Santander cancelled one card & sent the next two to the wrong country!

definitivefreak

I'm livid. On Friday 9th July, I went to withdraw from an Ulster Bank machine outside Tesco. The machine ate my card and gave me a slip to tell me to consult my card issuer. 25 mins and more than 4 quid later from my mobile, I get told that my card doesn't exist on the system. After giving them the full card number (which I knew off by heart from having to type it in to do online banking), they told me that the card had been marked as lost. And also, a new card had been issued on 8th July. Huh.

So, I had to cope with no card and no money over the Northern Ireland 12th July bank holiday weekend. Banks opened again on Wednesday 14th.

On Wednesday 14th, I get two letters in. One gives me my new PIN. The other tells me....

"Your new DEBIT MFC ONLINE will be ready for you to collect from your local Santander branch ten days from the receipt of this letter."

Notice it said local.

I live in Northern Ireland.

According to them, local is Barnsley South Yorkshire.

So, I ring them up again. I tell them the story from 9th July and they told me the bank machine marked my original card as damaged. So, it was lost and then damaged? Or was it damaged first? They said the new card would be destroyed and another would be issued to my home address.

I just happen to go into my local branch on Friday 16th to get them to check on the system that my new-new card would indeed be going to my home address. They said yes.

On 17th July, I get notice from a company I have a website with (for my father's business) that my recurring billing had been declined. Which makes sense, cos the card doesn't exist anymore. That made me think about what other recurring billing I have that would be coming out soon. This means WAR.

I go to the branch on Monday 19th. I was told I needed to make an appointment. I said I had no time for that because I've had no card since 9th, and my father's business was being interfered with because of payments being rejected, and my credit score was suffering because of failed payments. All I could be told was "ring this number". 08459 724 724. Blah.

So. I talk to a very nice man on the phone. He laughed with me about sending the card to the wrong country, and tried all he could to make things right. All he could tell me was that my card would be at my home address around 21st July. Note, I said home address. Oh yeah, he got my ISA bumped up from 0.1% to 2%. Success.

And what's the update? Today I get my new PIN. And. Another letter saying my card has gone to BARNSLEY!!!!! WHAT!!!!!!

I ring them up AGAIN. I get someone who I can barely understand and who can barely understand me. He said the system has a record of the card going to my home address. Well, how come I have no card and a slip saying it's in Barnsley? He puts me through to the Barnsley branch.

The girl there says "so it's an enquiry about a card for [insert name here]?" Yep. "Where am I sending it to? Have you got the branch number there?" No, I don't have that. "Why's that? Are you not calling from a call centre?" No, I'm the customer! Turns out, the guy didn't tell the girl he was transferring the actual customer. Hmm.

Anyway, the card IS in Barnsley, and they're sending it to my local branch here. I'm livid. And I have the address of their complaints department. What's my chances of getting compensated here?

By the way, I opened the current account in Barnsley in 2006. I was there for uni. I moved back home and changed the address in 2008. The account had been just a savings account with Abbey since like 1987 or something. I had no problems with Abbey all that time. With Santander? Nothing but nonsense. The card that was issued in August 2008 came to my home address. So why is that not happening now? And why could they not have waited until the expiry date in August to upgrade from Electron to Debit? I got a letter way back in June saying my new Debit card would be available from my actual local branch (yeah THAT one was right!), but that branch had no record of a card coming.

They are useless. Bring back Abbey.

Simongw

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/34302955#Comment_34302955

may be worth a read

matthudson2010

Don't let them get away with this.....ask for compensation.....via customer services you will get £50....been there, done it.

definitivefreak

I went to the Santander branch on Friday to see if they had my new card for me. Yay, they did! So I went through the whole process of signing the papers and the back of the card.

I then went to their ATM to withdraw some cash. I entered my new PIN, hit the button to display my balance...

"YOUR CARD HAS BEEN RETAINED"

$$&^%******!!!!!$%%

I went back into the branch and informed them about the machine eatin my soddin card again after only having it about 90 seconds. They said they had no access to the ATM, but those who do will be able to open it in the morning.

So I went back yesterday afternoon to get my rescued card. Guess what I was told. My card had a stolen block on it that can't be removed. Apparently that's what was on the first card that got sent to the wrong branch, and the original card that was ate. Hmm. I spent half an hour in there talking to the manager who actually spent most of the time staring at the computer screen without saying anything.

And the upshot is, a new card has to be issued. This will be a THIRD card. Apparently they'll ring me tomorrow after it's done (cos the system kept crashing yesterday). Incidentally, my sister transfered her ISA from another bank to Santander a few days ago. I'm guessing she'll get her card before I get mine.

