Considering the switch to Santander but am very wary. Advice please?

Nine_Lives

I'm probably REALLY late, but i've only just noticed Santander's offer:

switch to use & we'll give you £100 & then a GUARANTEED 5% AER (not sure what this equates to 'net') for 12 months so long as you pay in 1k per month & have a balance of 2.5k.


Sounds great to me.

But firstly, i've been advised to stay away from Santander.
Secondly, i see so many Santander complaint & worry threads on here, it makes me very cautious.

Can anyone advise for/against this?

Do i NEED to transfer my wages to this account? I'm assuming i have to do this via my employer & not the bank?

Just user feedback would be fine as it's offering better than the £5 per month Halifax are giving me.

simax

Just remember that Lloyds TSB have had more complaints than Santander. Their service has slipped dramatically in the last 2 years.

Not had any major issues.

Baldur

K_P83 wrote: »

....switch to use & we'll give you £100 & then a GUARANTEED 5% AER (not sure what this equates to 'net') for 12 months so long as you pay in 1k per month & have a balance of 2.5k.

Assuming that you have the full £2,500 balance for the full year, you'd receive £100 interest after deduction of basic rate tax (£125 gross)

AnonymousForObviousReason

simax wrote: »

Just remember that Lloyds TSB have had more complaints than Santander. Their service has slipped dramatically in the last 2 years.

Not had any major issues.

But that's misleading, Santander had more complaints as a percentage of customers.


You make your choices, no bank is perfect have a look through the forum and make a decision if you think the risk is worth the reward then switch. Ensure you have access to funds from a different account (probably good advice for any current account).

Loughton_Monkey

You should do what most sensible people do:

Make sure you have a sensible, trusted, and reasonable set of banks accounts for your prime use, such as salary, direct debits etc. [I use First Direct]. Then, for spare 'investable' cash, you should cherry-pick all the offers available to maximise the derisory interest currently payable.

Be prepared, though, for some hassle along the way, and don't forget to comply with all the funding rules. 5% on balance of £2,500K is not to be sniffed at, but don't burn bridges.

scotch_whisky

DON'T SWITCH TO SANTANDER!

If my experience is anything to go by you will certainly regret it if you do. I would need a great deal more than £100 to go through the pain I am currently experiencing.

I was tempted by the money and decided that it was time to switch. I currently have an Internet bank and decided that is was time to switch to one with a high street presence. I duly applied, filled in the forms, got my employer to switch my salary to Santander and waited for it all to happen.

I waited and waited and as nothing appeared to be happening I rang the switching team to find out what was happening. They explained that my existing bank was not cooperating by not suppling a list of direct debits and standing orders. They then send a form "Giving us premission to talk to your old bank.......". I duly filled this in and waited and waited. Four weeks later still nothing despite several telephone calls.

Real problems now. My existing bank is now in the red and they have started to return standing orders unpaid. I am also being hit with bank charges. This has happened because my salary is now being paid into Santander.

So the problem is really with my existing bank? True, of course, but it is "cahoot" WHICH IS ALSO PART OF SANTANDER!!!!

Santander have agreed to pick up all bank charges I have incurred but guess what? cahoot still have not provided a list of standing orders and direct debits.

The Santander switching team say that cahoot act entirely independantly of the main company and there is nothing they can do.

I repeat.....
DON'T SWITCH TO SANTANDER!

stephane_2

I would AVOID at all cost, why not switch to First Direct, you'll still get £100 a no hassle transfer and a £250 fee free overdraft and excellent customer service....

nellis10

To be honest I came on this board to look for a new bank to switch too. I currently have a Current Account at Abbey which I've had all my adult life and an A&L current account that I had been using for pocket money and a few bits of savings.

I loved my old Abbey account, but I need a changed from Santander, I'm just at the moment saving up enough to cover a month's salary so I can safely switch to another bank should anything go awry! And I'll probably do all the switching myself directly with my DD companies as opposed to using a Bank's switching service.

So in my humble opinion I'd look to see a better deal elsewhere with a bank that has a better image than Santander, I look back with a sense of wistfulness at the old Abbey National PLC!!!

gingerdad

having started the process to switch to santander its a !!!!ing shambles..... so stuff it staying where i am

gingerdad

just confirmed with Tanya my wish to cancel the process....... sticking with first direct.....

scotch_whisky

scotch_whisky wrote: »

DON'T SWITCH TO SANTANDER!

If my experience is anything to go by you will certainly regret it if you do. I would need a great deal more than £100 to go through the pain I am currently experiencing.

I was tempted by the money and decided that it was time to switch. I currently have an Internet bank and decided that is was time to switch to one with a high street presence. I duly applied, filled in the forms, got my employer to switch my salary to Santander and waited for it all to happen.

I waited and waited and as nothing appeared to be happening I rang the switching team to find out what was happening. They explained that my existing bank was not cooperating by not suppling a list of direct debits and standing orders. They then send a form "Giving us premission to talk to your old bank.......". I duly filled this in and waited and waited. Four weeks later still nothing despite several telephone calls.

Real problems now. My existing bank is now in the red and they have started to return standing orders unpaid. I am also being hit with bank charges. This has happened because my salary is now being paid into Santander.

So the problem is really with my existing bank? True, of course, but it is "cahoot" WHICH IS ALSO PART OF SANTANDER!!!!

Santander have agreed to pick up all bank charges I have incurred but guess what? cahoot still have not provided a list of standing orders and direct debits.

The Santander switching team say that cahoot act entirely independantly of the main company and there is nothing they can do.

I repeat.....
DON'T SWITCH TO SANTANDER!

Just in case anyone is interested Santander still haven't managed to switch my current account.

I am told my complaint has been esculated to the highest level.
I now have bank and other charges amounting to several hundred pounds.

Everything you hear about this organisation is true. Don't go anywhere near them.