MSE News: Santander to refund bogus card fees after latest gaffe

Former_MSE_Guy

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"The Spanish giant has hit numerous credit card users with £12 late fees despite many victims insisting they'd paid on time ..."

Read the full story:
Santander to refund bogus card fees after latest gaffe

Roger1

My Debenhams card experience - Debenhams cards are now (mis)managed by Santander.

I saw the fee for alleged late payment and interest on my statement. They had failed to collect my direct debit payment. Trying to avoid Santander's ripoff phone lines, I tried the local Santander branch. They said they weren't able to help as it was not a standard Santander card, but at least a senior branch person called Santander to try to sort it out - and the branch used the same ripoff phone number! (At least it was Santander paying, not me.)

The person at the other end wanted a payment. I was happy for Santander to take the full amount, but they said they couldn't. They could only take the minimum amount. :eek: Given Santander's general incompetence, I assumed that they would stack on interest and additional payments and was preparing myself for a future battle.

In the end, the minimum amount showed, they cancelled the interest and late charges and the remainder of the balance was collected the following month.

If I never hear from Santander again, it will be too soon.

Senior_Paper_Monitor

There was a problem with the BACS system on the 15th/16th of this month - certainly screwed up a company direct debit which led to a very heated exchange with a supplier (for £5.87 for christ's sake!) until they backed down and apologised for tone of their email and admitting they had a large number of other clients who had also taken offence - my guess is this may be the root cause.

Out of fairness to the DD holders of any size it would have looked like a failed payment and automated systems would have taken over at that point.

I am no fan of Santander but frankly might not be their fault in this case and as long as they do the right thing in putting in right it comes under the heading 'sh* happens' and any ire should fairly be aimed at BACS

Arthurian

Check your credit report - a late or missed payment might have been logged automatically, giving your credit history a derogatory status. If not cleared properly, it takes 6 years to 'drop off' your credit report.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score

Heyman_2

I always make manual payments on my Santander Zero Card, their track record is abysmal and I don't even trust them to take the Direct Debit automatically - as this story shows, it's not even me being paranoid, they really are that appalling! But the Zero card had no fees and a nice long BT interest free period which is the only reason I got it in the first place.

Once the 0% period is up I'll be paying it off and closing it, although I'm sure their usual incompetence will somehow manage to screw that up!

jen245

God, they really can't do anything right! I have the zero card aswell, but only use it abroad, and pay it off in full through my online banking, with all the !!!! ups they are doing with dd's, I wouldn't trust them with taking the money from my bank account. They still can't sort out my online access! I'm hoping to apply for the Halifax clarity card soon, and if I get it, the zero will be going in the bin!

Mrs.T20

Heyman wrote: »

I always make manual payments on my Santander Zero Card, their track record is abysmal and I don't even trust them to take the Direct Debit automatically - as this story shows, it's not even me being paranoid, they really are that appalling! But the Zero card had no fees and a nice long BT interest free period which is the only reason I got it in the first place.

Once the 0% period is up I'll be paying it off and closing it, although I'm sure their usual incompetence will somehow manage to screw that up!

Beware of the direct debit you have set up and check your statements.
I set up mine for a nominated amount and was told that it was all straight forward. I received a statement that said that they would be taking the full outstanding amount by direct debit. After reassuring me several times that they had amended my direct debit amount, they still took the full card amount yesterday :mad: On top of this, I have overpaid and cannot have a refund. I have to use the card and spend it that way.
I only got the card because of the BT interest free and have now paid a hefty price in other ways. I would never recommend Santander. Their incompetence is beyond belief :mad:

Dr_Cuckoo3

These clowns failed to collect payment by direct debit this month and charged £2 interest when the statement balance was only £3 - So they have charged interest on new transactions not appearing on the previous statement or are not good at maths

Today Santander Cards UK Limited are pretending that they are experiencing high call volumes and the self service is not functioning (why would the self service facility be affected by this ?) - shall I wait for an Indian to answer the phone , ask for my card number , not understand english and require everything to be repeated then say their computers are down (which of course they already knew before asking for my card number) as happened last time their computer was playing up

actually a half asleep Indian chap did answer the call while I was drafting this and self service is down and payment by debit card is down lol

and to register for online banking they require the CVV number from the back of the card :T

https://www.santandercards.co.uk/eservice/authentication/debenhams

All very well , but the storecard version does not have any numbers on the back :rotfl:

http://finance.debenhams.com/cards/store-card/benefits/

sharpy2010

Dr_Cuckoo3 wrote: »

Today Santander Cards UK Limited are pretending that they are experiencing high call volumes and the self service is not functioning (why would the self service facility be affected by this ?) - shall I wait for an Indian to answer the phone , ask for my card number , not understand english and require everything to be repeated then say their computers are down (which of course they already knew before asking for my card number) as happened last time their computer was playing up

actually a half asleep Indian chap did answer the call while I was drafting this and self service is down and payment by debit card is down lol

And did he also answer by saying "oh dearie me", or are you just exaggerating this entire story somewhat?

flexrider

Ive been having problems with that known bank since auguest and i know now alot of you people have,I will be moving to another current account after christmas here is why

My son got his Student Finance Loan through but was awaiting for his new bank account so he decided to pay it into my account which i let him do so. However for the past 4 months i have been hit with Overdraft cherges and dam right rudeness from the customer services.

My sons money came into the account last week. And santander took 130 pounds of that money claiming a charge(which when i have looked has been paid last month) from the money giving him a total of 95 pounds aleady for the year in university to buy books and materials.

on top pf that i have been hit with (unauthorised overdraft fees) of 25 pound a pop for 4 months when i have been in in my overdraft by a little as 30-50 pound

Not a happy customer.

welshpolarbear

We were charged a late fee too, and certainly weren't written to about it. They have said it has been refunded but I will certainly be checking statements thoroughly. Im seriously considering changing banks too, though Im not sure who to yet, our account moved over to them from Alliance and Leicester recently and it is only by noticing on my internet bank that I know my sort code has changed, we have had no contact from them whatsoever to say that it has been changed. Abysmal customer service. Though looks like we've got off lightly so far considering some of your issues with them:eek: