Santander say Northern Ireland is not part of UK!

aeb_2

Just heard this from a neighbour
Her husband booked a flight from Manchester to Antrim, a two night b&b and a hire car. He used his Santander credit card. When he got there he took out £50. Next day she got a phone call from Santander to check security for unusual spending on his card. They asked to speak to him. She said he was away in NI on business. They said unless they could speak to him to verify his card would be stopped.
She said they knew the rules about informing the credit card when going abroad but he had gone to NI which is part of UK. The operator said as far as Santander is concerned NI is abroad and is not in the UK. She asked if the same applied when they went to Wales or Scotland. At this the operator got shirty and said of course not, NI is abroad because 'you have to fly across the sea to get there' :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

freddie_2

Yes, Santander is being daft but equally so is your post, we dont spend euros in NI as we are part of UK so we spend pounds.

(unless he was using a euro cash machine for travel to Ireland but they wouldnt have been much good to him in NI)

Its amazing how many people have no idea NI is part of the UK.

aeb_2

Oh, I see I'm not clear. He got £'s to pay an Irish person the equivalent in euro's, I've changed it now so I hope it reads better. My point was, as I'm sure you can understand, that he had used the card to book flight, B&B and car hire at home so there was an audit trail which made it clear he was in NI. No problem with the checking though, just the knowledge of the operator!

RichGold

Northern Ireland IS part of the UK.

They have a history of not wanting to be, but they are.

aeb_2

RichGold wrote: »

Northern Ireland IS part of the UK.

They have a history of not wanting to be, but they are.

But Santander do not think so! They will stop your credit card if you go there without telling them you are going 'abroad'

pmduk

You can never underestimate the intelligence of santander. Just go through the formal complaints procedure, it might end up at the desk of the santander intelligentsia that can both read and write. (It's a very small department.)

Lirin

I've had fun with this for years. Travelling to England, filling the car with fuel, then trying to pay with Northern Bank notes....

Used to live in London and had to make a complaint about a bank cashier who threw my drivers licence back across the counter and told me I'd need to get a better fake if I wanted to open an account- all because it was issued by DVLNI! Went to bank next door, and ended up bringing their manager in a colour-coded map from Eason's....

It is quite annoying at times how many people aren't aware, but it also has led to some fun moments as well......

shaun_from_Africa

I've had fun with this for years. Travelling to England, filling the car with fuel, then trying to pay with Northern Bank notes...

Trying to pay with banknotes that are not legal tender in England!

peter_the_piper

Tell him not to go to the Channel islands or the Isle of Wight then.

fluffnutter

Tell them Spain's not in Europe.

nexus2011

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland