Santander current account and ISA

ja3_2

I currently have an old HBOS current account, and I am considering moving to a Santander Preferred Current account to take advantage of the higher interest rate. At the same time I would also like to open a Santander Flexible ISA.

Reading the MSE forum I know some people have had bad experiences with Santander's customer services when things went wrong, so I want to know what are other people's most recent experience with the above two accounts.

Also if I had decided that the better interest rate is not worth the poor customer service, how easy or difficult is it to close these accounts?

Apologies if these questions have already been (should be) covered in other parts of the forum!

Any advice is much appreciated.

Consumerist

For a current account with high interest, have you considered a LloydsTSB Classic Vantage account? It pays 4.0% AER on balances of £5k - £7k (but nothing on any excess) if you can pay in at least £1k per month. You get 3.0% AER on balances of £3k - £5k, 2.0%AER on £1k - 3k and 0.1% AER below £1k.

As for Santander, closing an account is much more difficult than opening one. I don't know what the current situation is but a visit to branch was necessary at one time.

intranicity

I you knew someone had herpes, would you sleep with them?

Well that seems to be the opinion with regards Santander, personally my experience hasn't been terrible, but still bad enough to be moving on to greener fields after only 4 months with them. Really does seem to be pot luck with how you get on, but there are far more complaints about them than the other high street banks!

scottishblondie

Consumerist wrote: »

As for Santander, closing an account is much more difficult than opening one. I don't know what the current situation is but a visit to branch was necessary at one time.

I would also recommend Lloyds Vantage.

I found it very easy to close my account with Santander recently - I just phoned them up and they closed it within about 2 minutes. I requested a confirmations letter, which I received after about 3 days along with a cheque for my closing balance.

birkee

I was with Abbey, when Santander took it over. Everything running swimmingly. Two sorts of ISA, deposit and current accounts. Wife and myself.

I've heard a lot of people have had trouble with them though, but as I don't know what bought them into conflict, the customer may have caused it for all I know. (Please don't respond quoting my post with a list of why it wasn't YOUR fault stories. Just post your own comments.)

sgolfguy

Santander are god awful. I have to make a complaint almost everytime I call them because they screw something up. Their automated phone system doesn't work, their call centre in India is a farce. The only good thing I can say is that if you make a complaint to the CEO, they will offer you compensation, last time i got £50

gracemcmillan

i applied for a loan and got it but accourding to the company, when i applied for it i put one diget wrong on the account number but the sort code is ok, they have released the money but its not in my account s i put one diget different on the form my my account number, what does this mean for the money, they have the correct name and sort code my my account but its just one diget is different on the loan form to what is on the account number.. plz help..

gracemcmillan

i applied for a loan and got it but accourding to the company, when i applied for it i put one diget wrong on the account number but the sort code is ok, they have released the money but its not in my account s i put one diget different on the form my my account number, what does this mean for the money, they have the correct name and sort code my my account but its just one diget is different on the loan form to what is on the account number.. plz help

JCB2020

I had an A&L account that was taken over by Santander it took ages to get this closed.
They actually had the nerve to charge me an underfunding fee of £5 on an account I was trying to close.
They also insist on sending a cheque for the balance rather than doing a transfer to my new bank.

They have also taken over the account management for ASDA'a credit card
I recntly spent over 20 mins on the call system, press 1 etc only to get a "Customer Services" rep in India on a bad line and having to repeat myself over and over.
Eventually I was told I had failed the security checks and had to write a letter with my issue
Told them to stuff it as I was just going to cut the card up

I'm with sgolfguy, I wouldnt touch them with a bargepole and would go out of my way to advise anyone, like OP, not to open an account with them unless you are a masochist!

[Deleted User]

Lloyds Vantage is a good recommendation
Santander - no chance :!

birkee

I have to say, that dealing with foreign call centres, is a real pain in the b*m!.... Dumped my Capital One card for that reason.

And sympathy to people that HAVE had trouble dealing with Santander.
Probably a bit like driving on ice:- As long as you don't turn the steering wheel, brake or accelerate, then everything is hunkey dorey.
Everyday account management they deal with, anything outside that throws them.