MSE News: Santander launches cashback current account

Archi_Bald

Have you filed a written complaint? That's what I would do in such circumstances.

Herbalus

Archi_Bald wrote: »

Have you filed a written complaint? That's what I would do in such circumstances.

No I didn't. Too many people complain these days and view compensation as an obvious right. I lived in Spain for 8 months last year - now they have things to complain about!

I did complain about a previous block, but found their letters so full of comical absurdity that I didn't want to waste any more time on it.

Doc_N

Herbalus wrote: »

No I didn't. Too many people complain these days and view compensation as an obvious right. I lived in Spain for 8 months last year - now they have things to complain about!

I did complain about a previous block, but found their letters so full of comical absurdity that I didn't want to waste any more time on it.

Might still be worth a complaint. I had similar problems with them, but, to be fair, after the complaint they changed some internal security settings on my account and the account blocking stopped.

They 'blamed' their security procedures, which they argued were tighter than with most other banks to protect their customers (which of course is rubbish - it's to protect themselves). My transactions were seen as unusual, though that's never been a problem with any other bank, so the software used to block the account.

Not any more.

Herbalus

Doc_N wrote: »

Might still be worth a complaint. I had similar problems with them, but, to be fair, after the complaint they changed some internal security settings on my account and the account blocking stopped.

They 'blamed' their security procedures, which they argued were tighter than with most other banks to protect their customers (which of course is rubbish - it's to protect themselves). My transactions were seen as unusual, though that's never been a problem with any other bank, so the software used to block the account.

Not any more.

I'll bear that in mind for the next time it happens. I was blocked in February and June, so twice this year, and I've never had any of that with other banks.

I don't like to complain when a phone call to unblock it is a relatively straightforward 10 minutes to solve the problem, and saves both my time and theirs, but if it will stop it happening again I'll consider it.

Archi_Bald

Herbalus wrote: »

....I lived in Spain for 8 months last year ...

May be herein lies the answer for the multiple blocking of your account? Did you create the payments that created account blockings from an internet connection in Spain?

Never mind that Santander UK has a spanish parent - if you, as an account holder with a UK address, have lots of account activities from outside the UK, any UK bank will have the alarms going off. Normally, we would all be pleased about this, because it may well be some fraudsters at work. But of course it's more than a bit of a nuisance if it is really you who carries out the transactions. Some banks allow you to notify them if you are abroad - - not sure whether Santander are one of them. Might be worth checking it out with them if you are abroad a lot.

Herbalus

Archi_Bald wrote: »

May be herein lies the answer for the multiple blocking of your account? Did you create the payments that created account blockings from an internet connection in Spain?

I have three reasons why this isn't the case:
1. I routed my access through a VPN so, for all intents and purposes, I had a UK IP address. Means you can watch iPlayer as well. And access Noddle, which flatly refuses access if you have a foreign connection.

2. They were also aware that I was spending large amounts of time in Spain, and not one mention of location came into the issue when I sorted the mess out.

3. None of my other banks had issues during this time.

Archi_Bald

OK, if you used your VPN always, being abroad is not an explanation then. Reason 2 is probably not relevant since you are expecting that left hand knows what right hand does - - a very dangerous assumption for any large company, be they a bank or in the UK, lol. Reason 3 is irrelevant.

I would still raise a written complaint if I were you. It's the only way you can get to the bottom of it and stand a chance of getting the blocks stopped

My own 123s (several), btw, don't suffer from what you reported. New payees sometimes don't get paid for several hours, but still within the "end of next working day" rule. Never had an account blocked there, or at any other bank, touch wood.

Herbalus

Agreed. That's why I said on the page before that some people will always experience problems, and some people won't. That's why I recommend the account to people but tell them I've had issues with it, which may happen to them.

The reason for my third point was that you said any bank would flag up foreign transactions, but Santander was the only bank that caused an issue during that time, and I used all of my accounts with 4 different banks.

Archi_Bald

Herbalus wrote: »

The reason for my third point was that you said any bank would flag up foreign transactions, but Santander was the only bank that caused an issue during that time, and I used all of my accounts with 4 different banks.

presumably you used your VPN for all your bank accesses, not just for Santander. So none of them could detect you were not in the UK (assuming, of course, that your VPN gives you a UK IP address always, but that was a given, I think?)

Herbalus

Archi_Bald wrote: »

presumably you used your VPN for all your bank accesses, not just for Santander. So none of them could detect you were not in the UK (assuming, of course, that your VPN gives you a UK IP address always, but that was a given, I think?)

Yes, as far as I know all banks would have believed I was logged in to a terminal at a UK university. So the conditions for my 4 banks were identical, and Santander were the ones who had the issues.