Problem with Santander card

sebdangerfield

Hi all, I have a little problem with Santander credit cards at the moment and I'm looking for advice on what to do.

I have an Abbey Zero card, now Santander and currently pay the minimum payment. The limit is £1000 and I have £850 on the card.

Two months ago, I noticed that the direct debit hadn't been taken by the card company and the day I noticed I received a letter from them apologising for their mistake and that some systems failing had caused the error. It further stated that the error was no fault of mine and that no charges would be applied and I need take no action as they would take two month's worth of payments the following month.

This reassured me and I left the matter. About two weeks later I received a text requesting me to call Santander urgently. I called the 0845 number form my mobile as I have no other phone and was on hold for about 25 minutes before being told by the call centre assistant that the text had been sent simply to request that I make a payment to make up for my defaulted payment. I explained the situation and read the letter sent to me to the lady who apologised but continued to refer tot he matter as "your default" I confirmed what the letter said and the lady again reassured me that the matter was not my fault. I even payed off another £200 from the balance so I felt better about being told to call an 0845 number at my expense for somebody else's problem.

I've checked my expedian credit record today and low and behold, Santander have placed a late payment marker on my record against this matter.

Does anyone else have experience of this? what should I do? I know it's not a major problem and I have a perfect credit rating so I doubt that it would matter at all but I'm so annoyed, they've told me not to worry, then sent me a text asking me to call them on an expensive number for their mistake and then marked my credit report like I've done something wrong!

BenL

I would write a letter to Santander complaints dept, address should be on the back of your statement.

Advise them of what happened, the letters you received from them and now about the late payment marker.

Tell them what you want them to do to resolve your complaint, e.g. contact the credit reference agencies to update your file to be correct and advise you in writing when this has been done.

Be straight forward and to the point, you may wish to enclose a photocopy of the documents you have received from them before acknowledging it was their mistake.

Don't rant or be too personal, just the facts and it should get resolved.

Ben

hansi

Oh no, not another Santander problem:eek::eek:

Degenerate

BenL wrote: »

I would write a letter to Santander complaints dept, address should be on the back of your statement.

Advise them of what happened, the letters you received from them and now about the late payment marker.

Tell them what you want them to do to resolve your complaint, e.g. contact the credit reference agencies to update your file to be correct and advise you in writing when this has been done.

Be straight forward and to the point, you may wish to enclose a photocopy of the documents you have received from them before acknowledging it was their mistake.

Don't rant or be too personal, just the facts and it should get resolved.

Ben

As above, but don't forget to ask for reimbursement for the call whilst you're at it.

BugsyBrowne

If you have got any sense pay your card balance off with santander and stay well clear from them.
Your apr will be going up very soon so be warned.

sebdangerfield

Thanks for the advice. I've sent a complaint today requesting that the money be reimbursed for the call, £6.60!? I worked it out at. I've also requested that the credit file be rectified and moved the balance. I'll update when I know.

hansi

Did you see the Watchdog feature on Santander and the lady they interviewed? If she's at the top of their complaints department, no wonder they have problems:eek:

sebdangerfield

Didn't see it, I'll try to find it. Not the best I take it?

choc_mouse

sebdangerfield wrote: »

Does anyone else have experience of this?

Possibly - My direct debit "disappeared" from my credit card without me knowing. I was 12 hours from missing a payment but checked my account when I noticed that I had "excess cash" hanging around in my current accounts. Luckily I could pay off my balance by faster payments.

Since then, I've tried to re-set up a new direct debit (3 times on the phone and online) but I got a very late letter that there was an error with the bank so I should re-send the mandate form. Ironically, the bank I'm trying to set up the new direct debit with is Santander, so it's their own error they've indirectly admitted to.

If the direct debit isn't set up by the end of this year (which is plenty of time), I'm closing all my accounts with Santander. Simply not worth the hassle.

sebdangerfield

Right, quick update. I received a call from Santander's complains department. The lady who called told me that she would refund me £7 for the compensation and that she's checked and there's no late payment mark against my credit file. I've checked with credit expert today and there quite clearly is a mark which I can click on where it tells me that I have one late payment registered against the card in the past 12 months. Still not happy so paid off the card but I'll wait to see if Credit expert's files update soon before calling the complaints department back. Thanks for the help.

JohalaReewi

Did you see this thread too?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2812362