Is it time to end "Santander Bashing"?

equitydealer

I've had no problems with Santander with my business current account and personal savings accounts. :j

coolesticeking

All banks have problems and get complaints, it's something that you never wan't to happen to yourself or anybody else for that matter.

Even Santander have admitted themselves they have had problems and still doing so on Watchdog and this now has got to be a good year ago now.

I still hear about the same problems day in day out on this forum.

And as others have said, when they start to offer the most basic of Customer Service then most people will stop bashing them.

Giving people money for issues is good, but does it resolve the backend problems they have? Nope! Means less money in the pot to sort these issues out.

POPPYOSCAR

We had not had any problems until very recently.

We transferred our old isas with them to ones with a better interest rate
but it could not be done until two days later when it had been in for the full year.the branch said they would write to confirm it had been done.Two weeks later no letter, go into branch, guy who dealt with it is on holiday told no one else can deal with it, assured he will ring on his return
(last saturday) still waiting for him to ring. Now have to go into branch again to sort it out.

They also insist on proof of identity every time you open a new account unlike others who if you are an existing customer do not.

It is a case of getting good rates but also getting bad service I am afraid,
or getting lower rates somewhere else but better service and less inconvenience.

anselld

someone wrote: »

It just felt unhelpful, counter-productive and unneeded.

People don't turn into Santander Bashers for no reason. They do so because they have had genuinely bad service and they wish to warn others not to be tempted by the headline offers, but to consider the poor service offering.

There are even recent examples on here of people being warned, going ahead anyway and then regretting it.

You might be happy with the service now, I hope you are lucky and that continues.

td_007

I have had at least 4 current accounts running at any time first with erstwhile Abbey & A&L now bundled into Santander and went in knowing that there will be screw-ups and it will take some effort on my part to sort it out. I have posted elsewhere on my experiences with Abbey and the fact remains that the service level has not improved over the past 3-4 years. Just 3 weeks ago I had called up to close a current a/c - the money was transferred out but the a/c was not closed - it is still open and I received a statement today showing zero balance.

So yes....their service is abysmal and until it improves drastically, continued bashing is what might convince them to change their ways.

ses6jwg

I can honestly say that Santander are well aware of the bashing they receive and I can honestly say that they are working damn hard "on the other side of the fence" to improve their systems, training and processes and provide a better customer experience.

The amount of changes and streamlining of process I've personally seen in the last 3-6 months has been staggering, and the amount of importance attached to service has to be experience to be believed.

We should remember they are fairly new to the UK banking system, and didn't exactly take on companies renowned for their customer service in the disintegrating and demoralised (Sh)Abbey, Alliance and Leicester (online & telephone bank), and Bradford and Bingley (Gentleman's Club with dodgy mortgage lending policies).

You can say whatever you like about the customer service, but take that out of the equation and they provide some of the best banking products availiable on the high street, and consistently. Yeah Barclays might come out with their Golden ISA from time to time, or Lloyds with their Vantage, but apart from dare I say, Halifax, I feel that there are very few other High Street banking institutions that provide such a competitive mix of products.

If they really can sort the Service with the branch network they've got now I think they will be a stronger force in UK banking than they are now.

anselld

ses6jwg wrote: »

You can say whatever you like about the customer service, but take that out of the equation ....

That is exactly the point, most people don't want to exclude customer service from the equation. They would rather pay more / get a bit less interest to have a good customer experience.

And it isn't just the branch element of customer service. Things like faster payments service is still pathetic in comparison to alternatives.

I do admire your perseverance working there though!

PS - and why do they need three or more branches on every highstreet!!

ses6jwg

anselld wrote: »

That is exactly the point, most people don't want to exclude customer service from the equation. They would rather pay more / get a bit less interest to have a good customer experience.

And it isn't just the branch element of customer service. Things like faster payments service is still pathetic in comparison to alternatives.

I do admire your perseverance working there though!

PS - and why do they need three or more branches on every highstreet!!

There is no need to admire... it's a job like any other. I think people assume we have to deal with hordes of angry and abused customers all day long but we are lucky to see 2 a month these days. Though I admit during integration there was quite a few problems.

The type of branch and area we work in, we see very little of the supposed atrocious customer service talked of in the press, although I do appreciate it goes on. Our branch consistently scores 90+ % in customer surveys.

Santander as a company are not bad to work for payrise was in line with inflation this year where as other larger banks such as Lloyds have got revolts on their hands for the poor rises they are giving to staff, and the closure of branches.

I have to bank with Santander and have done for around 18 months, and apart from the annoying lack of FPS I've never had a problem.

pawnbroker_2

Many people I am sure will be watching with interest the merger of English RBS customers into Santander. As an ex RBS English customer I will be keeping a keen eye on progress . With regards to products they may be better than most (if you can access and monitor your accounts). Personally I reserve judgement and will hopefully never have to use Santander.

I think the comments about LLoyds are curious especially as they took the Chief Exec from Santander .

ChiefGrasscutter

ses6jwg wrote: »

I can honestly say that Santander are well aware of the bashing they receive and I can honestly say that they are working damn hard "on the other side of the fence" to improve their systems, training and processes and provide a better customer experience.

The amount of changes and streamlining of process I've personally seen in the last 3-6 months has been staggering, and the amount of importance attached to service has to be experience to be believed.

I'm sorry to say they have got some way to go.....
I wrote a complaint in a couple of weeks ago to the central complaints unit about online account opening proceedure that resulted in a "a technical error has occured please try again later" message...one that was always the same.... even later.
The letter was very clear, explaining exactly the sequence and enclosing a printout of the error message from the server.
The complaint issue was deliberately ignored, a load of waffle stated and then they hoped that they had offered a "satisfactory resolution"...when actually they had offered no solution at all.
So back goes now 2 complaints. My original one again and now additionally a complaint about the way my complaint is being dealt with (or rather deliberately not dealt with).
If we get more crap back this time then on it goes to the FSA/ombudsman
At this rate I'll be making more from the complaints than from interest!

(Reminds me from my engineering days on mega projects where some contractors made more money from the legal disputes and other claims for damages etc at the end of the contract than they ever made from actually doing the contract in the first place)

As I read some of other people's issues on this site with Santander I really do get the impression that Santander are actually trying to get rid of the financial savvy or 'well heeled' customers or those with ultra busy jobs who really really really do not have time to attend branches.
That leaves them with the 'financially unwashed' who I suppose they can more easily extract money from rather than the smarter ones: that is my impression - I may be wrong.