Santander won't close credit card as it is 1p over!

visjig

Hey guys,

Here it is:-

I did a balance transfer to Santander credit card and at the final count it agreed that I owed them 1p. So I paid 1p over-the-counter. But Santander still took the direct debit after 10 days. Now I calls to Santander to close and cancel the account. Nice lady at Santander say cannot close as account is 1p over!! So I says that please close account and forget about 1p or transfer it back. But she says NO CAN DO! Only way is to go over to my bank and do a "Direct Debit Indemnity" to 1p and that will NIL the account.

So me goes to my NatWest branch to do the "Direct Debit Indemnity". After 30 mins another nice lady starts the process. She is now having trouble sending the "Direct Debit Indemnity" to the relevent department. She calls one of the managers to help. The manager starts helping her. Then the manager comes to know that the "Direct Debit Indemnity" is for 1p. The manager suddenly flips - starts telling me to write a letter to Santander to ask them to close a/c and donate the 1p to charity. Also tells me that he is losing £100 in time for his staff to deal with an issue of 1p. He said he is not going to entertain my request and that I should write a letter to Santander to see how that goes. He was very dismissve of my plight.

So I walks home in disgust and humiliation from the branch. Very angry. Get my laptop out and type out a 2 page letter to Santander. Then "blink" thought of the Financial Ombudsman. Gave them a ring. Man at the other side of the phone, patiently listened to my concerns and my version of events. At the end - now Financial Ombudsman is going to write letters to Santander and NatWest on my behalf for complete disregard of all levels of customer service and putting me in humiliation.

See how it goes. Will update if I hear anything else.

izools

You have a contractual right, and the bank have a contractual obligation, to be able to process a claim under the direct debit guarantee.

I suggest telephoning Natwest and advise them you want to process a claim for the 1P DD under the direct debit guarantee - and if they have any trouble with that make it very clear they have a contractual obligation to process your request as per their contract with BACS. Advise that if they don't process the indemnity claim, as is your right under the DD Guarantee, you would like to make a formal complaint and to please pass you through to the relevant department to take the complaint.

http://www.bacs.co.uk/bacs/businesses/directdebit/collecting/pages/customersrights.aspx

Good luck!

(PS - I kind of think Santander are being very petty, too, but for the Bank to speak to you in the way that they did knowing their obligations under the DD scheme is disgraceful)

jonesMUFCforever

I think the bank was right what a total plank!

Get a life !

visjig

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

I think the bank was right what a total plank!

Get a life !

I'd agree with the bank manager but as the post above says they are obligated to file a Direct Debit Indemnity - doesn't matter if the amount is 1p or a 100,000p - this is my problem with my bank - why won't the bank file for a Direct Debit Indemnity? Are there targets involved as well?

visjig

izools wrote: »

You have a contractual right, and the bank have a contractual obligation, to be able to process a claim under the direct debit guarantee.

I suggest telephoning Natwest and advise them you want to process a claim for the 1P DD under the direct debit guarantee - and if they have any trouble with that make it very clear they have a contractual obligation to process your request as per their contract with BACS. Advise that if they don't process the indemnity claim, as is your right under the DD Guarantee, you would like to make a formal complaint and to please pass you through to the relevant department to take the complaint.

http://www.bacs.co.uk/bacs/businesses/directdebit/collecting/pages/customersrights.aspx

Good luck!

(PS - I kind of think Santander are being very petty, too, but for the Bank to speak to you in the way that they did knowing their obligations under the DD scheme is disgraceful)

Well thank for the research. But now the Financial Ombudsman is writing a letter on my behalf so when my bank calls me up to speak with me regarding the matter - this is what I shall say. Thanks once again. All for 1p!!!!!! I cannot believe this.

burnsy89

Why is he a plank for wanting to close down a credit facility and having to go to all this hassle over 2 incompetent banks!! Santander should have been able to close the account down and issue a cheque for the credit balance, regardless of the amount. And the bank manager at NatWest should not have been so rude!!

anotheralias

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

I think the bank was right what a total plank!

Get a life !

Would be interested if you could elaborate on your reasoning behind this message.

The OP has explained why he had to use the DD guarantee for only 1p, so why is he/she a "total plank" for doing it???

Clearly Santander are unwilling or unable to just remove the 1p from the account, and even if the OP would somehow be able to persuade them, why should they be expected to go to that effort when the DD guarantee is available for precisely these types of purposes.

And in any case how can the bank be "right" when they are failing to adhere to the rules and regulations that they themselves have subscribed to.

simax

If you have a mobile phone contract, why not make a payment to your bill of 1p?

That'll sort the problem out immediately.

Twister84

How can Santander not be able to close down their own credit cards because of a positive balance??

kerri_gt

My OH had an issue closing a B'Card due to a small amount being in credit (about 20p or something). He wrote to them asking to close it - no reply. Eventually he phoned and they said they had made the account inactive but couldn't 'close' it automatically due to the credit balance. The CS team basically did a manual override to adjust the balance to zero and thus close the account - no idea why Santander can't do that too. I know it's a total pain but I'd almost suggest making a small purchase on the card, paying it off as soon as the bill comes and then closing the card that way. How frustrating.

visjig

kerri_gt wrote: »

My OH had an issue closing a B'Card due to a small amount being in credit (about 20p or something). He wrote to them asking to close it - no reply. Eventually he phoned and they said they had made the account inactive but couldn't 'close' it automatically due to the credit balance. The CS team basically did a manual override to adjust the balance to zero and thus close the account - no idea why Santander can't do that too. I know it's a total pain but I'd almost suggest making a small purchase on the card, paying it off as soon as the bill comes and then closing the card that way. How frustrating.

thanks for the direction. but at the mo i would wait what results does the ombudsman get for me......