Any

Very sorry to hear your story.
Nothing to add to other suggestions here, but I would move my account elsewhere. I don't understand why so many people put up with bad service. And I would possibly take it to the press. Troubleshooter in Times is very good.

callumcrane

I opened an account with them last year my first card didn'twork. I applied for a second this took over a month and as i hadn't used the account they charged me £2 which put me into an unauthorised overdraft. I didn't know this as they never told me and my card didn't work in the machines. Every month I incurred £100 at least of charges 4 months later, still with no working cards they sent me a bill for £400+ I refuted this They said tough its your issue. I paid £75 a month as they suggested for several months not knowing they were still charging me. so i was actually worse off each month. at one point the lady on the phone said "ring the financial ombudsmun if you wish but it wont get you anywhere and hung up" this triggered me to go down to the branch today and stamp my feet. 2 hours later I have a new account all my overdraft written off £185 put into my new account as a gesture of good will. Must remember to kick off more often. I am awaiting the card for my new acount as the previous 5 cards and 11 pin numbers did not work at all over a period of 18 months. I even took the letter in showing my pin and the card still glued to it. they activated it and it said incorrect pin as always. Lets hope they can get it right this time

RetiredInThailand

definitivefreak wrote: »

.....I opened the current account in Barnsley in 2006. I was there for uni. I moved back home and changed the address in 2008. .....

You changed your address but did you switch branches?

I suspect not.

Your account stays with one branch until you change it, because part of your IBAN is the branch sort code, and moving house does not mean that your branch moves with you. Any cards or other branch correspondence will continue go to the branch that your account is held with, just as one would expect. This is what banks mean by "your local branch".

If you want to move your account to another branch, you have to ask them specifically to do so. You really only have yourself to blame for that part of the problem, and as far as I can see you deserve no compensation for it.

The rest of the problem seems to be related to the ATM eating your card, and I dont think there's much anyone can do about that. It happens sometimes and you should have some sort of backup, just in case.

definitivefreak

RetiredInThailand wrote: »

You changed your address but did you switch branches?

I suspect not.

Your account stays with one branch until you change it, because part of your IBAN is the branch sort code, and moving house does not mean that your branch moves with you. Any cards or other branch correspondence will continue go to the branch that your account is held with, just as one would expect. This is what banks mean by "your local branch".

If you want to move your account to another branch, you have to ask them specifically to do so. You really only have yourself to blame for that part of the problem, and as far as I can see you deserve no compensation for it.

The rest of the problem seems to be related to the ATM eating your card, and I dont think there's much anyone can do about that. It happens sometimes and you should have some sort of backup, just in case.

Uh, no it's not my fault. I changed my address in 08. When I got my new card in 09, it came to my home address. Any letter that referred to my local branch, it was referring to the one in Coleraine. It was only when Abbey changed to Santander that it all went wrong. The first card slip they sent me said the card would be in Coleraine - and Coleraine had no record of a card being sent to them. The next one after the machine ate my card (due to a stolen marker put on the card by Santander) said my card was in Barnsley. Santander's fault, not mine.

jfh7gwa

RetiredInThailand wrote: »

If you want to move your account to another branch, you have to ask them specifically to do so. You really only have yourself to blame for that part of the problem, and as far as I can see you deserve no compensation for it.

What the ..?

I had no idea that would be the case, and I've banked with many institutions over the years, across all parts of the country.

Regardless of whether the OP would have known to ask this, mightn't it have been helpful for his bank (someone, anyone, at some point) have told him this? They could clearly see what the problem is, surely, if you knew this, and they work in a bank they must have known what the hell was going on..?

RetiredInThailand

definitivefreak wrote: »

Uh, no it's not my fault. I changed my address in 08. When I got my new card in 09, it came to my home address. Any letter that referred to my local branch, it was referring to the one in Coleraine. It was only when Abbey changed to Santander that it all went wrong. .....

That's not quite the same thing that you said in your initial post and it still doesn't seem to add up. Maybe Abbey had some special way of allocating a different local branch, that didnt get passed on to Santander?

I have had an account with NatWest in a town near London for well over 30 years. In that time I have changed house (and country) many times, but the account has always remained at that branch. Only my address has changed. I have never actually been to the first branch at all since I opened the account all those years ago, and on the odd occasions when I need to do anything in person I just go to any convenient branch, and they sort it out. But if there is a problem or correspondence it all happens through the original account-holding branch, not the nearby local one.

I have also had various other accounts with various other banks, and none of them has ever changed the branch when I moved either. The first 6 digits of your full account number is the branch sort code, so I dont really see how they could do this without actually changing the full number (IBAN).

All that aside, you are right that they should have known which branch they were sending the cards to, and they should have told you on the phone exactly where they were going. There is no excuse for them getting that wrong.

pmduk

Why bother to keep a santander account open? They're useless.