MSE News: Santander 'worst bank for customer service'

BJV

I used Abbey for ever for personal accounts and did not really notice a change. So we set up our business and used them.
Sloppy, slapdash, you name it happened. They only good thing is that you can get free business banking for life. Just a shame that they can not sort out there internal mess. Seams like the left hand never knows where the right hand is let alone what it is doing!

Paulgonnabedebtfree

the4thlion wrote: »

Hi all, i have myself just become a victim to that pathetic excuse of a bank known as `Santander`, you will get the jist of my telephone conversation through the letter i have just sent customer services......

Hello,
Just writing to you to say how poor your service is concerning remortgages. I recently took out a mortgage with you as i thought (at the time) that Santander had a good name, and to take advantage of the low rates.
I wanted to borrow £20,000 on top of the £67,500 to consolidate a loan, and for small house improvements. I earn £32,500 a year, never had bad credit and was looking to pay £589 to complete my mortgage in 16 years (even more if possible), thought there would be no problem whatsoever.................................
However, i have just been turned down over the phone by one of your assistants, due to the pathetic questionaire that you ask, i.e how much on birthdays/Christmas a month !!!! How much a month on decorating??? How much a month on holidays ?? How much a month on car repairs etc etc; All of these questions can have no REAL answer, as i dont spend every month on Christmas and Birthdays and i dont know what i am going to buy until the dates arrive or how much....PATHETIC. I also dont decorate every month,as like everyone else in the world, you decorate when the need arrives, as with car repairs, how can you give an estimation on something that hasnt happened.....What a joke.
And then to top it off, when asked my outgoings, i replied that on my credit card (of which i owe £3500),i pay £250 a month,not because that is what the company requires (my minimum payment is £40) but because, unlike some people, i want to pay it off asap, and because `I` choose to pay that,of which can be reduced or increased as and if needed. Also when asked if i contribute towards a pension i replied that i did but it is automatically deducted from my wages as it is a company pension, so wasnt sure exactly how much, but gave my gross and net pay, to which got the reply that i earn £100 a month less (due to her calculations), than what my payslip that i had in front of me read,bearing in mind that i work for a multi-million pound company, i am pretty sure that for the last 16 years of service, they havnt overpaid me.
So basically, i was turned down because,as she explained, my funds would be insufficient, when i questioned this, i was told that with my credit card (which, as i said previously can be reduced by £200 if i chose), and my annual payment (of which £1200 net has been wiped off by your assistant), i would have more outgoings than income...
As this still didnt make any sense at all to me, i said that, even going by her calculations, the consolidation of payments would still leave me better off,to which i got the reply that maybe i wont really pay off my loan, and instead spend it on other things, leaving me in the circumstances that she was making concerning insufficent funds!!!! And was even declined when i replied that Santander could pay the debt direct to the company, rather than me filtering it all away due to my irresponsibility of paying off my debts !!!!!!!! ....... UNBELIEVABLE.
So there you go, due to this person blatantly calling me a liar,i have now got circumstances where,if ever asked if i have been turned down for a mortgage,i am going to have to say yes.
I hope i get a reply to this, as i am pretty sure i will get many replies from the numerous threads that i will be posting this e-mail on as a warning to steer well clear of Santander.
Thankyou

They probably will reply. Just don't bank on it being sent to the right address.
Their incompetence has cost them thousands per year in business that I now do elsewhere. No problem for such a large organisation but big bucks if thousands of other people have done the same as me. I still do a little with them but only because there are a couple of situations where they are very convenient for me.

the4thlion

Rupert_Bear wrote: »

I find the worst bank for customer service is the one that you apply for a product and they turn you down. Always found the best bank is the ones who accept you!

Well when,you get turned down because they miscalculate your wages and judge you on how big a Christmas present you will be buying, in my opinion, pretty much stinks.
And what is the point of adding the debt that youve applied to consolidate in the first place,onto your outgoings..... Would have been better off lying.
Do you think thats a good idea ?????

rb10

the4thlion wrote: »

Hi all, i have myself just become a victim to that pathetic excuse of a bank known as `Santander`, you will get the jist of my telephone conversation through the letter i have just sent customer services......

I hope that isn't a genuine letter that you have sent to them. It's certainly not written in a way that asks to be taken seriously.

So basically, your complaint surrounds the fact that Santander are following prudent credit scoring systems that encompass affordability checks for customers?

Personally, I can't see anything wrong with that.

taxi73

That is exactly the way every bank has to conduct their mortgage business now.It has been well publicised that families with children are now at a bigger diadvantage due to all the mortgage lenders counting a certain amount for each child.I don't think it's a bad thing at all using affordability calculators.
I have bank accounts and mortgage with santander and can honestly say that I've only ever incurred one problem with them and that was when they were merging systems.
Banks can't win can they? They get in trouble for lending stupid amounts and ending up with loads of bad debt and getting bailed out and then when they tighten up they get it in the neck.

simplybest

I have had three years of hell with this useless bunch of !!!!!!,not one thing did they ever get right for me with the brain dead staff they employ I am not really surprised, they should spend more money on customer satisfaction than wasting it on dumb advertising with Formula 1 racing. I question any good comments on here for this load of morons, checks should be made to see if they are employees of this lame Bank.
I suppose the only good part for me I have been paid by Santander two lots of compensation for their blunders, has anybody heard of a Bank that opens a fixed savings bond for you and then when it matures forget the interest they set, because I do.

GLAD TO SEE THE BACK OF THEM.

harric

I think it depends on the member of staff you deal with. I started a mortgage application with a representative from the Hove branch of Santander. She was great, explain everything thoroughly, always returned calls promptly and was a pleasure to deal with. Unfortunately we were in the process of moving so had to finish the application with the representative from another branch. The experience couldn't have been more different. After the initial meeting 4 weeks ago I have heard nothing despite numerous answer message and branch visits. The lack of response is at best unprofessional and at worst just plain rude.

If Santander are cutting cost by paying their "rank and file" next to nothing then I guess the old adage "You pay peanuts you get monkeys" is at work here. Occasionally though you do get one good person but I suspect they are the exception rather than the rule.

simplybest

harric wrote: »

I think it depends on the member of staff you deal with. I started a mortgage application with a representative from the Hove branch of Santander. She was great, explain everything thoroughly, always returned calls promptly and was a pleasure to deal with. Unfortunately we were in the process of moving so had to finish the application with the representative from another branch. The experience couldn't have been more different. After the initial meeting 4 weeks ago I have heard nothing despite numerous answer message and branch visits. The lack of response is at best unprofessional and at worst just plain rude.

If Santander are cutting cost by paying their "rank and file" next to nothing then I guess the old adage "You pay peanuts you get monkeys" is at work here. Occasionally though you do get one good person but I suspect they are the exception rather than the rule.

"you pay peanuts you get monkeys" how very true, Santander should spend more money on opening Zoos to give training to their so called Staff and spend less or nothing at all in purchasing perfectly good businesses that were fine until they came along.

lucien32

Very unfortunately, my experience with Satander is as bad as it gets. As soon as they took Alliance & Leicester, they blocked access to my business account online, by phone and in branch. They claimed they didn't have a record of my names and signature on records. It took them 3 weeks and a formal complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Services to acknowledge the obvious. I was me...

the4thlion

rb10 wrote: »

So basically, your complaint surrounds the fact that Santander are following prudent credit scoring systems that encompass affordability checks for customers?

Personally, I can't see anything wrong with that.

My credit rating was 966......knobhead