'Which is the worst customer service bank?' poll discussion

fontanasteve

I think that the rot set in with A&L a bit before Santander took over. I reclaimed £495 in unfair Bank Charges and then closed my accounts with them and switched to FD. However, they wouldn't let me close my Savings account over the phone, so I left it open with 1p in it. I figure that it costs them a lot more to keep the account serviced than it does me!

A&L also managed to screw up my DD transfers to FD - FD were extremely helpful and sorted it out for me. FD regularly score top of the Banks with the UK Customer Service Index (July 2010 84%) so I would say that it's probably a no-brainer for people to sign up with FD.

They treat people like human beings, don't keep you holding for hours in a labyrimth of Call Steering applications, and the call centre is in the UK staffed by happily motivated people.

soulsurfer

Was very interested to see these results. We don't bank or save with Santander but my husband's elderly cousin passed away in January 2010. By mid January all the relevant paperwork was with her solicitor. The DWP have a query on a payment the cousin received in 2007/2008 and requested copies of her statements from the solicitor. The solicitor requested these from Santander - it is August now and still they have not been sent to the solicitor. Meanwhile ourselves and 2 charities are waiting for her money to be released. If she ever thought, despite leaving a will, her monies would have been witheld all this time - she would have kept it under the mattress! Trust banks? I don't think so.....

mippy

I am so annoyed with Santander right now.

My Electron card was missing - I used to use it for internet banking, but now have a passcode - so I phoned to cancel it to be on the safe side. They did so. Later, a trip to the supermarket, and my card got declined. It's not unknown for them to put a stop on my card if I leave my postcode, so I phoned them. They'd cancelled ALL the cards on my account. I could get cash out in branch, though, they told me...but not without photo ID (my passport is expired - it took a LOT of argument to get an address changed recently with this even when I explained that the statements going to my previous address was a security risk in itself) and not at the weekend as I had things planned. I've had to borrow money because I can't access my own thanks to their mistake - yet they are VERY quick to levy penalties and charges for mistakes of my own.

Previously, they sent a replacement card to my local branch. Local to the address at which I received my statements and had been for six months? No, the branch 300 miles away where I used to live.

Toe-Jam

I do have to laugh at all these people playing the "loyal customer" card. These are banks, there is no such thing as a loyal customer. You will not be getting a Blue Peter badge for your service.

Do you really thing the bank would reward your "loyalty" if your credit history went downhill for whatever reason, no they'd pull the rug out from under you, withdrawing your overdraft without a second thought.

Be as mean to the banks as they are to us. Keep hardly any money in your current account and just move somewhere else if they are not up to scratch. You can apply for a new account online in 10 mins, its not like getting a heart transplant. Just go for it!

MalcBridge

My wife opened an A&L accounts just before it was taken over by Santander but, as a result of their duplicitous inclusion of uncleared credits on statements, got clobbered for £75-worth of charges which, so far and probably for ever, we have been unable to reclaim. A&L's business model is clearly based on offering unaffordable inducements and then making their profits by tricking cutomers into incurring penalty charges.

She then switched to Abbey, attracted by their inducements, and was met with the most comprehensive incompetence either of us have ever experienced. They screwed up so completely on the transfer process that her works pension just stopped. Abbey had seemingly sent them the Abbey sort code allied to the old, A&L, account number - details for an acoount that didn't exist. When we found out and challenged them they simply said that the file was now closed so they couldn't help. No apology, nothing! Since then, we have dicovered that two subscriptions that were paid by direct debit, have also not been switched correctly.

Fortunately, we maintained our joint account at Smile, which I can heartily reccommend.

matthle

My wife was advised by Abbey to close her passbook account (which she has had for 20 years) and open a current account, which she did with £600, and happily made further deposits over the counter at her local branch. Having received no statements and attempting to withdraw money she was denied access to her account. Several meetings were held with the local Abbey to resolve and countless phone calls, each time she was told wait 48 hours, but still could not access the money. Six months after transferring the account Santander sent a letter advising that they had changed their mind about the new account and that it was closed referring her to the fraud databases and providing a help line that did not exist. A letter of complaint has been sent by the financial ombudsman and we still await a refund of the deposited money which has been locked up for 9 months, together with an explanation. The Manager at the local Abbey Branch states that he does not even bank with Santander! is he telling us something? make your own mind up.......................

NEH

Toe-Jam wrote: »

I do have to laugh at all these people playing the "loyal customer" card. These are banks, there is no such thing as a loyal customer. You will not be getting a Blue Peter badge for your service.

Do you really thing the bank would reward your "loyalty" if your credit history went downhill for whatever reason, no they'd pull the rug out from under you, withdrawing your overdraft without a second thought.

Be as mean to the banks as they are to us. Keep hardly any money in your current account and just move somewhere else if they are not up to scratch. You can apply for a new account online in 10 mins, its not like getting a heart transplant. Just go for it!

10 mins! You've either been very lucky in the past when switching or you've never switched....

You nearly always have to go into the bank to sort something out or present ID or something similar.

debbycuk

I'v been a loyal santander oops Abbey customer for many many years.
The service was great and the accounts reasonable.

Different story now. I regularly talk at (note at not too) india until I'm blue in the face, have met my bank manager on numerous occaisions, and get thrown out of my online login with no warning. Totally disgraceful.

Recently they managed to alter the bank sort code on a long term standing order. Didn't bother to tell me that it had failed to go through so I went overdrawn in my other account. When I phoned up to ask why no one could tell me. I then had to leave my lunch and rush down to the local branch in my lunch hour. I asked to for cash to walk next door o my other bank. Was told I hadn't ordered it so it wouldn't be available ( £1500 - not a huge amount for a bank one would have thought!). In the end I got a banker cheque once I kicked up a bit of a fuss. Wasn't until 2 days later that I managed to get back onto their website to discover they had charged me £10 for the privolage of taking my own money out because of their mistake. gggggrrrhhhhh!
I did get the money back but thats not the point - customer service should be reported missing to the police. Its been gone too long!

GraciesGran

As Abbey they were great - 20years no problems, as Santandar they are appalling - have gone to the Halifax.

Toe-Jam

NEH wrote: »

10 mins! You've either been very lucky in the past when switching or you've never switched....

You nearly always have to go into the bank to sort something out or present ID or something similar.

I switched from Santander to Nationwide and all i had to do was sign and return the form they sent me out in the post.

I also opened a new account witn Coventry First and didn't have to send I.D

If it is not too much of an inconvience for people to wait on hold for hours on end in order to get their problems sorted, then surely it can hardly be too much of an effort to present I.D at a bank in order to get a better service.

And if you've ever had to withdraw a large sum from Santander you'd know you practically have to leave a kidney on deposit to get the money out so presenting I.D is a bit irrelevant.


I know which i'd choose. Walking is free, phone calls to indian call centres are not.:o