Santander Rant

Foxtbh

Hi guys,

Background: I have a Santander current account, a Nationwide credit card which I use as my main card because I do a lot of overseas travelling, and a Santander credit card I've had for years.

I wanted a Santander Zero card to replace the other two and link with my online banking. I casually mentioned this to a member of staff in a branch whilst having a 'meeting' which was apparently some sort of requirement of opening a new current account with 5% interest on in credit balances up to £2.5k.

She informed me that it was worth applying for the card despite me saying surely they'll give me a ridiculous limit because I already have a large amount of available credit across two existing cards. She put the application through, and suprise suprise, it was referred. On the notes for the referral she explained exactly the situation and what I wanted to acheive.

My card turned up this week with a pathetic limit of just £1000. This is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard. But no worries I thought, I'll just query this when I activate.

So I called to activate the card. I explained the situation and the chap said no problem, customer services can fix that for you, and activated the card.

I explained what I wanted to customer services and presented them with a number of options that I'd be happy with, namely:

a) Close my original account entirely and transfer its credit limit to my new card
b) Reduce the credit limit on my new card significantly and transfer the excess to my new card
Or even
c) Do anything they want, provided I have a useable credit limit on my new card. I explained I had 5 figures of available credit with them across these two cards which I neither wanted nor needed - I explained I would be more than happy to accept a 50% REDUCTION in the amount of available credit across the two cards if they saw fit.

The answer?

No. They point blank refused to do anything at all beyond 'review my limit in 6 months time'. I asked to speak to a supervisor but was told it was all automatic and nothing could be done. What I wanted to do was physically impossible.

So eventually I simply cancelled the account.

Hugely frustrating. Was what I wanted really that unreasonable?

All I want is a Zero card with a reasonable credit limit! You'd think that wouldn't be difficult for them given I already have a Santander card with a limit far in excess of what I actually need which I was more than happy to close!

All I really wanted was to make my old card a Zero card - something they also refused a month back and told me the only way was to apply for a new one.

I feel better after that rant.

Saucepot

Yeh, you felt better but never cut your nose off to spite your face.

Santander have an appalling record for customer satisfaction but so long as you don't have to phone them, the on line service is fine. The computer makes the decisions, not the people so there is rarely any point in asking for anything that requires thought.

The Santander Zero is a decent card for travel abroad and keeping it for the 6 months 0% on purchases, and then asking for a credit limit increase might have got you what you wanted in six months.

Cancelling the cards you don't need is fair enough and could assist in getting an alternative travel credit card. I believe Halifax are also doing a reasonable one.

Foxtbh

It might have done but in the meantime I'd have had yet another credit card I didn't use just in case they increased the limit in 6 months time. Which there is no guarantee they would even if I reduced it on the other card. It's just not really usable for a decent foreign trip with such a limit, so it serves no purpose. One rental car purchase and the holding amount could max your card out!

Both RBS and Barclaycard will swap limits between cards. I hadn't even considered the possibility that Santander might not

chattychappy

Saucepot wrote: »

Yeh, you felt better but never cut your nose off to spite your face.

Have to agree with this. I've found Zero totally dependable overseas. Never bother to phone them before a trip and have at times pushed large amounts through. Also it's a great way to get overseas cash too - no fee, just interest from the date of transaction. So pay off next day and it costs next to nothing. Typically I put purchases on Post Office and use Zero for cash, though in the past I've used Zero for both.

Incidentally I didn't get the online thing set up in time for my first trip and relied on calling Santander's call centre from overseas to check payment due dates and statement balances. Always found them very efficient - though I know that's contrary to most experience here.

They did only give me a £5K limit whereas most cards I have around 10K, 18K on MBNA. Slightly annoying, but with Post Office it's enough. I've often paid before the due by date anyway, so that recycles the credit.

Foxtbh

chattychappy wrote: »

Have to agree with this. I've found Zero totally dependable overseas. Never bother to phone them before a trip and have at times pushed large amounts through

I would agree - but it had a £1k limit on it. If it was £2k perhaps I'd have kept it, but £1k simply isn't useful for overseas travel unless you want to spend half the time wondering if you are near the credit limit yet and desperately trying to log on to online banking to pay it off.

UnderPressure

I agree with the other this sounds like a very typical childish tantrum all because you could not get your crediy limit increased "OK then cancel it!!!!!!!!"

Like the bank is bothered all you have achieved is a cancelled card on you bank and credit files would have been much much better to take their advice an run with it for 6 months then re-evaluated.

Oh well I suppose no card is better than one is a measily 1k limit lmao

chattychappy

Foxtbh wrote: »

I would agree - but it had a £1k limit on it. If it was £2k perhaps I'd have kept it, but £1k simply isn't useful for overseas travel unless you want to spend half the time wondering if you are near the credit limit yet and desperately trying to log on to online banking to pay it off.

Yeah a hassle, but we're running out of "overseas friendly" cards. What do you for cash? Even a £1K limit could have provided a could alternative to cash - you know NW debit is "going bad" next month?

Foxtbh

UnderPressure wrote: »

I agree with the other this sounds like a very typical childish tantrum all because you could not get your crediy limit increased "OK then cancel it!!!!!!!!"

I cancelled the card because it was of no use to me.

Whats the point in keeping cards open if you don't use them?

Don't really see how its a childish tantrum, personally? I was trying to end up with a card I could use for both overseas spending and as my main day to day credit card linked with my current account. I can't do this with a Zero card with a £1k limit, they refused to change it, so I closed the account.

I thought the advice generally was that if you didnt use an account, you should close it?

There is no benefit of this card for me over a cheaper Halifax Clarity card if they won't give me a sufficient limit to use it properly, so I closed it. No tantrum, but I was obviously frustrated. Why wouldnt I be? I have a ridiculously high limit I do not want on one Santander card, and an unusably low limit I do not want on another, and they would do nothing to rectify this.

I was quite happy to have a reduction of even 50% in my total available credit with Santander. This isn't about wanting more.

Whingebag

Shouldn't a card be for everyday use, not just for holidays?
I bought this card for holiday use firstly but occasionally use it for small purchases, it always seems to bite me in the a** when I do.
How in this day and age can they justify saying it takes a cash deposit into a Santander branch 3 days to clear? BACS is apparently the only way to get a same day deposit. Maybe they threw the computers out and went back to a ledger system and carrier pigeons?
Due to tight finances I didn't do an electronic transfer until i was sure i was solvent and then had less than 4-7 days it randomly seems to take. When going to pay in at a branch, I then found out the £5 fee was completely unavoidable due to pathetic cash / cheque clearance system. Funny how quick the transfers work when going the other way though... I just wish there was a fairer system, maybe there will be in my own little imaginary world, one day...

jon_boy75

You made a perfectly reasonable and common-sense proposition to a bank. Sadly it was to Santander. You couldnt find a more incompetent, cynical and worthless shower of sh*tbags anywhere. They cite automated decisions in place of human intervention because it saves them money, that's all.
Leave them, take your business elsewhere, and relax in the knowledge that one day, Karma will catch up with them and all of the policymakers will be drowned in an enormous vat of their own unsympathetic bullsh*t

amen

Whingebag

Cheers Jon_Boy, judging by the amount of vitriol in MS forums against Scamtander, karma is well on it's way already. I'll let my money do the walking and talking