Santander say Northern Ireland is not part of UK!

Toe-Jam

Santander tried to charge me international atm withdrawal fees for withdrawing £'s in Northern Ireland. The town was close to the border, but Strabane is most definitely in Northern Ireland. The girl on the phone tried to tell me it was all "Ireland" and it was abroad.

The manager then tried to tell me it was the ATM was charging the fees and not the them, to which I replied Alliance and Leicester don't charge for ATM withdrawals the are part of Link, you should know you own it.

bingo_bango

Is this just Santander, or do other banks in GB have the same issues?

I can understand smaller businesses in GB thinking that NI isn't in the UK, as that is simply a lack of understanding. But for a major international corporation, there is no excuse for this.

adouglasmhor

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

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

There are no banknotes that are legal tender in England, only accepted tender. only the £1 note was legal tender all others are promissory notes.

bingo_bango

I've just realised that Santander are continuing with this issue, even though they are well established in NI, with multiple branches.

The fact that they don't know what jurisdiction they are operating in is frightening. Someone is going to shock me one day with a good news story about them.

vax2002

pmduk wrote: »

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.)

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Toe-Jam

bingo_bango wrote: »

Is this just Santander, or do other banks in GB have the same issues?

I can understand smaller businesses in GB thinking that NI isn't in the UK, as that is simply a lack of understanding. But for a major international corporation, there is no excuse for this.

Just santander. I have accounts with Halifax and Conventry. Coventry don't even have branches here and they have no problem with geography.

Toe-Jam

adouglasmhor wrote: »

There are no banknotes that are legal tender in England, only accepted tender. only the £1 note was legal tender all others are promissory notes.

Thats not technically true. There is a lot of confusion about what legal tender actually means.

It basically means that if you owe someone a debt it is the method of payment you should use to repay to avoid said person sueing you for non payment.

For example it is legal tender to pay £15 in 1p's and your creditor cant refuse, because its legal tender. But your creditor can refuse £100 in 1ps because its not legal tender. (I think the cut off is £18.00)

Bank of England notes are legal tender in England.

Northern Irish notes are technically not legal tender, but they are an acceptable form of payment.

Are Scottish & Northern Irish notes legal tender?
In short ‘No’ these notes are not legal tender; only Bank of England notes are legal tender but only in England and Wales.
The term legal tender does not in itself govern the acceptability of banknotes in transactions. Whether or not notes have legal tender status, their acceptability as a means of payment is essentially a matter for agreement between the parties involved. Legal tender has a very narrow technical meaning in relation to the settlement of debt. If a debtor pays in legal tender the exact amount he owes under the terms of a contract, he has good defence in law if he is subsequently sued for non-payment of the debt. In ordinary everyday transactions, the term ‘legal tender’ has very little practical application.

shaun_from_Africa

adouglasmhor wrote: »

There are no banknotes that are legal tender in England, only accepted tender. only the £1 note was legal tender all others are promissory notes.

Not according to the bank of England:
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/about/faqs.htm#16

Are Scottish & Northern Irish notes legal tender?
In short ‘No’ these notes are not legal tender; only Bank of England notes are legal tender but only in England and Wales.

2gorgeousgirls

RichGold wrote: »

Northern Ireland IS part of the UK.

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

Actually, I think you will find that the majority of people in NI want to be part of the UK.