySavingNovice

Inactive wrote: »

Santander from HSBC....... Don't do it..;):eek:

I will second that!

Santandisaster has disaster written all over it!

IrishGypsy

If you open the account in the branch (compared to say, online), and then take advantage of the fee-free 13-month balance transfer offer (agin, in branch), there's a lot less chance for mistakes to happen. This is because you then have a banking advisor you can go back to if you have any questions about the process.

It's always much better to have a single person you can refer back to, instead of doing account openings via the post (ID etc). If the Personal Banking Advisor in the branch is worth their salt, they'll make sure the process is pretty smooth (certainly as smooth as they physically can).

Is Santander perfect? Of course not, but I have yet to find a single company that is!

DizzleUK

As bad as they are, there are benefits on switching to Santander- but get what they are offering you and as soon as that expires, GTFO!

Just keep your use of the account to the bare minimum so you reduce your risk of needing their customer services, which at the end of the day, is where the problem with this bank lies.

They are a solid bank that's not doing to fall over.
They do have a huge network of branches in the UK.
They do have excellent incentives for new customers.

But...

They do have arguably the worst customer service reputation out of any bank in the UK.

Consumerist

It is true that you can learn to live with their silly little quirks in the short term. The watchword with A&L, in my experience, is uncertainty. You have to find things out by trial and error because you can't rely on anything their customer disservice tells you - assumimg they tell you anything meaningful.

I'm currently having trouble closing a savings account. The minimum balance on their savings accounts is £1.00 but the balance transferred at "closure" was £0.99 and the account now shows in the summary as "not available".

So, has the account been closed or are they planning to make it dormant so they can charge "administration" charges when they introduce the planned changes to their Ts & Cs without giving notice (except on their website or in branches)?

This would mean that I am expected to be constantly vigilant for the planned change to Ts & Cs unless I can confirm closure.

This is Santander for you.