Santander - Major C***-up - Poor service.

Cmdr_Bond

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Could they possibly have finally sorted it? I don't know.

Yesterday (Monday, 4th April, 2011), I received a phone call from the Customer Resolution Manager. Unfortunately, I was unable to talk with her as I was just coming out of my Gran's funeral. I asked her to call back that afternoon, but she said she would be in a meeting, and would send me a letter.

Today, I have just checked my online account and notice and Account Adjustment of +£25.00 dated 04/04/20111.

This suggests to me that they have sorted the issue, but I have not discussed the resolution with them nor have I accepted any offer. Hopefully the letter will turn up tomorrow, in the mean time - should I reject their offer of £25.00 (if indeed that is what it is) for an additional 3/4 weeks of hassle, or should I accept it and just move on in the knowledge that hopefully my accounts are now sorted?

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themull1

keep it and move on.

ERICS_MUM

themull1 wrote: »

keep it and move on.

I agree. Close the account before they can c*ck it up any more. Just because they might have sorted it does not mean they won't have another go at it (sorry double negative is bad grammar but it's for emphasis!)

BreamoreBoy

ERICS_MUM wrote: »

(sorry double negative is bad grammar but it's for emphasis!)

gud greef too ov use hoo undestand inglish

ERICS_MUM

BreamoreBoy wrote: »

gud greef too ov use hoo undestand inglish

I'm a 1970's grammar school girl, grammar (english and latin) was drummed into us

DrSyn

My understanding is that if you take it on to the Finacial Ombudsam that it will cost them £500, no matter what the out come is.

AndyJ52

sailingannie wrote: »

I too have had problems with Santander and could post a lengthy explanation of their incompetence. They too have merged my account with someone who lives at the other end of the country. They have consistently refused to contact me to discuss the error and I currently have three accounts in my name which do not belong to me. I have full access to another customer's current account and cash Isa whilst I have no access to MY account which has been frozen!! Eventually managed to speak to someone in the complaints dept yesterday who told me he was very busy dealing with other people's complaints and they would "get round" to my complaint which could take a few weeks. Unbelievable.....

I am genuinely shocked:eek: and appalled at both sailingannie's story and that of Cmdr_Bond. Both detail wholly indefensible customer service standards on the part of Santander and highlight some truly horrifying technical shortfalls (to put it mildly) that allow each of them free access to the accounts of other customers of the bank.

This is surely an indication of abject failure on the part of Santander's corporate management who appear to have seriously under-resourced the essential staff & systems required to successfully merge a number of newly aquired businesses.

As if those issues weren't bad enough, I'm now struggling with the equanimity that some posters display in their contributions about the issues raised here. The 's**t happens, get it sorted and move to another bank' attitude, apparent in a number of responses, perhaps goes some way to explaining why the level of customer service in the UK is so incredibly poor - across the service sector - and why much of the sector treats the consumer with such utter contempt. :mad:

To Cmdr_Bond ... I wish you the very best of luck with your ongoing endeavours with Santander and I sincerely hope that you will take the matters that have impacted so heavily on you & your brother to the Financial Ombudsman.... whatever the eventual outcome you achieve with the bank.

Cmdr_Bond

Link added to original post

Well this morning (Wednesday, 6th April, 2011) I received the letter...

04 April 2011

Our Ref: DST #######

Dear Mr Bond

Thank you for your taking the time to speak with me, in regards to your brother receiving security calls from Santander on your behalf. I appreciate you were not in the position to have a conversation today therefore, to prevent further delay I have written to you.

I understand your brother was still receiving the security calls from Santander which were originally intended for you.

Firstly, please accept my sincere apologies for this as this matter should have been completely corrected previously. I can assure you it was not our intention to inconvenience you in any way.

As confirmed, your cards were not linked to your profile, this meant you were not receiving the security calls.

I am glad to confirm this has now been fully rectified. In recognition of this not being fully completed previously and the additional calls you have had to make to get this corrected, I have credited your account ending #### with £25.00. Please note this payment is a gesture of goodwill and is in full and final settlement of your complaint.

I have investigated and answered all of the issues you have raised. If you believe my decision is incorrect and you wish to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. I have enclosed a leaflet that explains how you can do this. You should contact them within six months of the date of this letter, enclosing a copy of it, as they would need this for their investigation.

Please be assured, customer service is extremely important to Santander and if there is an occasion when our customers' expectations are not met, it is important we are made aware of this.

I am particularly grateful for the time and trouble you have taken to make us aware of your experience and hope our association continues on a happier note in future.

Yours sincerely

#### ########
Customer Resolution Manager

So what do you think I should do. To be honest, I found the attitude of the Customer Resolution Manager less helpful than that of the Complaints Resolver - although she did manage to get it sorted. That said, I also find £25.00 rather insulting. Don't get me wrong - I don't expect thousands, after all they have already given me £300, but I fell something more like £25.00 for each week over and above the "reasonable timeframe" that was set out would be fairier - this would be £75.00, not exactly a kings ransom but a lot less insulting too.

I am in 2 minds as to whether I should push for another £50.00 or drop it now that things are sorted. The fact that this "offer" is full and final is because we didn't get the chance to discuss it on the phone - that said, I did not and apparently do not have a chance to negotiate it.

So - should I....

• Phone the dept, ask for another £50 and see where they tell me to go?
• Write to the MD/CEO and ask for another £50, threatening him/her with the FOS/ICS and media?
• Go straight to the FOS (and ICS)?
• Or just drop it, continue winding down my accounts and get out the Holy Water and Salt and Burn Santander back to the 7 circles of financial hell from which it was spawned?

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FLAPJACK

Looks as though they are saying "This is the end of the road as far as they are concerned" ......crediting your account with £25 doesn't really give you much leeway either, I would have thought they could have at least give you the chance to reject or accept it.

When I had a problem with Santander recently, I had a phone call from them within 40 minutes of sending the complaint in (via their website), and even though I told them that I will be closing my accounts with them they still sent me a hamper....

How about calling them and saying that as they have made it difficult for you to dispute their compensation (by paying it into your account already).
But you are grateful that at least the matter (hopefully) is now resolved, and instead of asking for more compensation (which they seem to make clear you are not going to get) say that you would be happy for them to make a contribution of £50 to your favorite charity.

That way then THEY are backed into a corner and you have the moral highground, if they say that's not possible.....a multibillion pound company can't donate £50....that would look nice.

Probably in your situation I would pull up stumps and walk away.

Thank you for putting this on MSE though...it at least should make people wary of these big companies and how things can go so wrong.

tafer2uk

My advice would be leave after getting your compensation, however much that may be.

We still have an ongoing complaint with them dating all the way back to August 2010.

We thought we had reached a mutually agreeable settlement, unfortunately they weren't competent enough to carry it out.

They even messed up closing our accounts down and managed to lose £50 for several months.

Our next step is the ombudsman.