Asda card misery

DollParts_2

I took out this card to make use of the points to get vouchers back at the end of the year as I do most of my shopping and buy petrol at Asda.

I was never happy with the customer service provided by Asda Card services, but since Santander have taken over from GE money the service is even worse.

1. They wrote to me on 25/1/11 to say they were reducing my credit limit from £1250 to £700 with no explanation why. They said this would come into effect 5 days from the date of the letter. I received the letter on 7/2/11! I have a faultless credit record and have never missed a payment.

2. I switched from paper to online statements - I couldn't access my January statement and they told me there was a problem with their system - so I switced back to paper statments. Statement date is always 24th of the month. End of Feb, no statement. I didn't want to spend 10p a minute calling their useless call centre staff yet again so assumed there was another glitch and made my usual payment on 1st March. Today I received my statement and statement date changed to 2/3/11. Called them and was told there had been a temporary change to the statement date for one month only and statement date will revert back to the 24th next time - however, despite making a payment to them for £276 on 1st March, they want me to make another payment because the statement date changed to the 2nd March. Not very happy about that seeing as it was their fault they issued the statement late without even telling me!!!!

Their foreign call centre is a disgrace - 10p a minute and staff can only assist with very basic queries and obviously use a script. If they have to deviate from the script, don't expect any help. I was told I cannot speak to a manager or supervisor. I told her that I wasn't happy and wouldn't go unless I spoke to someone to make a complaint - she then hung up on me!

My partner also has a card with them and has experienced similar issues - he can't even access the online account manager as it tells him the account is closed, despite the fact the account is live. He has made countless attempts to get this sorted but to no avail.

We are so fed up with the shoddy servce we have both resolved to close our accounts. After a bit of research I can see that many people aren't happy with Santander as a business. I will NEVER use any of their services after my awaful experience with Asda, I would urge anyone to be very careful before using Santander - when taking out a credit or store card, make sure which company is behind it - if it's Santander AVOID! You only have to google 'Asda credit card review' to see just how many people are unhappy with this card (review centre 1.3 out of 5 stars). I have made a complaint to the financial services ombudsman about them changing the statement date without telling me - lets see what happens!

danouk

I never thought I would do this, but I'm going to defend Santander here.

1: They are entitled to vary your credit limit any time they like and they don't have to give you a reason or advance notice. Their reason could be as simple as they are trying to reduce their potential lending exposure, it could be that they have seen you have taken out further credit elsewhere, or it could be the phase of the moon. Point is, they can change it when they like and they don't have to give you a reason.

2: They are also entitled to change the statement date if they so choose. You assumed that the statement would be issued on a certain date, and made a payment. You were wrong to make that assumption. Moral of the story: wait for the statement before making the payment. Having said that, if this has never happened before then I would expect them to be understanding in this situation. It may simply be a case of needing to get in touch with the right people. If you can't get hold of someone sensible (don't rant, it doesn't ever help), then write a formal complaint.

3: Call centre charges? www.saynoto0870.com You can nearly always find an 0800 or landline number to avoid call charges.

I have no loyalty or affiliation to Santander - in fact Mrs danouk has had a nightmare with a Santander current account. That doesn't mean that they should be held responsible or castigated for things that are not their fault IMHO.

mistrey

I have just closed my Asda Santander credit card after also having a nightmare with them.

Last weekend I paid my account online as I have done in the past (although not for a while) so my bank stores all the bank details and I just used them again. Tuesday they call and leave a message with my other half saying there is a problem with my payment. I rung them back (I never use the 0871 number, just look on the back of your credit card and it will have a number to call if you are outside the UK, take off the 44 and add a 0 and you have a land line number ) They said that I had missed my payment and I was being charged a late payment charge.

I argued the that I paid it online and then checked my current account statement and saw that the money had been returned as beneficiary refused to accept payment! I said that this was ridiculous and the man in the Indian call centre just kept telling me that I hadn't paid and even if I had it didn't matter as it wasn't received into my account so I had to pay the charge. He refused to put me through to a superviser and so I demanded that he put me through to someone in England, which he did immeadiately!!(apparently they have to if you ask).

The lady in the UK refunded me the late payment charge but insisted that I hadn't paid the bill and that they hadn't refused the payment. Apparently I must have put in the wrong details!!! Even though these are the very same details that my bank has stored from the last time I paid, and it worked then! Grr they were rude and basically called me a liar, so I paid off my balance and 2 days later rang and cancelled my account. NEVER EVER AGAIN will I use Santander. They are awful!

DollParts_2

Danouk, I appreciate that they are entitled to reduce my credit limit but they should have given me more notice - they said it would take effect 5 days from the date on the letter - however, I received the letter 13 days after they sent it.

The statement date has always been the 24th - I think anyone in my situation would have assumed it would have remained the same. They even admitted they had made a mistake but still insisted on a further payment!

Anyway - none of this matters now seeing as the very nice people at virgin (customer service is a freefone number) are doing a 0% balance transfer for me. Bye bye Santander and good riddance!

Ps: I appreciate the advice re: saynoto0870. I will bear this in mind in future.

Hax

I noticed that Santander have also changed the date of my Edge card statement - mine was normally produced around the 24th of the month. This time, it was produced on the 2nd, meaning that my standing order payment on the 1st was counted in last month's billing period - so I've had to make another payment. Just glad I read my statements and don't just stick them in a drawer unopened like some do!

My guess is that Santander are probably carrying out some consolidation of their systems.

Hax

DollParts wrote: »

Danouk, I appreciate that they are entitled to reduce my credit limit but they should have given me more notice - they said it would take effect 5 days from the date on the letter - however, I received the letter 13 days after they sent it.

Don't think you can lay the blame exclusively at Santander's feet for the delay in the letter getting to you. The Royal Mail has a pretty bad service too...