Alliance & Leicester (Santander) = abysmal!

Wintermute

Wintermute wrote: »

My only problems with Santander have been with a new credit card I got through them, the card it's self is working fine for the most part, but I've been waiting about 2 and a half weeks for my online banking details, I contacted Santander twice since, the first time they told me that it was due to a technical error and the last time they told me it should be in the post so hopefully I'll get it this week, that and some issues with the Mastecard SecureCode site are the only problems I've had with them.

Today I finally got the login information in the mail, 5 separate envelopes with 5 different passcodes, security codes, pin numbers and pass numbers . Now I can access my bank accounts via the santander website as well as the A&L site, but I still can't access my credit card online as they didn't send the security number needed for that which is why I contacted them in the first place. I phoned them up again today for the 4th time and it turns out there's a problem with their system so the number wasn't issued, but it'll be with me in 3-5 days, but to be fair on them the guy I spoke to him gave me his full name and his telephone extension so I can speak to him directly if I have any further issues.

Other than this I'm still happy overall with the service I get from Santander.

Acremead

pmduk wrote: »

The main problem is Santander is buying more banks than it is able to manage...........

Made worse by the fact that they are at the same time pulling in large amounts of new business with their headline grabbing offers.

I was a saver with A&L. I tried to open a second savings account and failed after trying for 8 hours- being given the run-around between phone, internet and branch. Either their staff training is abysmal or some staff deliberately tell porkies just to get you off the line and keep their call-answering benchmarks up.

surfsister

kathy48 wrote: »

I'd like to leave and came into this site to look for a better deal! Banked for 30 years with A&L and Girobank before it with no problems at all. Then a fortnight ago I logged on to my internet account and found I'd been locked out.
I'll spare everyone the boring details; too incredible to take in but after 2 weeks and an hour listening to the worst hold music on the planet I was told I had to go to a branch to get my account unlocked as I'd given one or more pieces of incorrect information out of date of birth, security code and expiry date from by debit card in my hand ....... I got my partner to check just in case Greensleeves for an hour had caused temporary brain failure.

The charmless young man I spoke to under a huge sign that said "Welcome" got very close to calling me liar and fiddled for hours on his computer while I had a good browse of the rather confidential document he'd been working on when I arrived. (Don't leave any paper documents at your local branch!!!).

He then told me I'd get a new PIN in 7-10 DAYS and I could use it to log on. I can't use telephone banking either meanwhile. You must have to work really hard to mess things up this spectacularly.

Exactly the same for me!!! I haven't been able to access my account for 4 weeks and have no way put any details in incorrectly. It jkust locked me out as I cabn access the savings account still.

I think santander is useless in the branch the santander customer service adviser told me it was nothing to do with them and I had to go to Alliance and Leicester!!! lol I said they had merged and he tried to tell me they hadn't!! waste of space. I banked with Alliance since they were Giro and no probs before! Still locked out and been oin phobe 3 times for an hr!!

surfsister

kathy48 wrote: »

I'd like to leave and came into this site to look for a better deal! Banked for 30 years with A&L and Girobank before it with no problems at all. Then a fortnight ago I logged on to my internet account and found I'd been locked out.
I'll spare everyone the boring details; too incredible to take in but after 2 weeks and an hour listening to the worst hold music on the planet I was told I had to go to a branch to get my account unlocked as I'd given one or more pieces of incorrect information out of date of birth, security code and expiry date from by debit card in my hand ....... I got my partner to check just in case Greensleeves for an hour had caused temporary brain failure.

The charmless young man I spoke to under a huge sign that said "Welcome" got very close to calling me liar and fiddled for hours on his computer while I had a good browse of the rather confidential document he'd been working on when I arrived. (Don't leave any paper documents at your local branch!!!).

He then told me I'd get a new PIN in 7-10 DAYS and I could use it to log on. I can't use telephone banking either meanwhile. You must have to work really hard to mess things up this spectacularly.

I'll join the escape committe I'm off to Natwest much better customner service

surfsister

Kobvet wrote: »

I too got caught up in the total shambles over the migration to Santander. What was particularly galling was the fact that five out the six operators I spoke to on their premium rate phone line during the 3 weeks my account was locked pretended that they didn't know about the migration problem, until eventually pressed to do so.

