Alliance & Leciester / Santander woes

Djelibaby

Hey,

I'm going to cut one hell of a long story short here, but essentially for the last 2-3 months i've found my self getting randomly "blocked" from doing online transactions. I ring up A&L/SAN customer support and they tell me there isn't a block on my card, they simply blame the merchant i'm trying to deal with (Anything from zavvi, expedia, betting sites to play etc)

I tried to book a holiday, £500, that's all (my balance is significantly more than this), and it got declined. Expedia said my bank blocked it, my bank says its expedias fault, and ultimately i now find my self not being able to use my card online ( I went 2 1/2 weeks during August not being able to use my card online, only in the last 2 weeks has it started workign again)

Am i one of the random unlucky few who are having these difficulties since the move to Santander? Or is there ANYONE else out there having similar problems? I've goolged but not had any luck.

Oh and 2 official complaints later and santander still blame the entire internet retail trade for the issue.

AnonymousForObviousReason

Firstly I would suggest using a credit card (if you have one) because it's likely to be better covered for online purchases than your debit card. I know this can cost more on some sites and isn't always possible (for example betting sites).

With your problem I hear you, exactly the same apart from it was when I made a transfer to a bank account. Also the fact that you're being lied to seems a common complaint (was in my case). Basically they are hoping that you are so stupid that you'll believe the shops don't want to accept your money? Is this because shops hate getting paid for their goods and services offered perhaps? Or is it that you're only willing to buy a CD at an advertised £8.99 insults them so much they're rejecting you?

The solution is actually quite easy, it'll probably take a few weeks to sort start to finnish though and about 15 mins filling in an online form. Look at the below link:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts

Read through the options, pick one you like, click the link, hit the apply button, fill out form. Feel good about being one of many running from Santander :j

Cheesedoodles

AnonymousForObviousReason wrote: »

The solution is actually quite easy, it'll probably take a few weeks to sort start to finnish though and about 15 mins filling in an online form. Look at the below link:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts

Read through the options, pick one you like, click the link, hit the apply button, fill out form. Feel good about being one of many running from Santander :j

That is BY FAR the best advice you will ever get on this topic. SWITCH NOW!

The second best advice is that sites like Expedia use a "test" transaction on your card.

The first do an authorization of £1 on your card and then take the whole amount. I don't know WHY they do this, but it's how they do it. If the amount is large-ish (i.e. £500) your bank will suspect this as fraud since it resembles how fraudsters work (test transaction of £1). Hence, they block the transaction.

I know this because it happened when I tried to book a holiday via Expedia with my Co-op credit card. 5 minutes after the transaction they phoned me and asked me about the transaction as they suspected fraud!! After veryfing myself (they verified themselves first so I knew it was them) they unblocked it. I tried again and it worked! The Co-Op lady I spoke to said they always get this with Expedia transactions so they're used to it.

THIS IS HOW CUSTOMER SERVICE SHOULD BE LIKE!!!

I am stunned that Santander does not know this and is able to fix it...actually I take that back...

Switch bank...now!

kev.s

don't get me started on these [EMAIL="tw@ts"]tw@ts[/EMAIL] got 2 complaints in myself, still no reply.

you don't know how good your bank is till you have a problem...

datostar

I've been trying to get my late father's A&L accounts (I'm executor with Grant of Probate) paid over to me since June. Process went smoothly with his other banks and shareholdings. This lot are pathetic. I'm beginning to think that maybe a County Court Summons will gee them up.

shepwood

as long term A&L customers we opened an E saver at end of july to replace the defunct online saver issue 5 (0.4% interest). It took 3 requests and a visit to the branch to close the old account. As for the new account well were still locked out two months later, it took endless phone calls and two branch visits to get online access to the "online saver" which was finally acheived this week but only worked for half a day before the whole online access was disabled once again. Simple enough to re-instate this .... no chance, the muppets tell us our account was not registered for online banking (despite several yesars online with A&L and it would take 7-10 days to set up new passwords. They then have the nerve to ask "is there anything else we can do for you today"!!!!!!!!! words cannot describe my true despair at the service.:mad::mad::mad: