Santander E-saver account reduced to 0.1 %

projectzero

Hi and thanks for the forum. I'd really appreciate some advice please. Now,I'm probably not going to get too much sympathy but I'll outline my case.
I opened an E-Saver with Abbey years ago (I'm waiting for all my statements to be posted so I'm not exactly sure when,but years ago) and the account paid interest every month for years with no issue. There was no need for me to do anything at all. However,about two years ago they stopped paying interest to the account. I have up until now been blissfully unaware. I'd even been paying into the account for a year after they stopped paying interest (I know I should have checked).
When I did notice I called them and they said they'd look at my complaint. They then just sent a rejection letter and did not answer these key points.
1. Why did the account pay interest for years without my requirement to contact them to "upgrade" or move the money.
They answered that the rate was an opening offer (a rather long one ?)
2. Why didn't they tell me they'd reduced the rate to 0.1% ?
They said they did by notice of variation and that in the T&C's they have the right to change the rate with reasonable notice.
3. Why wasn't I told when I called the branch for unrelated issues ?
They said it's an internet account and I should have noticed.

I wrote to them after their initial rejection - they gave me £15 reimbursement for calls and said I was due nothing more.
I'm obviously going to write to the FOS but would like to hear other peoples views or experiences.
I will be closing my current account soon and in all honesty feel like I've been robbed. Thanks again Pz.

opinions4u

I think you're extremely lucky to get £15 out of them.

Find a better paying account, check on what interest it's earning every 3 months and compare it to what else is available on the market (use a site like www.moneyfacts.co.uk).

If they've done what they are legally required to do when it comes to telling you the interest rate, and they have complied with the terms and conditions of the account, then you have no valid complaint.

The bank's job is to attract as much money as possible and get away with paying as little interest as possible, thus maximising its profits.

It's your money. It's your job to look after it. Not your bank.

projectzero wrote: »

1. Why did the account pay interest for years without my requirement to contact them to "upgrade" or move the money.

The Credit Crunch significantly impacted the savings markets. Providers who had accounts that had done their job very nicely suddenly found themselves needing to magic up funds from somewhere at a time when Bank of England rates, LIBOR and Swaps were falling dramatically. Lots of new accounts were launched, lots of old ones were left to rot. If you didn't actively look after yourself they will have done (and paid) the absolute minimum that they could get away with. Quite legal.

Did you watch/listen to/read the news in 2008? Every broadcast, broadsheet, red top, web site etc would have alerted you to the falling interest rates. The media highlighted the problem to you. You didn't act. Sorry.

2. Why didn't they tell me they'd reduced the rate to 0.1% ?

The answer is that they did. Adverts in newspapers. Posters and leaflets in branch. Rates on their web site. You chose not to look.

Do Tesco write to you every time they put up the price of Corn Flakes?

3. Why wasn't I told when I called the branch for unrelated issues ?

Because you didn't ask. Again, if Tesco have put up the price of PG Tips, do they grab you as you walk in to the supermarket and tell you? Ironically, on another day you'll read posts on this site about bank customers who don't like their bank trying to tell them about the latest super sizzling account they have on sale. They can't win really, can they?

YorkshireBoy

projectzero wrote: »

I'm obviously going to write to the FOS

Why is it obvious?

You've taken your eye of the ball in more ways than one...

1. You didn't read, or understand, the account T&Cs

2. You haven't checked your statement

3. Etc

The FOS will throw out your complaint at the first stage, ie it won't even get to an adjudicator, in order that they can deal with more valid complaints.

You've learned a valuable lesson here, and hopefully it wasn't too costly...banks put themselves first - not the customer.

...in all honesty feel like I've been robbed.

It's a little like leaving your front door unlocked...you allowed yourself to be "robbed".

projectzero

A couple of points that perhaps are worth repeating - The account paid the correct amount of interest for years. So it's not unreasonable for me to assume that that would continue given that I was not told otherwise. The terms and conditions that they are quoting say " we can change your interest rate with reasonable notice " my point is that I was not notified that the rate was lowered to 0.1%. They claim statements are sent yearly. That can't be a reasonable period of time ? Also the comment that I should have noticed rates on their website and in newspapers - yes I did,of course I did,and guess what ? It wasn't 0.1%. I readily admit in hindsight that I should have noticed before - but even on my online account it doesn't give the rate - I had to call to find out. Yes,yes yes I should have seen before but isn't a case of being a little hard on myself here ? I received the correct amount of interest for a very long time,I wasn't thinking to myself "I wonder if they've lowered my interest rate to almost zero,I'll go check". Does that make sense ? And yes it has cost me a lot of money,a great deal of money,not to mention time and anxiety. I have moved the money and will close my current account shortly.
Thanks for your comments - it is appreciated.

Fat_Freddies_Cat

Message to YorkshireBoy & opinions4u.

It is neither helpful nor constructive to respond with smug responses such as "You didn't read, or understand, the account T&Cs" and "It's your money. It's your job to look after it.".

Whilst these comments are technically true, it has become almost a full time job to monitor the changing accounts, rules and T&Cs with which banks bombard us. Most of us avoid the traps laid by banks, by spending a lot of time and energy in monitoring their activities, usually because we have been stung at some time. Projectzero will obviously have learnt from this experience, but understandably feels aggrieved and so is asking for help/advice/sympathy and it serves no useful purpose to respond in such a way.

I am reasonably capable of managing my money but the smokescreens put up by some of these organisations make it very difficult. The "Santander eSaver" account mentioned by projectzero is a classic example.
Currently Santander are grabbing headlines with the eSaver (issue 3) which offers 3.00%. I have an aSaver which I opened 3 months ago (that's 3 months opinions4u) and I tried to check the current interest rate earlier this week. Firstly I couldn't find any details on the online banking or electronic statements about which issue I had. I finally tracked the email from when I opened the account and found it was and "issue 2". I then went onto the website to track the interest rate and couldn't find an "eSaver Issue 2" so I downloaded the pdf with interest rates for accounts no longer available (which I am supposed to know about). This document explains that many accounts have been renamed and the "eSaver Issue 2" is now the "eSaver Issue 5" (which is older than the Issue 3 but not as old as the Issue 4). Having found this information I was still unable to determine the exact rate of interest on my account so searched on the the site to be told to ring or visit my local branch. Having already wasted many hours of my life trying to get an answer or some sense from the Santander call centre I decided to go to the local branch. I couldn't talk to an advisor because they were too busy and I hadn't previously made an appointment. After queuing to talk to somebody at the desk for over 10 minutes I decided not to bother when I heard the teller advising somebody to "cash in your ISAs and put your money into your current account until the new tax year when you can pay it into our Flexible ISA".

I have had many run-ins with Santander since they acquired the Alliance & Leicester and despite all their excuses, they have not improved service or their attitude to their customers. They only maintain their customer base with short term tricks to buy market share with headline rates which disappear after 12 months. I have arranged to transfer my current account, ISA, savings account and credit card from Santander.

Do YorkshireBoy or opinions4u have products from Santander? If you do, then you have been lucky if you have not experienced any problems (just look at the customer feedback stats on this site) and if not then I suggest you should be a little more charitable to those not as savvy as yourselves.

Projectzero : As I said earlier, the replies are technically correct, so I don't think you can do very much about the treatment you received. Morally speaking, you have, like many of us, been shafted by an organisation which we have all been brought up to believe we can trust.
I hope the lesson you have learnt has not cost you too much.

FFC

opinions4u

Fat_Freddies_Cat wrote: »

It is neither helpful nor constructive to respond with smug responses such as "You didn't read, or understand, the account T&Cs" and "It's your money. It's your job to look after it.".

Actually it is totally constructive. If the OP learns one thing from this experience, looking after their own money, then it's been a positive happening.

Most of us avoid the traps laid by banks, by spending a lot of time and energy in monitoring their activities, usually because we have been stung at some time.

This is exactly why I suggested, constructively, that the OP checks their rate once a quarter - against the best in market.

Projectzero will obviously have learnt from this experience, but understandably feels aggrieved and so is asking for help/advice/sympathy and it serves no useful purpose to respond in such a way.

I find, in life, that the facts of the matter are more use than sympathy.

I decided not to bother when I heard the teller advising somebody to "cash in your ISAs and put your money into your current account until the new tax year when you can pay it into our Flexible ISA".

There may well be specific circumstances when that actually makes sense.

Do YorkshireBoy or opinions4u have products from Santander? If you do, then you have been lucky if you have not experienced any problems (just look at the customer feedback stats on this site) and if not then I suggest you should be a little more charitable to those not as savvy as yourselves.

I don't. But the specific complaint here was about the OP being unaware of rates, despite having made no effort themselves to find out the rate. The vast majority of banks exploit it (as I explained) and the best way to avoid the problem is to take control of your own affairs.

Having some nobody off a message board posting "there there, how unfortunate the big nasty bank took advantage of you, take them to the FOS even though you have no chance of winning" isn't much use to be honest.

Much better to simply say "don't let the ba$tards do it to you again".

Fat_Freddies_Cat

opinions4u

Obviously better at posting on boards than engaging with human beings.

Have a nice life.

FFC

Ilya_Ilyich

If they definitely didn't inform you by post then you absolutely should lodge a complaint.

The people telling you it's your fault that you got taken advantage of are despicable. However, it's an important lesson that you shouldn't trust corporations to look after you -- it's in their interest to screw you over. Read & store every communication you get from them and always be on the lookout for anything they might do to take advantage of you; the quicker you call them on it the less likely they are to be able to pull it off.

Nine_Lives

tbh i don't really see the issue here. I made the same mistake. I didn't check out T&Cs of my accounts before i became "banking aware" & i'd let a few grand sit in a current account at 0%.

Did i complain about the bank? No. It was my own damn fault. What did i do? I shifted my money about here, there & everywhere & made it work as hard as i could possible make it work.

I don't see the issue with O4U's & YB's replies.

opinions4u

Ilya_Ilyich wrote: »

If they definitely didn't inform you by post then you absolutely should lodge a complaint.

Were they legally required to send a letter?

Did their terms and conditions say they would send a letter?

If the answer to either of these question is "yes" then I agree with you. But the reality will be that the answer to both questions will be "no". In which case there is nothnig to complain about.

Submitting a complaint that says "the bank did exactly what it said it would do" doesn't really achieve much.

The people telling you it's your fault that you got taken advantage of are despicable.

Why? The bank did exactly what they said they'd do. The OP didn't look after their own money. Learning point: get it right next time.

Ilya_Ilyich

Because the bank is the party with knowledge, experience, and a substantial legal department that establishes exactly what they can do to exploit the other party. The consumer has none of these advantages. The bank knows fine well that their consumers would like to be informed of changes to the interest rate on their account; neglecting to inform said consumer is deception by omission. Why are you so desperate to appease the bank and condemn the consumer? Do you believe a moral society is one in which the beneficiary of an act deserves the benefit, regardless of the act?