My complaint to the CEO produced an apologetic letter and a £25 credit - which is still to appear in my account!!

I'm off to First Direct and good riddance to Santander.

Who is the CEO please and do you have his address as I've written to gthe complaints dept 2 weeks ago and no reply!!! lol

Tintin0217

I - as an ex-employee of Santander - only have one piece of advice for anyone who banks with them, close your account as soon as you can and move to another provider!

[Deleted User]

The A&L Internet Banking helpdesk staff all try to fob you off. They blatantly lie to you just to get you off the line.

I phoned up last Tuesday to ask why my savings accounts still showed as unavailable for over two months. I get told by some bloke that it will be "fixed next Monday". - FOB OFF!

I phoned up a few hours later and spoke to someone else who actually took a look and said she would pass it onto the technical team. She said I should have access again to my savings accounts within 24 hours. Which was correct!

I remember having a fob off from them last year too when I had unauthorised card transactions.

Wintermute

Deleted_User wrote: »

The A&L Internet Banking helpdesk staff all try to fob you off. They blatantly lie to you just to get you off the line.

I phoned up last Tuesday to ask why my savings accounts still showed as unavailable for over two months. I get told by some bloke that it will be "fixed next Monday". - FOB OFF!

I phoned up a few hours later and spoke to someone else who actually took a look and said she would pass it onto the technical team. She said I should have access again to my savings accounts within 24 hours. Which was correct!

I remember having a fob off from them last year too when I had unauthorised card transactions.

I think it depends who you get, I spoke to somebody who was great and gave me his extension so I can contact him if I had any further problems (which I suspect I'll be doing tomorrow), it's just a pity their site is so badly written and designed and that their system sucks. I've had no problems with the A&L site, but the Santander site has been a constant problem, so much so I think I'm going to cancel my Santander credit card next month after only having it for a month or two.

Loughton_Monkey

Although, to be fair, I have no complaints on the Abbey National/Santander 'brand', I think the A&L take-over is a disaster all round!

For my part (and my wife's) I took the opportunity of trawling out all our A&L money into better hands, but couldn't find any way of closing the accounts on line. I was told on the phone that they cannot close them online or even by phone. I MUST go into a branch. This was bad enough, but imagine the grief (of ourselves, and about 30 other customers) of standing at the window for 1 hour 20 minutes, while the girl tried to close them. She hadn't got a clue, nor had anyone she rang. We just stood there, listening to other customers demanding to see "the manager" regarding other problems.

The other thing was a few days before closure. My wife got an "under funding" fee of £5. This was strange, since for the last few months, it has been our habit to push £500 into the accounts, and as soon as it has arrived, we move it out to a better home. My wife phoned, and was given the "new" information that she was charged this because the money has to be in for at least 4 days!!!! Mine hadn't either, but I wasn't charged. Most of our previous months payments in were only in a day or 2 at most, and were not charged.

It seems the computer must have woken up that morning, and created a new rule (just for my wife, but not for me). The guy eventually refunded it. This was the last "get out of here" straw that made us waste 80 minutes of our own and the teller's time!

So my advice to A&L customers who wish to close is 1. Grit your teeth and DO IT. 2. Take a good book to the branch, since it will take time, and 3. Do not go in within 3 days of any Internet (or other) transaction otherwise they will tell you they can't close the account because the transaction is still 'going through' - even if you've seen the transaction in another account, taken it out, and spent it!

Loughton_Monkey

Just an update on my last tale of woe (1 hour 20 minutes to close our accounts at the branch).

Well today my wife received an e-mail today to "remember" to look at her Reward account online! Funny! We closed it on the 16th August after such a long wait in the branch (as above). What did we see online? A balance of £500.14 being taken out to clear the account to Zero (before we closed it), followed now by a £15 "daily unarranged overdraft fee." Dated 4th September.

Perversely, this is followed by a 13th September transcation - that probably triggered the e-mail - showing 4 pence "Interest" bringing the net balance to -£14.96.

Are these people bigger idiots than the idiots they take us for?